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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard you can't install apps you made on your own iPhone without a $99 a year developer account, even if you're not going to p

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard you can't install apps you made on your own iPhone without a $99 a year developer account, even if you're not going to publish anything on the appstore. That seems unnecessary. Anyone know why that's the case?

dantiberian 14y ago
That is correct, only people with developer accounts can install apps on an iPhone. I couldn't say why this is the case.
- jchrisa 14y ago
  If all you needed to install custom apps on iPhone was a toolchain, people would embed it in apps sold outside of the app store. Next thing you know theres a massive end run around the apple revenue model.
  - dantiberian 14y ago
    That was my thought but I couldn't articulate it as well as you did.
    - amartya916 14y ago
      Off-topic: By all means, charge the $99 for distributing on the App Store, but I am not really sure why Apple doesn't allow for Apple ID level verification for personal apps. Something similar to the mobile provision they use right now, e.g. having Xcode generate a binary that is associated with the same Apple ID as on the iPhone.
      - Turing_Machine 14y ago
        I don't think that would work because setting up a shared Apple ID using a throwaway webmail account would be trivial. Each one would be good for multiple devices, and running a build script to generate multiple binaries for multiple accounts wouldn't be all that hard. They used to ask for a credit card, but I believe that's no longer required (if it were, you could just use a prepaid gift card).
  - neilparikh 14y ago
    Surely there's other ways to prevent that? Like making the fee one time if you don't plan to publish to the app store. Ah well, I guess I'll have to fork over that $99 when I want to install my own apps. Also, if I install an app with a developer account, but don't renew it the next year, will my app still be usable, and will I be able to update it?

dantiberian 14y ago

That is correct, only people with developer accounts can install apps on an iPhone. I couldn't say why this is the case.

jchrisa 14y ago
If all you needed to install custom apps on iPhone was a toolchain, people would embed it in apps sold outside of the app store. Next thing you know theres a massive end run around the apple revenue model.
- dantiberian 14y ago
  That was my thought but I couldn't articulate it as well as you did.
  - amartya916 14y ago
    Off-topic: By all means, charge the $99 for distributing on the App Store, but I am not really sure why Apple doesn't allow for Apple ID level verification for personal apps. Something similar to the mobile provision they use right now, e.g. having Xcode generate a binary that is associated with the same Apple ID as on the iPhone.
    - Turing_Machine 14y ago
      I don't think that would work because setting up a shared Apple ID using a throwaway webmail account would be trivial. Each one would be good for multiple devices, and running a build script to generate multiple binaries for multiple accounts wouldn't be all that hard. They used to ask for a credit card, but I believe that's no longer required (if it were, you could just use a prepaid gift card).
- neilparikh 14y ago
  Surely there's other ways to prevent that? Like making the fee one time if you don't plan to publish to the app store. Ah well, I guess I'll have to fork over that $99 when I want to install my own apps. Also, if I install an app with a developer account, but don't renew it the next year, will my app still be usable, and will I be able to update it?