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I developed a simple ARKit app in Unity for iOS. It works great, but there is a strange problem: after several days it stops working. So when I click on the app icon on the iPhone, it opens the app for a millisecond and instantly quits. If I reinstall the app again it works perfectly as before.

Why is it happening? Is there any way to prevent it? I use "Personal team" in Xcode, can it be the reason?

halfer
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Rumata
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  • As far as I am aware... App installs from xcode are temporary developer builds, they are not supposed to be used as a permanent install, So after a short time they can stop loading – Scriptable Sep 18 '18 at 09:59
  • see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38307356/iphone-app-under-test-crashes-after-a-few-days and https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/51527 – Scriptable Sep 18 '18 at 10:02
  • Do you have a paid membership? – Paulw11 Sep 18 '18 at 10:49

1 Answers1

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About Provisioning Profile

Unlike Android, you can’t install unsigned app on your iOS device. It has to be signed by Apple first. However, when you’re developing an app, you probably want to test it before sending it to Apple for approval. Provisioning profile act as a link between the device and the developer account. During development, you choose which devices can run your app and which app services your app can access.

A free provisioning profile is downloaded from your developer account and embedded in the app bundle, and the entire bundle is code-signed. A Development Provisioning Profile must be installed on each device on which you wish to run your application code. If the information in the provisioning profile doesn’t match certain criteria, your app won’t launch.

Earlier, a Provisioning Profile used to be valid for 90 days, but is now reduced to 7 days, starting from the time the profile was created. This means that after 7 days, your iOS app (or ARKit app) will merely stop working.

Apple says: You may create up to 10 App IDs every 7 days.

enter image description here

That's why your ARKit app stops working after seven days.

Read Unity Documentation here: Getting started with iOS development.

If you wanna change a provisioning profile for existing app, read this useful SO post.


Apple Developer Programs

There are several programs for iOS/iPadOS developers:

  • iOS Developer Program ($99)
  • Apple Developer Program for individuals ($99)
  • Developer Enterprise Program for organisations ($299)
  • iOS Developer University Program for higher education institutions (Free)

Look at this article Choosing a Membership.

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iOS Developer Program ($99) also allows you use Ad Hoc for free.

Ad Hoc Distribution Provisioning Profile lets you test your built apps on 100 different devices you have configured in iTunes Connect.

Andy Jazz
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  • Thank you very much for a detailed answer, this is very helpful! Can I ask you to clarify a few things. I thought that I need to purchase Apple Developer Program ($99) only if I need to distribute my app via the App Store. But now, as I understand, since free provisioning profile has 1 week time limitation, in order to make my app working with no time limitations I have only 2 options: 1) change the provisioning profile every week to extend the time 2) purchase Apple Developer Program ($99) to have remove any time limitations. Do I understand correct? – Rumata Sep 19 '18 at 08:35
  • When testing apps with `TestFlight` App each build is available to test for up to 90 days. Here's a link: https://developer.apple.com/testflight/testers/ . But I dunno how many days a testing period lasts for a build in Xcode (using iOS Developer Program for $99). – Andy Jazz Sep 19 '18 at 09:40
  • Thank you, but in case if I don't need to test anymore, if I have a final build, and I want it to work with no time limitations on my iPhone - in this case, I should purchase iOS Developer Program, because other options are for testing only and have time limitations, right? – Rumata Sep 19 '18 at 10:02
  • Yes, iOS Developer Program allows you to sell/distribute your app via App Store. – Andy Jazz Sep 19 '18 at 13:05
  • @GiganticMistake Sorry to bother you…… I'm struggling with a SceneKit problem could you help me out? Question:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52428397/confused-about-orthographic-projection-of-camera-in-scenekit – ooOlly Sep 23 '18 at 12:12