Not able to download iOS build from Downloads section

vDesigner
,
1

How to download IOS build from vDesigner 1?
I tries but unable to download from the downloads sections of Vahana.

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2

For IOS we need an IPA file.
For downloading an IPA file you have to contact for product Team.

You can connect with product support by clicking help icon (?) mark in project management dashboard.

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3

Are we contemplating about making it available from the downloads section anytime ?
or is this process of depending on product team for IPA file continue?

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4

Yes same question is mine too. Because now we have to depend on the product team or the product sided is already delayed in the face of issues.
Because we know that there are already lot of product sided issues due to which giving the IPA file gets delayed to the client.
It would be better if we get this option in the download section only.
So that less work gets loaded on the product side as well and we could deliver the IPA file timely to the client.

Thanks in Advance.

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5

Thanks for the feedback, but IPA creation is not as simple as APK creation. There is a specific set of sensitive details like account information and provisioning profile information which is a mandate to create the IPA.
For that process automation is not set yet and for this sensitive information we need to connect with client and open their account to create the IPA. In Addition to this, Client can’t upload the IPA on appstore directly It needs to be uploaded via developers system using XCODE. That’s why this is not automated yet. It is in the roadmap of Product team and will be picked according to priority.

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Thanks for the update, this was my only ask if it is being considered to be automated.

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7

In addition to above answers I want to highlight that distribution of IPA file is also not as same like android APK. You can’t install the IPA file as like APK file.

There are 3 approaches of distributing the IPA file for installation in iPhone or iPad.

  1. Using Apple Apps Store (Available for everyone)

    Pre-requisite: Apple Developer Account - Developer

    In this you will need an Apple Developer Account - Developer ($99 Per Year). Once you have that account then you can ask product team to generate and upload the build on Apple connect for review. As apple never allow any app to be upload into app store without review it. So you also need to upload your app for review once your app gets approved then you can publish it on the app store. Once app is published into app store then anyone can install it from app store.

  2. Using Third Party Tools (Available to only the user with which link will be shared)

    Pre-requisite: Apple Developer Account - Enterprise

    In this you will need an Apple Developer Account - Enterprise ($299 Per Year). Once you have that account you can ask product team to generate the IPA file and share that IPA file with you. You can upload that IPA file into website which can convert IPA file into installable link. One of the most commonly used website is https://www.diawi.com/. You can share that link with the user to install that into iPhone or iPad. Under this method you don’t need to go through from review process. The main drawback of this approach is that the link will always have a limit. After that limit it will expire automatically. The limit will consist of number of users as well as number of days. Whatever will reach early it will expire the link.

  3. Using Custom Link (Available to only the user with which link will be shared)

    Pre-requisite:

    • Apple Developer Account - Enterprise
    • Web Server
    • Domain name- which will navigate the web server
    • Valid SSL certificate - Bind with Domain name

    In this you will need an Apple Developer Account - Enterprise ($299 Per Year). Once you have that account you can ask product team to generate the IPA file and share that IPA file with you. Then you need to create the manifest file. This manifest file extension will be .plist. The content of the manifest file is like

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>items</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>assets</key>
			<array>
				<dict>
					<key>kind</key>
					<string>software-package</string>
					<key>url</key>
					<string>https://path_of_ipa_file.com/builds/ios/SFM.ipa</string>
				</dict>
			</array>
			<key>metadata</key>
			<dict>
				<key>bundle-identifier</key>
				<string>com.decimal.sfm.enterprise</string>
				<key>bundle-version</key>
				<string>2.7</string>
				<key>kind</key>
				<string>software</string>
				<key>title</key>
				<string>Application Title</string>
			</dict>
		</dict>
	</array>
</dict>
</plist>

You need to update 4 things in this manifest file and save that file with name manifest.plist.

  • URL of IPA file - You need to change the actual publically downlodable url of the ipa file
  • Bundle id - You can get the bundle id from apple developer account.This is the unique id globally and first need to register in apple developer account.
  • Bundle version - This is the version of your IPA file. In can only be a float number.
  • Title - Application Name

Then you need to upload that manifest file and IPA file in the same folder on web server.
Once all these steps are complete then the link to install the IPA will be created like

itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=`<Publically accessible path of manifest 
file>`

Once you completed with all these steps then you can share the above itms url with the user. On clicking on that link an installation will beging on user iPhone or iPad.

The main advantage with this approach is that this link will never expire and on your version update you can update the IPA file and version in manifest file which will then reflect in same link.

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