4 ms·

Apple's Best Kept Secret: Ad Hoc Installs for Testing Purposes

103 points by Garbage 16y ago

christoph 16y ago
Thanks! I didn't know this was possible. It's going save me untold amounts of time.
kabir_h 16y ago
There's another great way to test your mobile app before release: Android.
- kbutler 16y ago
  > There's another great way to test your mobile app before release: Android. Although this was a bit snarky, I think it makes a good point. This is Apple lowering (but not removing) an Apple-created hurdle. It would be nice if I could avoid the UDID hassle altogether. I need to port to Android and see how I feel about that development experience. kb
wallflower 16y ago
BetaBuilder is an essential tool we've been using. https://github.com/HunterHillegas/iOS-BetaBuilder https://github.com/HunterHillegas/iOS-BetaBuilder
- sudont 16y ago
  Do the UDID limitations still exist? I'd say the Enterprise license would be a workaround, but pretty sure that Apple would revoke it as an abuse of terms.
  - gte910h 16y ago
    If you're using it for actual testing and not unauthorized distribution, get a second company account. And yes, the UDID limitations with Adhoc certificates are all still there.
    - sudont 16y ago
      Right, one cross-platform developer (Tweetdeck, maybe) was talking about his beta and it was a hundred on iOS, and around 20k on Android.
      - gte910h 16y ago
        I think if your app can be monetized while free, android is a terrific platform.
gte910h 16y ago
I've been using: http://iosdevgoodies.joostschuur.com/ad-hoc-ota-ios-beta-app-updates-hockey http://iosdevgoodies.joostschuur.com/ad-hoc-ota-ios-beta-app...
- gfontenot 16y ago
  Me too. Link to that project (Open Source MIT License): https://github.com/TheRealKerni/Hockey https://github.com/TheRealKerni/Hockey
  - christoph 16y ago
    Awesome! Just downloaded it and was up and running the server and client auto-update in less than 30mins :) I tweaked BWHockeyController to always remind of updates regardless, since I don't really want to add a settings page to my app and always want people to update (or at least get nagged!)
    - gte910h 16y ago
      I did not actually setup the server before....so when we had issues with the prior install, your posted time here in HN made me confident enough to create a new cloud server and toss one up there in about < 30 minutes. Thanks man for adding to the discussion.
ethank 16y ago
TestFlightApp.com is really good for this, doing OTA downloads and such.
melito 16y ago
This is one of the most helpful things I've seen posted on Hacker News all year. Thank you very much for sharing.
AndrewO 16y ago
This is great when combined with Dropbox's public folders. I recently developed an app where I pushed 40+ builds out to testers. On every bugfix or new feature, I just had to Build & Archive, save the IPA directly to Dropbox and then give it the public URL. I stashed an HTML file in the same folder with a link to the provisioning profile (also in the public folder—when you add new devices this needs to be updated) and the IPA file. Testers could bookmark the page and grab a new version whenever they wanted (or whenever I notified them).
st3fan 16y ago
Yeah this is how I do builds of Firefox Home. I have a script that is executed by Hudson when we check in new code. THe script then builds the project, makes all the .ipa, .html and .plist files, uploads them to a server and tweets a message to testers with a direct over-the-air install link. People love it.
nolanbrown23 16y ago
I built AppSendr which distributes apps via this method. So far it's proven to be very useful for a wide variety of needs. I don't know why this hasn't been more publicized.
jw84 16y ago
AppMakr.com is a platform that helps anyone build apps and we launched over-the-air one-click install for testing back in November for our users; we call it AppDrop. You can find more info and watch a video here: http://go.appmakr.com/appdrop http://go.appmakr.com/appdrop. AppDrop and similar techniques really helps in reducing the friction of getting an app tested and made. This is a trend that more and more solution providers will jump on.
basil 16y ago
I wrote some bash scripts a couple months ago which automates this process. When Hudson is done building, it uploads the .dSYM directory, signed .ipa, HTML for instructions and legacy zip file for pre-iOS4 users. Check out http://www.oiledmachine.com/posts/2010/10/27/automated-ota-ios-app-distribution.html http://www.oiledmachine.com/posts/2010/10/27/automated-ota-i...
rookie 16y ago
I have been very very impressed with what the guys have at http://www.testflightapp.com http://www.testflightapp.com I have been using it in beta for a while now and it has never been easier to get testers updated. And their UUIDs back to me.
HectorRamos 16y ago
I've been using the TestFlight beta for around a month now (used iOS BetaTester prior to this). I can't recommend them enough and will gladly pay for the service once they launch. It is very, very good. The process used to take 10 minutes, now with TestFlight it's just 20 seconds, literally.

103 points by Garbage 16y ago

christoph 16y ago

Thanks! I didn't know this was possible. It's going save me untold amounts of time.

kabir_h 16y ago

There's another great way to test your mobile app before release: Android.

kbutler 16y ago
> There's another great way to test your mobile app before release: Android. Although this was a bit snarky, I think it makes a good point. This is Apple lowering (but not removing) an Apple-created hurdle. It would be nice if I could avoid the UDID hassle altogether. I need to port to Android and see how I feel about that development experience. kb

wallflower 16y ago

BetaBuilder is an essential tool we've been using. https://github.com/HunterHillegas/iOS-BetaBuilder https://github.com/HunterHillegas/iOS-BetaBuilder

sudont 16y ago
Do the UDID limitations still exist? I'd say the Enterprise license would be a workaround, but pretty sure that Apple would revoke it as an abuse of terms.
- gte910h 16y ago
  If you're using it for actual testing and not unauthorized distribution, get a second company account. And yes, the UDID limitations with Adhoc certificates are all still there.
  - sudont 16y ago
    Right, one cross-platform developer (Tweetdeck, maybe) was talking about his beta and it was a hundred on iOS, and around 20k on Android.
    - gte910h 16y ago
      I think if your app can be monetized while free, android is a terrific platform.

gte910h 16y ago

I've been using: http://iosdevgoodies.joostschuur.com/ad-hoc-ota-ios-beta-app-updates-hockey http://iosdevgoodies.joostschuur.com/ad-hoc-ota-ios-beta-app...

gfontenot 16y ago
Me too. Link to that project (Open Source MIT License): https://github.com/TheRealKerni/Hockey https://github.com/TheRealKerni/Hockey
- christoph 16y ago
  Awesome! Just downloaded it and was up and running the server and client auto-update in less than 30mins :) I tweaked BWHockeyController to always remind of updates regardless, since I don't really want to add a settings page to my app and always want people to update (or at least get nagged!)
  - gte910h 16y ago
    I did not actually setup the server before....so when we had issues with the prior install, your posted time here in HN made me confident enough to create a new cloud server and toss one up there in about < 30 minutes. Thanks man for adding to the discussion.

ethank 16y ago

TestFlightApp.com is really good for this, doing OTA downloads and such.

melito 16y ago

This is one of the most helpful things I've seen posted on Hacker News all year. Thank you very much for sharing.

AndrewO 16y ago

This is great when combined with Dropbox's public folders. I recently developed an app where I pushed 40+ builds out to testers. On every bugfix or new feature, I just had to Build & Archive, save the IPA directly to Dropbox and then give it the public URL. I stashed an HTML file in the same folder with a link to the provisioning profile (also in the public folder—when you add new devices this needs to be updated) and the IPA file. Testers could bookmark the page and grab a new version whenever they wanted (or whenever I notified them).

st3fan 16y ago

Yeah this is how I do builds of Firefox Home. I have a script that is executed by Hudson when we check in new code. THe script then builds the project, makes all the .ipa, .html and .plist files, uploads them to a server and tweets a message to testers with a direct over-the-air install link. People love it.

nolanbrown23 16y ago

I built AppSendr which distributes apps via this method. So far it's proven to be very useful for a wide variety of needs. I don't know why this hasn't been more publicized.

jw84 16y ago

AppMakr.com is a platform that helps anyone build apps and we launched over-the-air one-click install for testing back in November for our users; we call it AppDrop. You can find more info and watch a video here: http://go.appmakr.com/appdrop http://go.appmakr.com/appdrop. AppDrop and similar techniques really helps in reducing the friction of getting an app tested and made. This is a trend that more and more solution providers will jump on.

basil 16y ago

I wrote some bash scripts a couple months ago which automates this process. When Hudson is done building, it uploads the .dSYM directory, signed .ipa, HTML for instructions and legacy zip file for pre-iOS4 users. Check out http://www.oiledmachine.com/posts/2010/10/27/automated-ota-ios-app-distribution.html http://www.oiledmachine.com/posts/2010/10/27/automated-ota-i...

rookie 16y ago

I have been very very impressed with what the guys have at http://www.testflightapp.com http://www.testflightapp.com I have been using it in beta for a while now and it has never been easier to get testers updated. And their UUIDs back to me.

HectorRamos 16y ago

I've been using the TestFlight beta for around a month now (used iOS BetaTester prior to this). I can't recommend them enough and will gladly pay for the service once they launch. It is very, very good. The process used to take 10 minutes, now with TestFlight it's just 20 seconds, literally.