iPhone Application Development
July 20, 2009 6:06 PM   Subscribe

Can I load an iPhone app I programmed onto my own phone without paying $99?

I programmed an iPhone application for my own personal use. Is it possible to load the app onto my own phone without paying the $99/year for an Apple Developer license?
posted by gocubbies to Computers & Internet (10 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Use Jailbreak.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:08 PM on July 20, 2009


Response by poster: How about without jailbreaking? : )
posted by gocubbies at 6:09 PM on July 20, 2009


You need a provisioning profile to put your app on the device even for testing, and provisioning profiles can only be created on Apple's developer site. I think your answer is "not without jailbreaking."
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:13 PM on July 20, 2009


I'm pretty sure that jailbreaking and paying Apple are your only two options.
posted by hattifattener at 6:13 PM on July 20, 2009


Being able to install software on your iBlob without an Apple certificate is kind of the point of jailbreaking.
posted by flabdablet at 6:13 PM on July 20, 2009


Find a friend with a license to provision it for you?
posted by crickets at 6:19 PM on July 20, 2009


You could probably inject your app into the ipsw and do a restore? Also I think there was a file to replace to allow unsigned code to run. Other than that, give a developer your source and have them build it for you.
posted by wongcorgi at 8:18 PM on July 20, 2009


In addition to jailbreaking or paying $99, you might be able to find someone who already is a developer, have them build it, then add you as a tester to their profile. At least that's what I hear you can do but frankly, it's more that $99 of hassle.
posted by chairface at 9:09 PM on July 20, 2009


Depending on what the app does, why not put it on the App Store? You might get lucky and make that money back.
posted by reductiondesign at 10:32 PM on July 20, 2009


Next time, get an Android phone.

You can:

1. Pay for an official deployment certificate from Apple
2. Archive your project and send it, along with your device ID, to another developer with a legitimate developer license, who can build a package that you can install on your phone
3. Jailbreak your device and install applications through their homebrew mechanisms

Buying an Android phone will not let you install iPhone applications, so that will not answer your question.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:36 PM on July 20, 2009 [3 favorites]


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