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Comment by thewebcount | Hacker News Reader

They say:

> Consider using Xcode to install your app on a device for free or use Ad Hoc distribution available to Apple Developer Program members.

Can anyone explain this to me? I have some AppleTV apps I’ve written for myself. I can run them on my AppleTV but I have to reconnect to Xcode every 7 days to continue using them. It’s a pain in the butt. How can I install these apps without a dev account and without having to reconnect to Xcode every 7 days?

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Here you go: https://help.apple.com/xcode/mac/current/#/dev7ccaf4d3c

Ad Hoc provisioning profiles are usually only used for testing, since all of the target devices have to be registered in your developer account before signing the app. Also, Ad Hoc profiles expire after 12 months and the app needs to be re-signed and installed again.

You can install the signed app by using Xcode or Apple Configurator or "over the air" (see https://dev.to/gualtierofr/ad-hoc-distribution-for-ios-1524 for an example).

Oh, I see. The wording made it sound like there was a way to do it for free. They mention installing onto a friend's device, but apparently that won't work for free. Bummer. I can't justify the cost right now just for these few home projects. What a pain.

You have a get a paid Developer account. It costs $99/year for the Developer account which gets provisioning profiles that are valid for a year at a time.

You also have to own a Mac and either an Apple Watch or iPhone to enable two-step verification.

Their two-step verification only works with Apple products?

Step 2 of the two-step verification is declaring your loyalty to Apple.

Yep. I looked into paying the $99/year last year to get my open-source app to open on double-click (rather than right click > open > yes I understand it's not verified). Couldn't proceed without an iPhone.

It's almost comical how much of an overstep that is.

You could jailbreak. They actively work to prevent that, though.

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