iOS App Distribution 4 Core Concepts. Make abstract concepts concrete.

I tell you a secret. Even if you don’t know these 4 concepts, you won’t have a problem distributing apps. But if you want to be top developers, you must know these concepts. When you apply advanced concepts like CI/CD, these concepts will help you a lot.

Certificates

• A guarantee that developers can be trusted by Apple
• Certain software runs on Apple’s hardware, requiring Apple’s permission
• This permission allows developers to generate and run certificates and install them in xcode to run the software

App Id

• Identifier that distinguishes apps from Apple

Device

• Registering the UUID of the device. (Not necessary if your goal is to launch an app without testing)
• Device registration is up to 100 devices, and it can be deleted only once a year. (When creating a new account contract)

Provisioning Profiles

• The certificate is responsible for trusting the software, and provisioning profiles ensure that each “device” (individual user) can trust the “developer”
• “Bundling Certificates, Devices, and AppIDs together” for app store or test distribution
• Used to compile the app on the device (At this time, the AppID registered on the Apple developer page and the Bundle ID set in the app to be compiled must match for installation)

Provisioning Profile serves to unite three properties into one.

Provisioning profile integrates:

• Who (Certificate)
• Where (Device)
• What (App ID)