Chapter 12. Building for the device and the App Store

Running your app on a device

This is exciting! You’ve written a polished program that runs efficiently and is free of bugs. But although the simulator is great, it’s no substitute for using your program on an actual phone. For example, there are some things like the GPS that you can’t test well in the simulator. This chapter will explain how to install your app on your phone and distribute it to others for testing. It will also lead you to the Holy Grail: submitting your app to the Apple App Store.

The first step in installing your app on an actual device is getting a developer certificate. Developer certificates are encrypted files that act like IDs. They allow Apple, Xcode, and iOS devices to know that you are who you say you are and that your program was written by you. To test your app on the simulator, you only need a free Apple developer account; but in order to install your app on an iPhone, you’ll need to join the iOS Developer Program to get a developer certificate. Membership in the program is $99 and can be purchased through Apple’s website: https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/. You may have to wait up to two days for an activation email from Apple.

Submitting your app to the App Store

Congratulations!