The application-identifier entitlement is not formatted correctly - iOS Xcode 4

Question

I've migrated to Xcode 4, and can no longer submit my application to the App Store. Every time I submit either via Xcode or Application Loader, I get the same error:

"the application-identifier entitlement is not formatted correctly ... "

Googling this points to the Entitlements.plist file where the application-identifier key should match my application bundle ID: J1234567885.com.domain.appName for example

Thing is, it is. The bundle identifier in my app.plist and in the Entitlements.plist are identical! What am I doing wrong? Here's my Entitlements.plist file (which has never changed looking back):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>application-identifier</key>
    <string>J1234567885.com.domain.appName</string>
    <key>get-task-allow</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

I've changed the identifier above, but just to give you an idea...

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 25 '11 at 20:18

I had the same problem described by mootymoots. I solved this problem by adding a few additional params to Entitlements.plist.

I'm using TestFlight to deploy the app to a test group, so I felt it important to closely follow TestFlight's instructions for generating an IAP using Xcode 4. Completely removing Entitlements.plist seemed like a hack rather than a solution.

When I used the "New File..." wizard to create the Entitlements.plist, it generated the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>get-task-allow</key>
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

When I tried creating an archive, it threw the "the application-identifier entitlement is not formatted correctly ..." warning.

Through some Googling, I realized the plist needed two additional params with Xcode variables as their values. See the snippet below for the inclusion of application-identifier and keychain-access-groups. (I do not believe the latter had anything to do with the issue I was having, though)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>get-task-allow</key>
  <false/>
  <key>application-identifier</key>
  <string>$(AppIdentifierPrefix)$(CFBundleIdentifier)</string>
  <key>keychain-access-groups</key>
  <array>
      <string>$(AppIdentifierPrefix)$(CFBundleIdentifier)</string>
  </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Once I added these params, the archive stopped throwing the warning and I was able to distribute using TestFlight.

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 05 '15 at 12:38

6

Turns out now in Xcode 4+ you do not need an Entitlements.plist for your Release build (or at least, Xcode 4 does something weird with it that Xcode 3 didn't).

Anyway, to fix my issue I simply removed the reference to my Entitlements.plist from the release parameter under 'Code Signing Entitlements' in Build Settings.

Built, Archived, Validated, Submitted to iTunes Connect.

edited May 05 '15 at 12:38

Rui Peres

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answered Jun 18 '11 at 10:25

mootymoots

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1

I would check your binary details for your application on the iTunesConnect. You need it set to get-task-allow = FALSE for release builds. – jschmidt Jun 20 '11 at 10:57

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 06 '13 at 11:22

1

In my case, this was caused by using a wildcard app id for the distribution provisioning profile (com.mycompany.*). Replacing it with a provisioning profile using an absolute app id solved the issue.

answered Apr 06 '13 at 11:22

Matt

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 16 '11 at 23:01

0

In Xcode 4, your entitlements file should not contain the application identifier. Only on your Target -> Summary tab. Also, get-task-allow should be set to False for AppStore submission.

To fix, I would delete your current entitlements.plist file and create a new one using File -> New -> New File. Just use the key get-task-allow = FALSE and try that. Make sure you put your application identifier on the Target -> Summary tab.

answered Jun 16 '11 at 23:01

jschmidt

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OK, so I have get-task-allow to false. Target->Summary is the full bundle identifier. Now I get the same error, but just quoting J1234567885.* ? – mootymoots Jun 17 '11 at 06:05
Did you try deleting the actual entitlement file first and then creating a new one? – jschmidt Jun 17 '11 at 13:20

The application-identifier entitlement is not formatted correctly - iOS Xcode 4

4 Answers4