Permanently Installing to a Local Device

I have an iOS app that isn't acceptable for the App Store (it is used to open the front door of my apartment building so not of general interest). I can install it on my iPhone from Xcode easily enough but after a week it becomes "no longer available".

I assume this is because the signature expires. I created a new code signing certificate using Keychain Access that lasts much longer. I then found the archive of my app that Xcode produced, removed the signature and resigned it with my new certificate:

codesign --remove-signature -v Products/Applications/FrontDoor.app codesign -s "My Self Signed Code Signing Cert" -v Products/Applications/FrontDoor.app

Now I am stuck trying to work out how to load the archive onto my (and hopefully my partner's) iPhone(s).

Am I on the right track or is there a better way to handle this? Is it possible to load an archive onto an iPhone connected via USB?

Am I on the right track … ?

No. You can’t sign an iOS app with a certificate of your creation because such certificates have to be authorised by a provisioning profile. See TN3125 Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles for the background to this.

If you have a paid developer account then you can create local apps (using Development or Ad Hoc distribution) that run for (IIRC) up to a year.

Share and Enjoy

Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Permanently Installing to a Local Device
 
 
Q