Try it Yourself: Create a Mac Archive

After you have a project in Xcode, you can create an archive for the App Store (either one of them) or to distribute. The process is slightly different for Mac and iOS apps. This is the Mac process:

1. Build and test your app.

2. When you are satisfied, choose Product, Archive to build the archive. If you have syntax or build errors, you are not able to proceed.

3. When the archive has been created, the window shown in Figure C.1 opens to show you the new archive and any previous ones.

FIGURE C.1 Open the project archive window.

4. Select the archive you want to work with.

5. Click Distribute to build a sharable copy.

6. For sharing with friends and colleagues, choose Application from the sheet shown in Figure C.2.

FIGURE C.2 Create the application.

If you have a paid Mac developer account, choose Export Developer ID-signed Application. Otherwise, the app can be run only by a user with Anywhere chosen in the download preferences of the General tab in Security & Privacy in System Preferences.

7. Name the application and select the place you want it to be stored. You now have an application that you can share with friends and colleagues.

Try it Yourself: Create an iOS Archive

The process is basically the same as for a Mac app, but you must have registered your iOS device and perhaps the devices of friends to whom you want to send the app. Follow these steps:

1. Build and test your app.

2. Make sure you are building for an iOS device and not for a simulator, as shown in Figure C.3.

FIGURE C.3 Make sure you are building for an iOS device.

3. You can validate the archive or submit it to the App Store. You need to provide your iTunes Connect credentials.

If you are a registered developer, you can distribute your apps to up to 100 users for testing. You need to have their device ids so that you can attach them to the profile for the app in Xcode. (See developer.apple.com for more information about working with an iOS device.)