Chapter 10 Appendices 84
About the wireless manifest le
The manifest le is an XML plist. It’s used by an iOS device to nd, download, and install apps
from your web server. The manifest le is created by Xcode, using information you provide when
you share an archived app for enterprise distribution.
The following elds are required:
•
URL: The fully qualied HTTPS URL of the app (.ipa) le.
•
display-image: A 57-by-57-pixel PNG image that’s displayed during download and installation.
Specify the image’s fully qualied URL.
•
full-size-image: A 512-by-512-pixel PNG image that represents the app in iTunes.
•
bundle-identier: Your app’s bundle identier, exactly as specied in your Xcode project.
•
bundle-version: Your app’s bundle version, as specied in your Xcode project.
•
title: The name of the app, which is displayed during download and installation.
For Newsstand apps only, the following elds are required:
•
newsstand-image: A full-size PNG image for display on the Newsstand shelf.
•
UINewsstandBindingEdge and UINewsstandBindingType: These keys must match those in your
Newsstand app’s info.plist.
•
UINewsstandApp: Indicates that the app is a Newsstand app.
Optional keys you can use are described in the sample manifest le. For example, you can use
the MD5 keys if your app le is large and you want to ensure download integrity beyond the
error checking normally done for TCP communications.
You can install more than one app with a single manifest le, by specifying additional members
of the items array.
A sample manifest le is included at the end of this appendix.
Construct your website
Upload these items to an area of your website that your authenticated users can access:
•
The app (.ipa) le
•
The manifest (.plist) le
Your website can be a single page that links to the manifest le. When a user taps a web link,
the manifest le is downloaded, which triggers the downloading and installation of the apps
it describes.
Here’s a sample link:
<a href="itms-services://?action=download-
manifest&url=https://example.com/manifest.
plist">Install App</a>
Don’t add a web link to the archived app (.ipa). The .ipa le is downloaded by the device when
the manifest le is loaded. Although the protocol portion of the URL is itms-services, the iTunes
Store isn’t involved in this process.
Also make sure your .ipa le is accessible over HTTPS and that your site is signed with a
certicate that’s trusted by iOS. Installation fails if a self-signed certicate doesn’t have a trusted
anchor and can’t be validated by the iOS device.
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