App Center In-App Update Stuck in a loop iOS

Question

I have a Xamarin iOS app that I am trying to distribute in the App Center. It will send out an email and install fine, but when you run it, you get the error

MyApp.iOS Wants to use "appcenter.ms" to sign in.

I have the option of cancelling or continuing. I hit continue and it signs in and says In-App Updates are enabled. It then returns to my app with the message:

In-App updates disabled. This release was either side-loaded or downloaded using a browser in private mode.

I can either Ignore or Reinstall app. Ignore lets the app work, but it no longer checks for updates. If I Reinstall app, it opens App Center and I can install it, then it starts back at the beginning. It is using Safari to do the original install. I assume that when it does the Reinstall app from within my app, it is using a Safari based browser. Nothing is in private mode as far as I can tell. My startup code for App Center is

        Distribute.UpdateTrack = UpdateTrack.Private;
        Distribute.DisableAutomaticCheckForUpdate();
        AppCenter.Start("11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555",
               typeof(Analytics), typeof(Crashes), typeof(Distribute));

In my main view, I have the code

    public override void ViewDidLoad()
    {

        base.ViewDidLoad();

        Distribute.CheckForUpdate();
    }

In my Info.plist I have

<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
        <array>
            <string>appcenter-11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
</array>

Cookies are not disabled that I can tell. I have searched high and low and can't find anything like this. The only similar issue seemed to be someone messed up the Info.plist. Can anyone help?

For questions about App Center, you can go to https://appcenter.ms/apps and click the question mark in the upper right corner and select Constant support. You can ask questions there. — Wen xu Li, Dec 01 '21 at 06:49
@WenxuLi-MSFT I did as you said. It appears that tech that responded didn't read my entire submission. I have already done everything in the FAQ and followed the instructions precisely. There has to be something else that needs to be done that is not mentioned. — Jim Wilcox, Dec 02 '21 at 19:08
@JimWilcox, did you install the app from App Center? Note that only installed from App Center apps can be updated using App Center in-app updates. — Dmitriy Kirakosyan, Dec 06 '21 at 08:05
@DmitriyKirakosyan Yes I installed it from the App Center. Many times. I have deleted the app before installing it from the App Center. I have tried clearing the browser cache then installing it from the App Center to see if possible the cookies were corrupt. No luck... — Jim Wilcox, Dec 07 '21 at 14:08

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 07 '21 at 19:11

OK, I finally figured this out. When I was testing the distribution of my app from the App Center, rather than spam the whole group until it worked, I just distributed it to myself. This is what caused the problem. What I had to do was to create another distribution group and only have myself in it. Automatic updates started working once I did this. The point being is that if you don't distribute it to a group, then it thinks it's side-loaded.

App Center In-App Update Stuck in a loop iOS

1 Answers1