Install Clients and Standalone Apps on Apple Devices

If you already download in-house applications to your devices from a web site, you can add the pre-configured Client or user Standalone App installation files to your existing web site. If not, or if you prefer to use a different web site, you will need to create a web site that users will be able to access from a browser on their devices.

Sample html pages for an IIS web site are included in the Digitise Apps Product Download and will have been copied to a subfolder below your Digitise Apps install folder if you selected the iOS web installation files component during the Digitise Apps installation, by default:

32-bit Operating Systems:

C:\Program Files\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Installs\iOS

64-bit Operating Systems:

C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Installs\iOS

Sample default.htm and Install.htm files are provided.

The web site must be secured with SSL and requires a valid SSL Certificate from a recognised certification authority, such as GoDaddy or CACert. Refer to Microsoft’s web site for more details about configuring a secure web site, if you need assistance.

In addition, the web site requires the following mime types:

.ipa = application/octet-stream

.plist = text/xml

You will need to provide a link on your web page to the appropriate install manifest file, the .plist file, (not the archive, .ipa, file), e.g.:

<a href=”itms-services://?action=download-manifest&amp;url=https://example.com/webfolder/appname.plist">Install Application</a>

If you are using the supplied files as the basis for your web site, you will need to edit the equivalent line within the install.htm file. Open the file in a text editor and find the default line:

<li><a href=”itms-services://?action=download-manifest&amp;url=[PATHTOPLIST]”>Install Application</a></li>

You need to replace [PATHTOPLIST] in this line with the URL of the .plist file, e.g.:

https://mycomputer.mycomp.co.uk/DigitiseApps/appname.plist

Note that you will need to use ‘https:’ within your URL and not ‘http:’ as the web site is secured by SSL.

You may also want to edit the line above this in the file and replace the default e-mail address, administrator@yourorganisation.co.uk, and the corresponding hyperlink text, by default: Subject=iOS%20Help. Replace the text after the ‘=’ to display different hyperlink text.

Having created your web site, when you are ready to deploy a Client or Standalone App, you need to copy the .plist and .ipa files for that Client or app to the folder which is referenced in the link to the .plist file on your web page. The installation uses two image files and you will also need to copy these to the same web site folder. The supplied image files are called Digitise-Apps.57x57.png and DigitiseApps.512.512.png and can be found in the same folder as the sample web pages – see above. The Digitise-Apps.57x57.png file provides an icon to be used during the installation. You can use the default file supplied for the Client install or, if you prefer, you can provide your own icon (a .png file, 57x57 pixels). If you want to use your own file, copy that file into the same folder as the supplied image files. You can use the same name as the supplied file or give it a file name of your choice.

Having copied your files, you now need to edit the .plist file to point to these files.

The .plist file is an XML file which can be edited in a standard text editor.

Open the .plist file and look for the following section:

<dict>

<key>kind</key>

<string>software-package</string>

<key>url</key>

<string>http://serveraddress/path/appname.ipa</string>

</dict>

You need to edit the line <string>http://serveraddress/path/appname.ipa</string> and replace serveraddress/path/appname.ipa with the URL pointing to the .ipa file for the app you want to be installed. If you are installing a Digitise Apps Client, the appname will be DigitiseApps. If you are installing a Standalone App, it will be the name of the Project with any spaces removed. Remember, you will also need to edit the ‘http:’ at the beginning of the URL to read ‘https:’.

Below this section of the file, you will see two similar sections which point to the two image files. You need to edit both sections to insert the correct URL to point to the image files and replace the ‘http:’ with ‘https:’. Note in the downloaded .plist file, by default for a pre-configured Client the image files are named DigitiseApps.512.512.png and Digitise-Apps.57x57.png and for a Standalone App <appname>.512.512.png and <appname>.57x57.png.

If you are installing a pre-configured Client, you don't need to change the file names here, as the default file names included in the .plist file match those of the supplied files, unless you have supplied your own icon file, in place of the supplied Digitise-Apps.57x57.png file, and you have given the file a different file name, in which case you will need to change the file name here as well as the 'http' scheme and URL.

If you are installing a Standalone App, the name of the supplied files won't match the file names included in the .plist file. In this case, you can either rename the actual files to match the names specified in the .plist file or you can edit the names in the .plist file to match the names of the supplied files, DigitiseApps.512.512.png and Digitise-Apps-57x57.png. If you supply your own icon file, and you give it a different name to the supplied file, you will need to enter that file name instead of Digitise-Apps-57x57.png.

Having done that, you can also edit the title which will be displayed during the install, if you want to. Look for lines at the end of the file which look something like these:

<dict>

<key>bundle-identifier</key>

<string>mycomp-ltd..appname</string>

<key>bundle-version</key>

<string>10.8.0.380</string>

<key>kind</key>

<string>software</string>

<key>title</key>

<string>appname Version 10.8.0.380</string>

</dict>

To change the title, edit the line below the line <key>title</key> and replace the value with your required title, e.g. <string>Digitise Apps iOS Development Client</string> or insert the Standalone App name instead. Make sure you don’t edit the bundle-identifier text otherwise your Client or Standalone App won’t install.

When you have finished configuring the web site, to download the Client or Standalone App to a device simply load a browser on the device and point it at the appropriate web page from which you can choose the link and download the software. It will automatically be installed on the device. If, during the install, you get a message saying that apps from your organisation are not trusted on the device, tap the appropriate button in the message to trust apps from your organisation and allow the install to continue.

 

As an alternative to installing pre-configured Clients and Standalone Apps from a web site, you can use Apple’s iTunes utility to download and install them directly to an iOS device connected to a USB port on a PC:

1. If you don’t already have iTunes installed on your PC, download and install the latest version from Apple’s web site. At the time of writing you could download it from:

   https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/download

2. To run the utility simply connect your iOS device to a USB port on your PC. iTunes should automatically load. Alternatively, you can run it from your PC’s app view or Start menu or from the desktop icon if you chose to create one when installing iTunes.

   If this is the first time you have run iTunes, you will need to accept the licence agreement and click Continue when asked if you want to allow your computer to access information on the connected device.

   On the device itself, you will be asked if you trust the connected computer. Tap trust to continue.

3. At the iTunes Home page click on the device icon, e.g. , just below the menu bar.

4. Locate your device’s name in the left-hand panel.

5. On your PC locate the appropriate ‘.ipa’ install file for the Client or Standalone App you want to install in Windows File Explorer.

6. Click and drag the ‘.ipa’ file onto the iTunes window and drop it on your device’s name.

7. If this doesn’t work, right-click on the app/Client’s ‘.ipa’ file in Windows File Explorer and choose Copy. Right-click on Music below On My Device in iTunes and choose Paste.

8. The Client or Standalone App will be downloaded to your connected device and installed. If, during the install, you get a message saying that apps from your organisation are not trusted on the device, tap the appropriate button to trust apps from your organisation and allow the install to continue.

   The latest version of iTunes, unlike some earlier versions, no longer displays a list of downloaded apps. You will know the Client or app has installed on the device when the appropriate icon fully appears on the device’s Home Screen.

 

If you have listed a store app on the Apple App Store, your users can download and install the app in the standard manner for the App Store.