Apple Internal Apps

 

The Apple Developer Enterprise Program allows large organizations to develop and deploy proprietary, internal-use apps to their employees. This program is for specific use cases that require private distribution directly to employees using secure internal systems or through a Mobile Device Management solution. How Apple’s App Store Sparked an Epic Trial: QuickTake. The fight with Epic blew up in August when the game maker told customers it would replace Apple’s in-app purchase system with its own, circumventing Apple’s commissions from add-ons inside of Fortnite. Apple then removed the game, cutting off access for more than a billion customers.

How Can iPhone Users Install Your Internal App Using iTunes?

Most apps are for public use and are available in the Apple and Google app stores, but some people need apps for internal use only in their businesses and those types of apps aren’t typically found in the app stores. In this article we’ll go over how your employees who have iPhones can install your app using iTunes on their computer.

First things first, if you are looking to build an internal app you will need to be on our Business Level plan. You will also need to enroll in the Apple Enterprise Developer program. If you haven’t done so already, you can follow the steps on how to enroll in the Apple Enterprise Developer program here.
Note: The Apple Enterprise Developer program is strictly for internal-use apps only so keep that in mind before you enroll.

Also, before users can install your app, you’ll need to have the .IPA (the .IPA file is the app file for iOS users) file hosted somewhere so that users can download the file to their computers. This can be on your own website, or on a service such as DropBox or Google Drive. How and where you host the file is up to you.

How Users Install the .IPA File Onto Their iPhone

Next, we’ll go over how users install the .IPA file using iTunes on their computer.

Step 1: Have Them Download the .IPA File

Users will first need to download the .IPA file onto their computer from where you’re hosting it.

Step 2: Have Them Open iTunes

Once the file has been downloaded onto their computer or laptop, they will next need to open iTunes. If they don’t already have iTunes installed on their computer or laptop, they can download it here:

Step 3: Have Them Plug-in the Phone They Want to Install the App Onto

Next the user will need to plug their phone into the computer using the USB to Lightning cable that came with their phones. This will allow the computer (or laptop) to sync their phone with iTunes.

Step 4: Have Them Drag and Drop the .IPA File Onto Their iPhone’s Listing In iTunes

Now that they have plugged in their phone it should appear in iTunes in the side menu of the “Library” tab.

Have them locate the .IPA file on their computer, then click and drag it onto their device’s information in iTunes.

This will install the file onto their iPhone, and if they unlock their phone’s home screen, they should see it installing.

Once it has installed, have them eject their phone from iTunes by clicking on the eject symbol next to their phone’s device information.

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Step 5: Have Them Manually Trust Your App On Their iPhone

Now that the app has been installed on their phone, they will need to manually trust the app on their phone. If they need help with how to do this, they can follow the steps laid out in this article.

Apple Internal Apps

Once they’ve manually trusted your app they’ll be able to use it on their phone!
One thing we should note is even though 95% of the content of the app can be updated without a resubmission, if you make changes to the app that would typically require a resubmission such as changes to the app’s icon and loading screens, or if a new build of your app needs to be made, once the new .IPA file is created users will need to uninstall your app from their phones, and reinstall the new version following the steps above, including manually trusting the app on their iPhone, so keep that in mind.

Related Articles

In addition to this article, we recommend checking out the following related articles so that you have a better insight into how to use the system to its fullest advantage:

Still have questions? No problem! Reach out to us and we’d be happy to help :)

This article is intended for system administrators for a school, business, or other organisation.

Your organisation can use the Apple Developer Enterprise Program to create and distribute proprietary enterprise iOS apps for internal use. You must establish trust for these apps before you can open them.

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If you install an app by Mobile Device Management (MDM), trust is automatically established. If you manually install an app, you must also manually establish trust.

Apple recommends that you use an MDM solution to distribute the apps. This method is secure and doesn’t require user interaction. You can also install custom apps from a secure website that your organisation operates. If you don’t install apps from your organisation, download and install apps only from the Apple App Store. This is the best way to protect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Manually install and trust an enterprise app

When you first open an enterprise app that you've manually installed, you see a notification that the developer of the app isn't trusted on your device. You can dismiss this message, but then you can't open the app.

Apple Internal Ios Apps

After you dismiss this message, you can establish trust for the app developer. Tap Settings > General > Profiles or Profiles & Device Management. Under the 'Enterprise App' heading, you see a profile for the developer.

Apple Internal Apps Login

Tap the name of the developer profile under the Enterprise App heading to establish trust for this developer.

Then you see a prompt to confirm your choice. After you trust this profile, you can manually install other apps from the same developer and open them immediately. This developer remains trusted until you use the Delete App button to remove all apps from the developer.

Apple Facebook Internal Apps

You must be connected to the Internet to verify the app developer's certificate when establishing trust. If you're behind a firewall, make sure that it's configured to allow connections to https://ppq.apple.com. If you aren't connected to the Internet when you trust an app, the device displays 'Not Verified' instead. To use the app, connect to the Internet and tap the Verify App button.

Apple App Store Internal Apps

After you verify an app for the first time, your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch must reverify the app developer's certificate periodically to maintain trust. If you can't reverify, you may see a message that verification will expire soon. To maintain trust, connect your device to the Internet, then tap the Verify App button or launch the app.