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I just lost my private key with OS reinstallation so will have to create new Certificate Signing Requests.. I wanted to know if revoking my Distribution Certificate will have any effect on my existing applications on App Store especially when one of my applications is waiting for approval ( In Review ) build from old distribution certificate.

Should i wait for the app to be accepted by the Apple or revoking the distribution certificate won't have any affect on the application?

Vijay Tholpadi
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Hemant
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5 Answers5

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I know this is an ancient question, but since it hasn't been answered... According to Apple support, you can revoke the certificate immediately after submitting an app for review and the app won't be affected. Apps already on the app store will not be affected either.

Related SO threads to support the above:

If I revoke an existing distribution certificate, will it mess up anything with existing apps?

iOS Provisioning and Certifcates - Will Revoke/Renew effect App Store Apps?

mkelly4ca
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Often developers face this question and stay away from revoking a certificate. Possible thoughts are if it affect the app in the store, or will the same certificate be required for the next update etc.

But there are no any issues like that. An Appstore and Adhoc production certificates are used for the App store submission process only. It needs to check the private key public key pair to validate that the ipa is code signed by a valid signing authority. Once the app goes to app store you need not have to bother about the certificate used.

The next time for creating an update, you can codesign using a different certificate, but you need to use the same app id.

shah1988
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4

As per my experience and according to Apple support, revoking certificate will not have any effect on the already uploaded build on iTunes either for review or on live.

Hope this helps!!

Manish Verma
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  • Thanks for the answer :) however, I put a bounty on this question due to the lack of authoritative references. Do you have any? – Josh Beam Dec 04 '15 at 18:24
  • Fortunately, I looked for it for you. See the link below and search for the text 'Re-creating your development or distribution certificates doesn’t affect apps that you’ve submitted to the store nor does it affect your ability to update them.' : https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/MaintainingCertificates/MaintainingCertificates.html I hope this will suffice. – Manish Verma Dec 05 '15 at 09:34
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There will not be any affect on your current uploads. As the bundle identifier and app id for your application will remain same, it will not affect any of your push notification service too. This is the only reason we are able to replace PEM or p.12 certificates to web developers if the current certificate of any live app has expired.

Rahul Mathur
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From the apple docs:
https://developer.apple.com/support/technical/certificates/

iOS Distribution Certificate (App Store) If your iOS Developer Program membership is valid, your existing apps on the App Store will not be affected. However, you will no longer be able to submit new apps or updates to the App Store.

jeffbailey
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