When using an enterprise app store, you can use Applaud Cloud to package the iOS and Android app with your details ready for deployment through your MDM or MAM.
Prerequisites
- An active Enterprise-tier subscription with Applaud.
- An Apple Developer account. You likely already have one, so you will need to liaise with the relevant department to obtain access or work with the appropriate people to help you. If you are only deploying on Android, you don't need this.
- Access to an Apple Mac computer with an up-to-date version of OSX. You need this to generate the iOS certificates. If you already have an Apple Developer Account, there's probably someone with a Mac who can help you. If you are only deploying on Android, you don't need this.
Procedures
Make sure you follow these steps with care to ensure the app installs without error.
Create the iOS certificate and provisioning profile
Create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
- On a Mac computer, open the Keychain Access app, open the menu and select Certificate Assistant: Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority.
- Enter the User Email Address and Common Name.
Make sure these match the details on your Apple Developer account.
- Select the Saved to disk option and to save the Certificate Signing Request, select Continue. Keep this file ready for the next step.
Create the iOS Certificate
- Sign in to your Apple Developer account and select Certificates, IDs > Profiles.
- Next to Certificates, select the plus (+) and select iOS Distribution (App Store and Ad Hoc).
- Choose the Certificate Signing Request saved from the previous step.
- To download the certificate, in the top-right, select Download.
- Double-click the downloaded .cer file onto the Mac computer. This should open in Keychain Access.
- Select both the private and public key, right-click, and select Export 2 items...
- Save the file as a .p12 file. and choose a secure password. You'll need to enter this into Applaud Cloud later when building the app.
Create the iOS Provisioning Profile
- Sign in to your Apple Developer account and select Certificates, IDs > Profiles.
- On the left-hand menu, select Profiles, and next to Profiles, select the plus (+).
- Under the Distribution section, select App Store.
- From the list, choose an App ID and select Continue. If you haven't already created an Identifier, create one now.
- Select the certificate created in the previous step and select Continue
- Give the provisioning profile a name, for example, "Applaud," and select Continue.
- Download the provisioning profile (.mobileprovision file) and keep this safe for a later step.
Create a push notification certificate
- Create a new Certificate Signing Request following the same steps as earlier.
- Sign in to your Apple Developer account and select Certificates, IDs > Profiles.
- Next to Certificates, select the plus (+) and under Services, select Apple Push Notification service SSL (Sandbox & Production).
- From the list, choose the App ID and select Continue.
- Choose the Certificate Signing Request saved in the previous step.
- To download the certificate, in the top-right, select Download.
- Double-click the downloaded .cer file onto the Mac computer. This should open in Keychain Access.
- Select both the private and public key, right-click, and select Export 2 items....
- Save the file as a .p12 file. Next, it will ask you to choose a password. Please choose a secure password and remember. You'll need to enter this into Applaud Cloud later when building the app.
Design your app icons and choose a name
You will likely need to liaise with your brand team to help you design the app icons and create the necessary assets for you. You will need:
- An app icon image. This is what's shown on the user's home screen when they install the app. This must be exactly 1024 x 1024 in size and exported as a png.
- An app splash screen. This is shown temporarily when the user first launches the app and is waiting for it to load. This must be 2734 x 2734 in size and exported as a png.
- An app name. If you don't have a brand name already, you might opt to call it 'Applaud.' Keep this to 11 characters or less.
Save these details because you will need them later.
Ensure you have the hostname of your production system ready
When you build the apps, you can choose to build them with the hostname pre-configured. This means that the app automatically connects to the host so that the user isn't asked where they want to connect. You will need:
- The hostname of your production system.
- Optionally, the hostname of your test systems. You can still test the app by building a version with no host and then asking your users to enter the hostname on the connect page.
Build and download the apps
- First, in your Applaud tenant on the Admin home page, select the Mobile app.
- Then, in the App title box, type the title of your app that you agreed in step 3.
- In the Identify your app on the app stores box, enter the App ID you defined in step 2. Ensure this is entered the same. Even the smallest difference will result in errors when you attempt to install the app.
- Select UPLOAD YOUR ICON and UPLOAD YOUR SPLASH SCREEN to add your icon and splash screen you created in step 3.
- Select UPLOAD IOS CERTIFICATE and upload the file in p12 format you created in step 2b. Make sure to enter the iOS certificate password.
- Select UPLOAD IOS PROVISIONING PROFILE and upload the file you created in step 2c with the extension .mobileprovision.
- Select UPLOAD IOS CERTIFICATE to upload the push notification file in p12 format you created in step 2d and enter the iOS push notification certificate password.
- Add in the production host Title and URL. You can also add the test hosts you prepared in step 4.
- Save your settings.
When this is saved, you can choose to download the native app at a specified version using your host and platform choice. You will be emailed with the download link to the app when it's ready.
Deploy the app through your enterprise app store
Once you have built and downloaded the app, you will have the download links for your iOS (.ipa) and Android (.apk) apps. You will then need to follow the instructions by your MDM or MAM vendor to deploy the app through your enterprise app store.