Overview

Table of Contents

Introduction

Building and distributing your branded iOS app involves a larger number of interdependent steps. The process is detailed in this chapter over several pages. Follow these instructions exactly in order to have a branded iOS app that you can distribute to your users.

Preparation

  • A macOS computer with Xcode (free download) and Keychain Access (included in Utilities). This computer is essential to the entire process and will be linked to your iOS developer account. You will use it to create and store distribution certificates and to upload your app to iTunes Connect.

  • An iOS developer account on developer.apple.com/ios, which costs $99 per year. Or an Enterprise account for $299/yr. The developer account limits you to testing on 100 devices of each type (Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) which must be registered in your account. The Enterprise account allows testing on unlimited, unregistered devices.

  • An ownCloud Enterprise subscription, with the ownBrander app enabled on customer.owncloud.com

  • Some iPhones or iPads for testing your app. Again, if you have the $99 developer account each device must have its UDID registered in your account on developer.apple.com.

Procedure

You need the Apple tools to build eight provisioning profiles (4 ad hoc and 4 app store) and a P12 certificate. You will email the four ad hoc profiles and the P12 certificate to support@owncloud.com after building your app with the ownBrander app on customer.owncloud.com. You must create the provisioning profiles and P12 certificate first, before building your app, because you must supply a unique bundle ID and an app group to build your app. These are created in your account on developer.apple.com, and with Keychain Access on your Mac computer.

We use the 4 ad hoc provisioning profiles and the P12 certificate to complete building your app, and then in 24-48 hours your new branded app is loaded into your account on customer.owncloud.com.

The next step is to test your app. When it passes testing, the final step is to upload it to your iTunes Connect account for distribution.

You will need a lot of graphics for building your app and for your iTunes store listing, in specific sizes and file formats. The ownBrander web app and iTunes detail all the image specifications you will need.