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Is there any way to distribute ios applications through my own website, not using app store?
I mean is there any way that enables end users to download the .ipa file from my website with their browser application and install it directly on their iOS devices?
I have looked around in the web and googled it, but it doesn't seem to be any option for it out there, I just want to make sure of it.

Thank You

Mehdi Ijadnazar
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9 Answers9

20

There are several possibilities, which probably won't match your needs:

  1. Since last month it's possible to test apps on a device without the need of a paid membership.
  2. There's a possibility to deploy an app through a service like TestFlight, but this needs either a profile installed on the device (like HockeyApp) or always new build since the old ones expire after 30 days.
  3. You could deploy an app with the Enterprise Program

The easy way you describe is not possible.

Harish Pathak
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Fabio Poloni
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  • Fabio, how do you test on a device without a paid membership? I could not find any info –  Apr 21 '16 at 11:58
  • @IanBell As far as I know you can just plug it in, register it via the Devices windows and click Run. – Fabio Poloni Apr 21 '16 at 12:27
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    Option 1, 2 not possible and unreliable. Option 3 please explain in 2018 –  Apr 11 '18 at 10:31
15

Apart from the options mentioned above there are 2 more methods.

Method 1:

You could ask the user to open a webpage in safari browser with the following link in it.

href="itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=url of the manifest file"

The app is installed as soon as the user clicks the link.

Method 2:

You can also leverage iOS mdm solutions like Hexnode MDM though its bit of an overkill.

here is a link on how to distribute app without app store

jithin
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    Hi, would you please explain more about method 1, as in how's the content of the manifest file, etc. Thanks in advance – Zennichimaro Apr 28 '17 at 07:19
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    Hi @Zennichimaro , here is the link https://github.com/nifcblm/AHPP-iOS-App/wiki/How-to-distribute-enterprise-iOS-App – Ariven Nadar Aug 08 '17 at 09:00
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    @Zennichimaro I just found the docs for Method 1: https://help.apple.com/deployment/ios/#/apda0e3426d7 – Michael Ozeryansky May 20 '18 at 04:18
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    The page linked by @MichaelOzeryansky is called "Distribute in-house apps wirelessly". If you go up a few sections to "Create in-house apps", it says you need to subscribe to the Enterprise Programme (which is even more expensive than subscribing to App Store distribution). – Silas S. Brown Oct 04 '18 at 11:30
  • Does Method 1 work for non-enterprise accounts, i.e., regular $99 dev accounts? – ina Feb 11 '20 at 21:02
10

UPDATE:

BuddyBuild service will stop on 1-3-2018, the other alternative I know is https://www.diawi.com

Old ANSWER:

Try BuddyBuild , after making a build you can take link to IPA file and distribute it as shown.

enter image description here

Amr Lotfy
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5

The options include:

  1. App Store (free or paid)
  2. Enterprise Distribution (must be within an organization)
  3. Open source distribution

It does not sound like any of these will meet your requirements, so no.

Further explanation: Just to be clear, the limitation is not in distributing your .ipa file, it is the ability for users to install it on their phone. iOS requires an app be signed by Apple (from the App Store), from an Enterprise certificate, or from a developer certificate when a valid provisioning profile includes the target device.

picciano
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  • what do you mean about open source distribution? About your further explanation: do you mean if I can sign the app and create .ipa file then I could upload it to my website and people can download and install it without any problem? – Mehdi Ijadnazar Jul 13 '15 at 13:24
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    Post the source code to a repository, such as GitHub and people can download and build the app. As a developer, yes you can add devices to your provisioning files and publish the .ipa for installation on your website. This will only work for the devices you include in the provisioning file, and those are limited. – picciano Jul 13 '15 at 22:50
  • You could publish an unsigned .ipa and then let the end users sign it with their dev certificates, no need to distribute the source... You could even create a Mac app (installer) to automatize the process. – eaxix Feb 07 '16 at 15:14
4

Basically there are three ways

  • App store

With this method anyone with an iPhone can have access to the application. You can distribute an unlimited number of applications like this. Apple gets a 30% cut. Of course, Apple must approve your application.

  • Ad hoc

You can distribute applications using ad hoc without going through the app store, but you are limited to a maximum of 100 devices. With this method you can distribute your application from a web site, email, etc.

  • Enterprise

The method is for internal distribution in companies with more than 500 employees. Apple does not provide any more public detail that I could find on this method.

It doesn't sound like any of these methods meet your criteria unless you have fewer than 100 customers and don't plan to exceed that number. It sounds like from the question your customers are not internal to your company.

I would advise contacting Apple. They might be able to arrange some kind of custom distribution deal.

Matthew Spencer
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iAnurag
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    Apps distributed via Ad Hoc expire. Also the device must be added to the provisioning profile. – zaph Jul 13 '15 at 13:00
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    In Ad-Hoc the maximum is 100 devices per device type. You can now have 100 iPhones, 100 iPod Touch, 100 iPads and 100 Watches. – Kerni Jul 13 '15 at 14:24
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    @zaph: In all non-app store scenarios the profiles expire. In Ad-Hoc, in Enterprise and also using Testflight (which is 30 days only from submission day). – Kerni Jul 13 '15 at 14:25
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    @Kerni Enterprise expires once a year and the solution there is to update the license prior to expiration and push a new build. – zaph Jul 13 '15 at 15:53
  • Should I be able to test In App Subscriptions (in production environment) using the Ad-hoc or Enterprise mode. I am seeking real testing here, with user charged and real time. It is ok for just one device(my own) or user to be able to be tested? – mickeymoon Jun 18 '19 at 12:44
  • With the Ad-hoc distribution, does the app expire? – user1824963 Jun 26 '20 at 15:28
  • What if your app is free? Does Apple get a %30 cut of nothing? – Scott Franco Jul 29 '21 at 18:19
  • You can also build directly to a wired device. That, of course, requires the device to be physically connected at some point. – Victor Engel Sep 06 '21 at 01:36
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You if don't want to upload your files to the already mentioned web services, you can host your IPA in your own computer and distribute over the internet using ngrok and the approach given by jithin.

I've created a server that does exactly that and also is protected by password. You can check it out here:

https://github.com/Edudjr/IPAServer

Edudjr
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    Does this still require getting the UDID of install devices? – Serdnad Apr 13 '18 at 03:48
  • Apparently the device still needs to be included in your provisioning. If you use automatic manage signing, you just need to run via cable once and then you are good to install using the server later on – Edudjr May 17 '18 at 20:15
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To send build to testers or client I am generally using installonair.com which allows to upload IPA file and generate short URL which we can provide to other users and they can download and install easily from that link.

There are other options as well like Apple Testflight, hockeyapp but I found installonair.com is the quick one.

prashant karia
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If you have and Enterprise membership you can do this, but it really isn't what they want you to do on a large scale.

Take a look at this question: Deploying an iOS Application Using Apple Enterprise Developer Program

Community
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Dan Loughney
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You can use enterprise distribution services like BuildCannon, but you still need an apple enterprise account. I use a custom solution, but it's a pain to maintain.

Asdrubal
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