How do I provision a device when there is no Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles link?

How do I provision an iPhone for development? There is no Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles link under account shown to me. I do not have Apple Developer membership, but are using Free Provisioning.


When I in Xcode 8.3.3 created a new project I first got an error message on the General tab about that I had no provisioned device and that I should go to a Apple developer web site and register my device, but when I go to the Apple Developer Center and log in I cannot see the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles link.


The strange thing is that after a while I did not get the error message in Xcode anymore and I can now test run my Xcode project on my phone. Did I some way succeeded to provision my phone? How? Can I it be done on the web or in Xcode? I like to show friends how to test run applications. How shall they (and I) provision phones in the future?

Answered by KMT in 239976022

Free provisioning/testing/tinkering on your device:

• From within Xcode 8.x or higher (Mac only), navigate to “Xcode—->Preferences—->Accounts.” Hit the '+' icon below left to add your Apple ID*. After you add and select your account, it will show within the main account window on the right under ’Team' as ‘<YourName> (Personal Team)’ w/role ‘User’.

• Connect your device (cable only, not wireless) and select it as build destination via the 'active scheme' dropdown to the right of the play and stop icons.

• In target's 'General' tab/settings:

• a. Set app identifier you want for your free profile - note this must be unique, meaning if it is already in use, you can expect an alert warning is it is already in use and you should enter a different string. If you expect to make this app for store distribution later, you will either need to change again, then, or make a plan now that includes a naming scheme.

• b. Set team id as 'Personal Team' ...the apple id used w/free provisioning

• c. Hit 'Fix Issue' button below the provisioning profile warning

- You may have to ‘Fix Issue' more than once - keep at it so Xcode can step thru them as needed.

• Run your app with your device selected.**


Free provisioning secrets/things you’ll want to know:

- The profile will be valid for 1 week, after which time you will need to recreate a new one (repeat the process).

- There is a limit to how many apps you can build and test to your device. If you hit this error, delete old versions and try again.

- Maximum number of (connected only) devices limit is reported as 3. And unlike a paid account, there is no Member Center/devices access/management.

- What you can/can't do w/free provisioning is listed here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/SupportedCapabilities/SupportedCapabilities.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40012582-CH38-SW1 - In App Purchase, as an example, is one of the features not avaliable w/free provisioning.

- If you see an error that says "change your Bundle Identifier to a unique one”, that means don’t use: com.sample.app …add your last name or some string to the end such as com.sample.lastname. You may need to change it again if your app goes to the store.

- If this is about creating an .ipa to manually hand off, select Build For Archiving under the project menu, not ‘Run’.

- *If you have, had or plan to have, a paid developer account, be sure to use a unique/different apple ID for each account.

- **Free accounts may experience issues launching apps on the watch for the first time.

Workaround: Launch the app manually on the device and click “Trust” when the security sheet appears. You should then be able to launch the app from Xcode.

Does the following text from step 4 on the web page

http://help.apple.com/xcode/mac/8.0/#/dev60b6fbbc7

mean that the registration is handled automatically by Xcode, atleast when using Free Provisioning?


“The first time you launch an app on a device, Xcode creates the necessary development signing assets for you.
Xcode registers the selected device you connect to your Mac and adds it to the provisioning profiles it manages.
For macOS apps, Xcode registers the Mac running Xcode.”




Maybe the error message in Xcode 8.1.3.3 saying that I shall register my device on a web page is old and now misleading?


In that case maybe the message instead should say something about thatr my device shall be connected and turned on etc.

Where I report a such a bugs found in Xcode?



Kind regards

Ulf L

Accepted Answer

Free provisioning/testing/tinkering on your device:

• From within Xcode 8.x or higher (Mac only), navigate to “Xcode—->Preferences—->Accounts.” Hit the '+' icon below left to add your Apple ID*. After you add and select your account, it will show within the main account window on the right under ’Team' as ‘<YourName> (Personal Team)’ w/role ‘User’.

• Connect your device (cable only, not wireless) and select it as build destination via the 'active scheme' dropdown to the right of the play and stop icons.

• In target's 'General' tab/settings:

• a. Set app identifier you want for your free profile - note this must be unique, meaning if it is already in use, you can expect an alert warning is it is already in use and you should enter a different string. If you expect to make this app for store distribution later, you will either need to change again, then, or make a plan now that includes a naming scheme.

• b. Set team id as 'Personal Team' ...the apple id used w/free provisioning

• c. Hit 'Fix Issue' button below the provisioning profile warning

- You may have to ‘Fix Issue' more than once - keep at it so Xcode can step thru them as needed.

• Run your app with your device selected.**


Free provisioning secrets/things you’ll want to know:

- The profile will be valid for 1 week, after which time you will need to recreate a new one (repeat the process).

- There is a limit to how many apps you can build and test to your device. If you hit this error, delete old versions and try again.

- Maximum number of (connected only) devices limit is reported as 3. And unlike a paid account, there is no Member Center/devices access/management.

- What you can/can't do w/free provisioning is listed here:

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/SupportedCapabilities/SupportedCapabilities.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40012582-CH38-SW1 - In App Purchase, as an example, is one of the features not avaliable w/free provisioning.

- If you see an error that says "change your Bundle Identifier to a unique one”, that means don’t use: com.sample.app …add your last name or some string to the end such as com.sample.lastname. You may need to change it again if your app goes to the store.

- If this is about creating an .ipa to manually hand off, select Build For Archiving under the project menu, not ‘Run’.

- *If you have, had or plan to have, a paid developer account, be sure to use a unique/different apple ID for each account.

- **Free accounts may experience issues launching apps on the watch for the first time.

Workaround: Launch the app manually on the device and click “Trust” when the security sheet appears. You should then be able to launch the app from Xcode.

How do I provision a device when there is no Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles link?
 
 
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