Install .ipa to iPad with or without iTunes

Question

I have the .ipa from PhoneGap build and I need to test it. I got provisioning profile from Developer account.

So my question is: can I directly put my <

Answer 1

iPhone doesn't allow to install an ipa directly, so provide a direct link to the ipa file is useless. That's why some people uses external services that provide a link or a qcode to install the ipa.

Another option, that nobody told in the other answers to this question and that it's completely independent from iTunes or any external service, is to create your own script that generates an installation link and automatically sends it to your mobile (for example by email). I created a such script for my personal use, that:

1. creates the html file;
2. creates the plist file;
3. copies ipa, html and plist files to my server;
4. sends me the link.

Because I work on Linux, I created a Bash script. You can use any other scripting language, but it's important to know what to put in the html and plist files.

This is the part of my script that generates the html and plist content. I hope that it's enough self-explanatory:

sha=`sha1sum ${ipa} | awk '{ print $1 }'`
output=${sha}-${AppName}-${version}.ipa
html=${sha}-${AppName}-${version}.html
plist=${sha}-${AppName}-${version}.plist

# Generates html
echo "
 
 
 
 
    
    
    
    
 
 

 
   

     Install 
 

 " > ${html}

# Generate plist
echo "



    items
    
        
            assets
            
                
                    kind
                    software-package
                    url
                    ${serverUrl}${output}
                
                
                    kind
                    full-size-image
                    needs-shine
                    
                    url
                    ${serverUrl}Icon%402x.png
                
                
                    kind
                    display-image
                    needs-shine
                    
                    url
                    ${serverUrl}Icon.png
                
            
            metadata
            
                bundle-identifier
                ${bundle}
                bundle-version
                ${version}
                kind
                software
                title
                ${AppName}
            
        
    

" > ${plist}

For a simple example you can also see: https://github.com/Saleh7/ipa-install