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I have a native iOS application, I want to host it on my own server, and provide a link to download it. I am relatively new to this field and dont have much experience with hosting apps on server. So it would be great if somebody could help me with the steps. Thanks

user3685263
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Why not just let Apple host it in the store?

Consider taking a look at distributing the app using OTA (Over the Air) assuming you have an Enterprise Apple Developer Account.

There's a guide here: http://aaronparecki.com/articles/2011/01/21/1/how-to-distribute-your-ios-apps-over-the-air

Or here: https://longtrieuquang.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/how-to-distribute-your-ios-app-ota-with-enterprise-account/

Ollie
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For various reasons, it is terribly bad practice to host iOS apps on your own. For starters, there is absolutely no quality or signature control. There is also no assurance for the user that what they are downloading is safe.

For this reason, Apple pretty well has it locked down that you HAVE to have your app in THEIR store, and nowhere else.

Even if you could provide the binary, good luck getting people to ever download and install it.

Android is very similar in this respect. I host my own apps from my own servers. But only for development purposes. Production is all handled by Google Play (and Amazon). I never expect anyone will actually download the local version. And I don't blame them.

durbnpoisn
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  • Thank you, yea I need it for dev purposes to show it to my managers. Later on it will be deployed to the app store! – user3685263 Oct 13 '15 at 17:24
  • This is where I probably cannot help. For Android, you have an APK file. You can just put that on a server and download it. There is a local installer on any Android device that can install it. But even then, you need to change you security setting to allow for "non approved sources". I don't think that iOS devices even allow that much. – durbnpoisn Oct 13 '15 at 18:00
  • Of course, self-hosting apps for use with corporation-internal applications might be a valid scenario, where the Apple Store would open you up to Apple's (at times obscure) policies. – Gwaptiva Nov 05 '18 at 17:02