Making a Prettier Adhoc Bundle
Creating an .ipa file is a quick way to make your Adhoc releases easier to install and nicer to look at, but how to make them (or even that it’s possible) isn’t common knowledge. Here’s a quick tutorial:
The underlying problem that is solved by creating an .ipa file to distribute Adhoc iPhone applications is the “generic application” icon left in iTunes.
While it’s okay for betas, it’s not really providing the best experience possible, and it doesn’t look as nice as it could. The better way to send out Adhoc builds is as an .ipa bundle.
To do this, first create a folder called “Payload” (all naming in this blog post is important — double check your filenames!) Inside this folder, place your Adhoc .app file (the file you would normally send out on its own).
Next, take the 512px version of your icon, and convert it to TIFF format. Save it as “iTunesArtwork” with no file extension. Place it in the same folder as your Payload folder, but not inside it.
Select your iTunesArtwork file and your Payload folder, and compress them to a .zip file. Rename this .zip file to whatever your app’s name is, and give it a .ipa extension, rather than .zip.
Congratulations, you’ve got your .ipa file! Not only will your icon now show up in iTunes’ “Applications” section, but installing your app is now only a double-click, rather than dragging it into iTunes manually.
Much better.
