How can I get an iPhone app to a client for review prior to public release?

Question

I need to show an app I have developed to a client for review prior to its submission to the app store.

The client has an iPhone but not a mac on which to run xCode.
I have a personal (not company) iPhone developer account.
The client is too far away to visit in person.

What are my options?

Answer 1

If the client has iTunes, you can provision a build of your app specific to the client's iPhone ID (visible in iTunes). They just need to drag it into iTunes and then install it on their phone.

Plenty of docs about this in the Apple iPhone Developer site. Good luck!

Answer 2

I recommend having the client use the iphone configuration utility to install/uninstall early builds of the app. I am using this with my team and it lets you get direct access to the phone's console and error logs which is super handy when you're in the early stages of development. It also lets you manage the install/uninstall of the app and see the explicit version that you are installing in a much easier to manage way than itunes does.

Answer 3

Option #1:

• Login to the iPhone developer portal website.
• Add their iPhone UDID to the list of devices.
• Generate a provisioning profile that includes your own test phone and theirs. Download the file (ends with .mobileprovision).
• Double-click it to install it on your development machine.
• Quit and restart XCode, then set your code signing identity to the name of this profile.
• Build the binary.
• In the left side of XCode "Groups & Files" bar look for Products (may need to expand the folder).
• Select {yourapp}.app. Right click and choose 'Reveal in Finder.'
• Now take that .app file and the .mobileprovision file you downloaded, zip them both up and send it to the client.
• They will need to unzip the archive, then drag-drop the .app and .mobileprovision onto their iTunes and sync the phone. Your app should show up and run.
• The portal site has more detailed instructions, but this is basically it in a nutshell.

Option #2:

• Sign up with a screen sharing service like WebEx or glance.net (both work on Mac and Windows machines). Run the app in the simulator as they watch the screencast on their machine. If it's in the early stages of development, this is probably much more useful since they can give live feedback. In later stages, sending them the app is probably more useful. The nice thing about screen sharing is that they can take over the mouse and click around and explore while you're there to explain things.

Option #3:

• Get a screen-recording app like SnapzPro or ScreenFlow and run the app in the simulator while recording a voice-over of its features. Send them a link to the movie. This is pretty useful if you're walking them through all the features. It's also handy if more than one person at a time needs to review the material. The advantage over #2 is that they can watch it over and over on their own time and take notes.

Depending on the stage of development, #3 is probably best in early stages, #2 in the middle, and #3 in the final steps.