Deploy an iOS Ad Hoc app

Deploy your application to limited registered devices.

Apple makes it easy to deploy applications to registered devices with an Ad Hoc Provisioning Profile.

First you need to enroll in an Apple Developer account ($99/year). You can also choose Ad Hoc deployment if you have registered to Apple Developer Enterprise Program ($299/year)

You must register all your iOS devices from your Apple Developer platform using the UDID identifier for each device.

There is no validation from the App Store teams.

Register iOS devices

Connect your iOS device to a Mac
Open iTunes
Click on your device icon
Click on the serial number to display the UDID number. Make a right click to copy this number.
Enter this UDID number in the Devices section of your Apple Developer interface.

Create an iOS Ad Hoc Provisioning Profile

The procedure to generate an IPA remains the same. While you are creating your certificate (step 2), select App Store and Ad Hoc in the Production section. The only difference is at the creation of your Provisioning Profile (step 4): you should select Ad Hoc in the Distribution list.

Follow these steps:

Step 2: Generate iOS distribution certificate
Step 3: Declare your app with Apple Developer
Step 4: Create the provisioning profile

At the end please choose the Devices to associate to this certificate. You’ll find here the pre-registered devices. Only those devices can download the application.

Deploy an iOS Ad Hoc app

Ad Hoc deployment is similar to In House deployment: once the IPA is created, it must be deployed using a secure server. This is how final users (the ones who own the authorized devices) will download this app.