28

I have created an iOS apps using Phonegap. I also registered with apple developer program and generated all required certificates. Now, I want to deploy this .ipa file to app store. What I have to do now to publish this .ipa file to app store?

dhaval
  • 7,611
  • 3
  • 29
  • 38
Ruchi Agarwal
  • 543
  • 3
  • 8
  • 18
  • See [Apple's Documentation](http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/General/Conceptual/ApplicationDevelopmentOverview/DeliverYourAppontheAppStore/DeliverYourAppontheAppStore.html) here – Nishanth Nair Apr 01 '13 at 07:13
  • Does this only work from a mac ? – Black Jan 24 '19 at 10:22

2 Answers2

30

Here is an overview of how to submit a PhoneGap app to the App Store aka iTunes Connect. Amazingly, PhoneGap doesn't seem to provide these instructions.

  1. In the iOS Provisioning Portal, create a distribution certificate. As part of this process you will use Keychain Manager to create a Distribution Certificate. Export this certificate to Certificates.p12 by right-clicking on it and choosing Export. Record the password because you will need it every time you do a build on build.phonegap.com.

  2. In the iOS Provisioning Portal create an app ID for your app.

  3. Create an App Store distribution profile and make sure you use the same private key/certificate to sign it as above. Download it.

  4. Now go to build.phonegap.com and go to your iOS build, and "add a key ...". Call it "App Store" and upload the .p12 file and the .mobileprovision file.

  5. Rebuild and download the IPA file from PhoneGap Build.

  6. Make sure that your app is set to Ready to Upload Binary in iTunes Connect.

  7. Upload the app using Application Loader (see also Where to find Application Loader app in Mac?) which comes with Xcode. You will upload the IPA file.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Simon Woodside
  • 7,175
  • 5
  • 50
  • 66
  • 1
    The Link to Application Loader is not available anymore – greg121 Aug 12 '14 at 13:11
  • 2
    If you are like me, and you are without a MAC, then you can pay 5USD to have these guys upload it for you: https://appstoreuploader.com/upload.html (i have no affiliation, but I'm about to try it out) – rockstardev Aug 19 '15 at 09:29
  • 1
    @coderama Did you try the appstoreuploader service? If so, how was it? – disappointed in SO leadership Nov 29 '15 at 23:37
  • 5
    Everytime I have to face with Apple I'm astonished about their senseless usage policy. How's that difficult to allow people to upload an application to Apple Store even if they don't have time/money/will to buy a Mac?! – Jamby Apr 05 '16 at 10:26
  • Those without a Mac may want to look at macincloud.com, $1 an hour and it has Application Loader. – Andy Smith Aug 27 '16 at 11:16
  • Great concise list of steps, but I continue getting `You are not authorized to use this service for provider: XXXXXXXXXX` errors when I try to upload using Application Loader. I have the correct signing and have tried everything I can think of. – kmanzana Jan 31 '17 at 23:12
  • You may be able to find a third party service to upload your .IPA for you, but then you'll be stuck when you need to provide screenshots for the iTunes listing. You can create screenshots using Xcode, but then you'll need to build the .IPA on the Mac again (since the one from PhoneGap Build is ARM). So, PhoneGap Build doesn't replace the need for a machine running OS X. – Tim Tisdall Aug 04 '17 at 15:39
  • the .ipa i get from phonegap build cannot be added to XCode's organizer, or to th Application Loader, there isn't even an error message, it acts like the file is not of the right type – Martijn Scheffer Sep 24 '17 at 16:07
4

Once you've got the .ipa file ready to submit, you just need to visit iTunes Connect at https://itunesconnect.apple.com, create a record for your app, and fill in the required information. From the official documentation:

The record in iTunes Connect includes a field for a bundle ID; the value you place in this field must exactly match the bundle ID for your app. Some Apple technologies, including Game Center and In-App Purchase, require that an iTunes Connect record be created earlier in the development process. For example, with In-App Purchase, you need to create the app record so that you can add the details of the items you want to sell. This content needs to be created before the development process is complete so that you can use it to test the code you added to implement In-App Purchase.

So it should mostly just be a matter of submitting your app via iTunes Connect and waiting for approval.

Stuart M
  • 11,458
  • 6
  • 45
  • 59
  • 2
    Not sure if something changed but the .ipa cannot be submitted through iTunes Connect. It can only be submitted through Xcode, though all of the app details can be entered into iTunes Connect first. – Keith Jul 16 '14 at 13:45