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I made a small little app I want to test out on my iPhone 5. Problem is I cant fork out $100 for apple or since its an iPhone 5 I cannot jailbreak it. I really need to test this can somebody please help?

Thanks!

pnuts
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Drake Witt
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1 Answers1

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iPhones will only execute binary code that has been cryptographically signed by a private key which Apple has authorised.

The only way to get your encryption key authorised is to pay $100 per year and agree to their developer contract.

You can run the app in the iOS simulator on any modern mac without signing it and without paying any money. Just install Xcode, select "iPhone Simulator" as the target, and click the Run button.

If you can find a friend who has a developer account, they might be willing to sign your app with their private key. Build/Archive the app without signing it, email it to them along with your device UDID and a few other details, they will have to create a provisioning profile and then sign the app and email it back to you. Then you can drag it onto iTunes to install the app.

This deployment method is only intended for beta testing code, so it will expire after some months the steps have to be repeated.

Abhi Beckert
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  • +1 Unfortunately this is the only real way to do so. Most features can be tested fine using the iOS simulator however, so as long as the app does not make use of hardware such as the accelerometer you can fully test the app in the simulator. – tom1990 Mar 10 '13 at 22:01
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    Ok thank you. I really don't have freinds who have the slitest clue what an Apple Dev Account is. I'm 13... – Drake Witt Mar 11 '13 at 00:02
  • @DrakeWitt sadly iOS development isn't really possible without spending money on a developer account (and legally you can't even do that unless you're 18). I suggest you look into HTML5. You can create pretty cool iOS apps with HTML5 (search apple.com for "Getting Started with iOS Web Apps"). Or if you really want to learn Objective-C write some Mac software instead. It's pretty much the same as iOS (just older). – Abhi Beckert Mar 11 '13 at 05:17
  • The thing that makes me nervous with Apple that you have to pay for everything! even when wanting to test your own developed app! I used to develop for Android and there is absolutely many differences concerning "money" ! – androniennn Apr 28 '13 at 14:45
  • @androniennn it costs money for Apple to keep an eye on what every developer is doing, apple has literally thousands of full time employees doing it all day long. Somebody has to pay their salary, better it is the developer than the customer. The cost is pretty low compared to the hardware and monthly phone contract. And the software is free, Microsoft charges thousands of dollars for their dev software. – Abhi Beckert Apr 29 '13 at 01:02
  • I'm with you with that. But paying even when wanting to test a small developed app in device is a little weird! Plus, I think that with that strategy they are keeping developers run away to other platforms(such Android). Google lets you test your app in your device, plus of you want to submit it, it costs you 20$ lifetime. Not 100$ every year. I think that I need time to convert to the Apple world/rules/strategy :/ ... – androniennn Apr 30 '13 at 11:27
  • @androniennn Yep but google also doesn't do a proper job keeping malware off Android. If you can install binary code on your own device, then you can also install binary code on other people's devices, so Apple needs to monitor your developer account's encryption key and be prepared to blacklist it the day you start distributing malware. The $100/year funds that and provides a barrier to developers creating many accounts (bypassing the 100 devices per developer security restriction). There are plenty of iOS developers already, no need to sacrifice security in order to get more. – Abhi Beckert Apr 30 '13 at 22:54
  • It's pretty easy to distribute malware if you have a developer account... you just need their device id and some way to get your users to open a URL to the app binary. But each device will cost you $1 per year, and Apple keeps an eye out incase they need to blacklist the private key your app is signed with. – Abhi Beckert Apr 30 '13 at 22:58
  • Well, that's a rude rules made by Apple, but i'm convinced that the user will be pretty sure that the app he's installing is malware free and in most cases stable. The problem is for "foreign" people that can't pay to have a developer account(like me) because of country restrictions, so I'll never dream of an installed self developed app. However, I'll keep developing for iOS for that awesome OS... – androniennn May 01 '13 at 00:51
  • @androniennn yep that is a very real problem. But you better get used to it if you want to work with iOS. Apple cares about the end user and doesn't give a shit about anyone else. They are perfectly happy to make app developers jump through crazy hoops to make things a tiny bit better for the end user. I wish it would change but it's not going to happen. – Abhi Beckert May 01 '13 at 01:25
  • If they change their policy I think that they'll find many problems. Every big company has its own "mentality", and that is pretty clear with Google and Apple, two big different companies. But you know why, I'm feeling that i'm preferring the Apple one after passing 3 years with Android. – androniennn May 01 '13 at 14:03