iPhone Game Development

Loading Devices

Assuming you have finished the process of signing up for the paid developer program, you are now authorized to load applications such as the “Hello World” example onto an iPhone using Xcode. However, you have to jump through a couple more hoops before you can do this.

Since the iPhone is a secured platform, a lot of bookkeeping is required before you can execute your code on the device. You have to sign builds, Apple has to trust your signature, and the device you are loading has to be provisioned for self-signed applications.

You manage signatures, certificates, and provisioning profiles through the online Program Portal on Apple’s website. Once you are a paid developer, you can find it at http://developer.apple.com/iphone/manage/overview/index.action.

The portal has step-by-step guides for each section—generating Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs), creating a distribution profile, adding a device ID, and so on. However, this can be a complex process, so we will go over the general concepts.

Certificates and Profiles

To publish your application to a phone or to the App Store, you need two signed profiles. One is a developer profile, which you use while developing and testing your app. The other is a distribution profile, which you use when sending your finished application off to the App Store to be published. In a corporate setting, the lead programmer might keep track of the developer profile, whereas the production manager might keep track of the distribution profile. ...