« first day (989 days earlier)      last day (4013 days later) » 

bmike
bmike
3:03 PM
2
Q: Can I get an app I am building downloaded to an iPhone for free

H. FerrenceI have Googled over and over and cannot get an answer to a fundamental question I have. To get an app downloaded onto an iPhone, do I need to open an apple account of some sort and pay for the account or is there a way to host the app (for free) and get it downloaded to an iPhone for free? Thank...

applications hosts
Hi @h.ferrence
(or is this your chat user?) @h.ferrence
 
Mark
Mark
The key words to this are not loaded but publish - as in "How can I publish an app for free" possibly adding to a limited set of people
 
bmike
bmike
Also how are you @Mark?
 
Mark
Mark
Hi fine :)
 
bmike
bmike
@Mark You are right - there are tons of loaded terms.
Publish
App
Free
I love the "free" qualifier since it so easily bypasses the core question. How much value do you place on your time?
Nothing is free if you consider you don't have unlimited time to research everything as deeply as you wish.
 
Mark
Mark
The point I was making was the " how do apps get loaded on iOS" misses the issue - the issue is if if I have writtem an app how can I get someone else to use t. Loading caould refere to any app
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
3:12 PM
@bmike are you there?
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence I am and thank you for registering for chat.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
so can I get an app onto an iphone for free somehow?
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence Are you using Xcode to make a native app?
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
I haven't even started the devel. I will look into doing that when I ready to build. When I Google, all that sort of stuff comes up - no problem. My question is way so basic it ain't even funny. Do I need to host my app at Apple on a paid-for basis or can I get my app onto an iPhone for free somehow
other than the jailbreak method you mentioned in my Stakoverflow post
 
bmike
bmike
@mark You should undelete your answer.
It's the actual answer as I'm seeing it now.
Look at my comments here...
1
A: How do apps get loaded on iOS for free

bmikeWeb apps are easy, you just need to use Apple Configurator or the iPhone configuration utility to package the URL and add it to the home screen. You can also perform this from mobile safari directly. You only need a web server and there are plenty of free web services if you don't want to host t...

 
Mark
Mark
3:21 PM
Why that is how a user can load a free app. It does not answer how a developer can release an app that is free
for other people to use?
 
bmike
bmike
@Mark It should say nothing is free so you decide if you want to spend $100 to have apple guide your learning.
It would then say, if you really want to spend no money, jailbreak the device and load whatever you want.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
exaclty @Mark. I'm am the provider. Can I provide my app for free somehow?
 
Mark
Mark
Sorry my answer is re a user getting apps. The question is what a developer does which I have not answered
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence Yes - load your app to dropbox and tell the world to load it.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
I mertely want to know if I need to spend money and how much. Like, is free an option to do it or not?
 
bmike
bmike
3:23 PM
Their OS will refuse to install it unless it's signed properly or the device it jailbroken.
@H.Ferrence No - if you won't jailbreak each and every device, you need to pay Apple one way or another.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
Ah. So I can build an app and put it on dropbox and the world can load it onto their iPhone?
 
Mark
Mark
ie follow my and the other answer you can get like twitter
@H.Ferrence no only those who have jailbroken it will
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence it should read "… and put it on dropbox and the world can load it onto their already jailbroken iPhone"
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
Ok. I think the answer is "if you do not want to jailbreak an iPhone, the only way to get an app onto an iPhone is to publish it with Apple and there is a cost involved in doing that."
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence Yes.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
3:26 PM
Now I just need to ding out what Apple charges to do that. Wondering if there are various "hosting" plans. That is now my next step of research
 
bmike
bmike
Did you read my answer and focus on the center part? 
In general, iOS supports four major ways to load native applications. The first three require Apple to be involved. The fourth bypasses the code checks and allows unsigned apps.

Through the iTunes App Store once the app is signed directly by Apple
As a paid developer by signing the app with a developer certificate (which itself is signed indirectly by Apple)
As an enterprise customer by signing the app with an enterprise certificate (which itself is signed indirectly by Apple)
Jailbreak the device to load apps that are not signed by Apple (directly or indirectly)
 
Mark
Mark
@bmike as you say focus on the central part - your answer should really be this can say that you need to pay Apple for the IOS develper for the first 3 - you are talking about the mechanism (code signing) not the end result which is what I think the OP wants (and how do you do 1 without doing 2?)
 
bmike
bmike
@Mark hee hee - I was off editing that into my answer
 
Mark
Mark
On reread keeping the first 2 WebApps paragraphs makes sense as well
@bmike and the OP shows what he wanted as an answer ;)
 
bmike
bmike
@Mark Perfect.
We'll find a canonical question later.
the site needs some good Q&A to cover this and leaving that there won't harm anything.
@H.Ferrence Use dropbox. It's free
@H.Ferrence I edited that info into what's becoming a very large answer. Don't worry if it's not what you wanted. I'll likely move it to another question if yours is more narrow.
 
H. Ferrence
H. Ferrence
3:47 PM
using dropbox is free but you need to jailbreak the iphone in order to download, correct?
"Did you read my answer and focus on the center part?" I did read it but there was no mention of cost - which is the whole crux of my question. Cost/no-cost may be implied to you, but not to me. At this stage I am simply looking for what are my free options and what are my have-to-pay-for options.
 
bmike
bmike
@H.Ferrence You are right. I intentionally avoided costs since I wanted the answer to be short.
It's not, so I added the costs in. (and even sorted them)
$0, $100, $100+Apple's Rules, $300+a lot of company expenses
 
 
2 hours later…
bmike
bmike
5:43 PM
All - I've just closed a few "Which Mac to X" questions as off-topic.
Feel free to join us on Ask Different Meta if you disagree with any of those instances where I've drawn the "shopping for hardware" line.
 

« first day (989 days earlier)      last day (4013 days later) »