Testing on device without paying $99

[Fjord]

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite 10.10.4

I'm trying to complete the process: develop a stack on Mac -> test it on Mac with simulator -> test it on my iPhone
and obviously I don't want to pay $99 to be able to do that.

I read on <https://developer.apple.com/library/pr ... -CH27-SW3>:

Launch Your App on Devices Using Free Provisioning
If you don’t join the Apple Developer Program, you can still build and run your app on a device using free provisioning. However, the capabilities available to your app are restricted when you don’t belong to the Apple Developer Program (see Supported Capabilities).

Also, I exchanged a few emails with people at Apple Developer Program Support and one of them wrote :

You were right in your email, we do have paid program, however since our WWDC conference last June, you can launch your App on devices using free Provisioning.

I've never been able to get a free "provisioning profile", as required by Livecode, to test my stack on my iPhone. Has anyone here done that? How does one get such a profile?

What I did:
- I was able to run a test stack on the simulator, using Livecode 7.0.6 and Xcode 6.3.
- I followed the links in the web page above, but couldn't add my Apple ID account to Xcode because it insists on my joining the $99 development program.

[Fjord]

Also, I just saw on https://www.bignerdranch.com/blog/flexi ... s-keynote/;

And with a unified Developer Program, Apple ID-based provisioning and Free Provisioning, getting into these platforms is easier than ever before.

[Fjord]

I made some progress:
I found that, using Xcode 7beta, it IS possible to develop and transfer an app to a mobile device for free, without registering as a $99/year developper. A provisioning profile was created in Xcode, which I was also able to see in iPhone Utility. I tried to name my standalone the same name as my Xcode test app (with not much hope) but got an error.
In Livecode standalone Application Settings I don't find how to fill both fields "Internal App ID" and "Profile" for my stacks. The Livecode doc is light if not inexistant on this.
Any pointer or help on this would be appreciated!

[jacque]

I haven't tried it because I already have an Apple developer account, but I believe Apple uses the App ID to match your profile with the app. So set the "internal app ID" to the same ID you used to create the profile. Then choose the profile from the popdown button.

App IDs are in the form of: domain extension.domain.app name

For example: com.hyperactivesw.myApp

[Fjord]

Thanks!
I can build a standalone all right. But when I try to push it to my device in Xcode7 I get

The executable was signed with invalid entitlements.
The entitlements specified in your application's code Signing Entitlements file do not match those specified in your provisioning profile. (0xE8008016).

App IDs are in the form of: domain extension.domain.app name

I suppose the app name would be the name of the stack (or just anything?)
but as I registered as a "free" developer in Xcode7 I never registered a domain name with Apple. Just to make sure, I used my Apple ID to form the App ID but got the same alert above.

Then the profile: I can choose from 2 profiles; these were made automatically for me when I tried to develop a tiny app in Xcode7 and they populated automagically the Stand Alone Application Settings in Livecode. They are in the form of
[indent]IOSTeam Provisioning Profile: none.myApp[/indent]
Just to make sure, I tried to name my stack the same name as the app I had developed in Xcode7 but that didn't work either (I didn't really expect to!)

As I understand it, the problem is, Apple generates provisioning profiles either in Xcode for Xcode apps or in other web tools which are available only to registered paying developers.

Is there another way I can generate a profile?

[jacque]

The name of your stack doesn't matter, it's the internal app ID that's important. The profile and the App ID in Standalone Settings must match. It is also okay to use a wildcard ID in the profile where a specific name is omitted, like this: com.hyperactivesw.* That profile will work with any standalone you create, but the standalone itself must have a full App ID. For example:

A profile with an ID of : com.hyperactivesw.*

will work with apps having these IDs:

com.hyperactivesw.myApp
com.hyperactivesw.myStandalone
com.hyperactivesw.myTerrificApp

You don't need to register a domain with Apple, just make up one for testing purposes (you'll need a real one if you ever actually distribute the app.) The name of the profile itself ("team profile") is also not important; it is just a label that allows you to recognize which profile it is if you have several.

The entitlements are the features you've selected in the iOS standalone settings under Requirements and Restrictions, such as push notifications. I'm not sure why you'd get that error if you didn't select any in either LC or XCode.

Since I don't need to create any free profiles, I'm getting out of my league here. I also haven't yet read about anyone who's tried it, so if you do succeed, let us know.

[Fjord]

In Standalone Application Settings I unchecked every single Requirements or Restriction, got the same error.
Also filled the Internal App ID with fr.blabla.HelloWorld (HelloWord being the name of my stack)

But what IS a Provisioning Profile? a file?
I searched my entire hard disk for a file with the name of a profile I have (IOSTeam Provisioning Profile. none.te) but found none. So where does the pulldown take the 4 profiles I have now, which were all made up by Xcode7 while I was trying some sample Swift code?
Can I manually generate a Provisioning Profile (supposing it's a file)?

[LCNeil]

HI All,

Testing without paying 99$ is possible and I've just created a step by step blog post on the process. This is waiting approval from our social team but will hopefully be available in the next day or two

Kind Regards,

Neil Roger
--
LiveCode Support Team ~ http://www.livecode.com
-

[Simon]

Wow!

Your message contains 4 characters. The minimum number of characters you need to enter is 10.

[Fjord]

Neil,
Good news! I'm impatient!
I also sent an email to Kevin Miller to the same effect 3 days ago.

[LCNeil]

here you go!

https://livecode.com/how-to-create-a-fr ... g-profile/

I hope you enjoy. Let me know if you run into any issues.

Kind Regards,

Neil Roger
--
LiveCode Support Team ~ http://www.livecode.com
-

[jacque]

That's great Neil, thanks very much. I almost wrote to Jana to suggest that since she's requested idea input but you beat me to it.

I'd like to see your blog post turned into a formal lesson as well. I'm sure this question will come up frequently and the lessons are much easier to search than old blog posts.

[LCNeil]

Thanks Jacque Lesson is next on my agenda. I'll create that tomorrow and put up a link

[Fjord]

Great! The new lesson (blog?) works just fine.
This opens new possibilities for all the Livecode fans who want to develop mobile stacks for themselves!

[LCNeil]

Heres a link to the actual lesson for the process -

http://lessons.runrev.com/m/4069/l/426200

but please visit the blog and comment if you have any queries

Kind Regards,

Neil Roger
--
LiveCode Support Team ~ http://www.livecode.com
-