Creating a team without an organization membership - xcode

I am collaborating on an iOS app with another person, and we both have individual (not organization) memberships. We would like to create a team together so that we can work on an app together without having to switch back and forth between development teams each time one of us opens the app in Xcode.
It is also problematic that we are not on a development team together since we need certificates for notifications, and these notifications are managed by the Apple Ids/accounts that created them.
I have looked through Apple's developer website, and I found that you can create a team if you have an organization membership. However, neither I nor the person I am collaborating with are in a position to do this (we are not members of organizations with DUNS number).
Is it possible to create a team of comprised of multiple individuals with an individual membership? If so, how?

This is not possible for non-organizations:
If you have an organization membership in the Apple Developer Program, you can add people to your team and assign them roles, thereby granting them levels of access to team assets.
...
If you’re enrolled in the Apple Developer Program as an individual, team management tasks ... don't apply.
From Apples documentation.

Related

Developed an app on my personal individual developer account, what is the best way to release it on a new organization account?

I've been developing a Swift app for a while now on my own individual developer account linked to my longstanding everyday AppleId - so the AppleId also has all my bought music, apps, appleTV and other content etc etc. As I have developed the app I have realised that it has considerable commercial potential, and so would rather release it under an organization (a private limited company) than under my own individual name.
The app itself is relatively straightforward, it is self-contained other than having a single non-consumable in app purchase. I have not yet uploaded the app to AppStoreConnect, although I have set up the app name and the in app purchase on AppStoreConnect for testing purposes. I would like to release in the quickest way possible now. Using XCode 14.
What is the quickest, most straightforward and trouble-free way to achieve my goal? Should I:
Release it under my own individual developer account and then ask apple to change my individual account to an organization account? Are there any complications with this given that this dev account is attached to my personal AppleId? How long does it usually take Apple to achieve the change? Does the App remain on sale throughout? Are there ever any problems or is there anything else I should be aware of?
OR
Set up a totally fresh AppleId and create a new developer account for the organization on this id? (I appreciate this will cost extra money but am willing to bear the cost). If I do this, how do I transfer the app from my individual account to the organization account? Do I have to go through the Apple 'transfer an app' process? Are there any pitfalls with this? When the transfer is complete, how do I alter my XCode set up to continue working on the app under the new account? Also, as I have not yet submitted the app to AppStore (although I have set up the name / IAP ) can I simply use XCode to point the app at the new account and upload it to that instead without invoking the Apple 'transfer an app' process - how would I alter my set up on XCode to achieve this?
I am currently in the process of setting up the company, and should have necessary info eg DUNS no etc fairly shortly.
While I'm familiar with development itself and I've already released one paid app on the AppStore under my own individual account attached to my everyday AppleId, this seemed to be a relatively simple and automated procedure. My main difficulties with my current problem seem to stem from the fact that I have never worked as part of a swift development team, and I understand very little around the actual 'architecture' of app development, eg XCode signing / teams / bundle ids etc, and I'm really struggling to understand the technicalities of the connection between XCode / Developer Account / AppStore Connect / AppleID.
I've looked through other posts on this topic but most seem several years out of date, and I am aware that AppStore functionality in this area has changed over the years.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - particularly if you can recommend which route to go down and answer any of my specific points. I have tried asking Apple, but all I get back are standard replies directing me to their app transfer process - unfortunately though I'm something of a solo outfit and I really need the benefit of people's experience here, as I need this process to go quickly and smoothly!
Cheers!

How a company should manage their certificates for external developers?

I couldn't find this information on any official documentation or blog articles.
I work for a consultant company that create application for other companies, so keep in mind that I never develop apps for my company, but for those who's contracting us.
The first thing is the certificate.
Does the company that's contracting the consultant company that needs to create a certificate, export it (as p12 file) and send it to the other company that's development the application? Is this the right way?
If so, if the same company is contracting a second (third, fourth) consultant company, should they share the same certificated that was sent to the first consultant company with the others or they should create a new certificate for each one?
The provisionng profiles
I'm automating the build/release pipelines. So, for development environment, I have a provisioning profile to build the app for a specific set of devices.
On the release pipeline, I have to reassing the with a different provisioning profile. Can it be reassinged with the same certificate only changing the provisioning profile or do I need to have a different certicate?
Thanks

How can I use different user accounts for different versions of Visual Studio at the same time?

I have 2 different versions of Visual Studio. VS 2017 which I use for work stuff and the new VS 2019 Preview which I am using for fun stuff, I would like to log in with my work user account into VS 2017 and my personal user account in VS 2019 preview. Every time I change the user account in one version, the other automatically switches to the new user as well. This has implications on things like VS settings that are used at work versus those I prefer.
Is there a way to isolate these logins?
Glossary and preface:
MSA = Microsoft Account, formerly known as Microsoft Passport, Microsoft Live ID, etc.
OA = Organizational Account, e.g. an Office 365 "employee" account.
An OA is not necessarily an MSA and different OAs and MSAs can even share the same sign-in e-mail address.
Microsoft is doing something about this mess, but it's still a mess.
e.g. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Azure-Active-Directory-Identity/Cleaning-up-the-AzureAD-and-Microsoft-account-overlap/ba-p/245105
On to your problem:
Visual Studio lets you use multiple accounts (MSA and OAs) for accessing resources (Azure, etc) and for licensing, but it only uses a single account (which must be an MSA, not an OA) for personalization. This is by design.
Here's a screenshot of my Visual Studio 2017 Account settings page. (Note: I activated my install using a Product Key instead of using an account):
You said you have two accounts: a work account and a personal account. Presumably these are both MSAs as you say you're also able to use it for personalization. I think you should avoid using your work account as the Personalization Account entirely and only use your personal MSA for that (assuming you want those single settings to be applied to both your home and work VS installs). You would still have your work account listed in the "All accounts" list, of course.
One of the ideas behind having single MSAs that are associated only with you and not your employer or other company is that employers and orgs would use Azure AD to let you authenticate with your personal MSA to access company resources. This didn't turn-out well in practice and it doesn't seem right that companies would add delegated authentication using peoples' personal (and often unprofessional) email addresses (imagine logging-in to your work desktop computer using x360xnoscopexlol#gmail.com while wearing a suit and tie).
You can still use a personal MSA to personalize Visual Studio, as if any of the OA accounts are associated with a Visual Studio purchase or MSDN subscription then VS will consider itself licensed.
All that aside, you have several options:
Don't use any Personalization Account and keep your settings in-sync by manually using the Tools > Import/Export Settings feature. This gives you the most control and lets you have per-machine settings.
Use a single personal MSA for all VS installs. This is the scenario I described in the previous paragraphs. It's what I use and recommend. You'll only run into issues if you have an unenlightened IT department or boss that forbids the use of "personal" accounts for anything company-related.
Use multiple personalization accounts and manually switch between them. (This is the "grin-and-bear-it" option. You could use a password manager and program like Autohotkeys to automate the process of switching between accounts though).

Team not appearing in Xcode

I accepted an invitation to join a team on iTunes Connect. My role allows me to upload builds. The problem is the team does not appear in Xcode. How to fix this?
OK, I found out that to be able to upload builds for a team you need two invitations. One from the Member Center where you should have the Admin role. The other one from iTunes Connect where you need also to have the Admin role (actually the Developer role would be enough but its not working at the time of this answer).
The role from Member Center gives you the technical means to create the right build (like provisioning profiles). The role from iTunes Connect is about being able to upload this build for the right team.

a replacement to ad-hoc on the appstore

My company needs to upload an app to the store , that will only be available to 80 people over the world that will get the permission to test it.
The ad-hoc method requires their iphones id's to be register with the app, and obviously we dont have it.
Whats the best way, to upload the app to the store ,to let this people to get it ?
(NO, without just go to the review process of apple)
thanks.
Besides the enterprise developer program, Ad-Hoc distribution is the only way to limit your audience.
If you try to game the app store with an unreasonable high price and promo codes (limit of 50 codes per app version) Apple will kick you out of the review process in no time.
Use testflight to get device IDs easier and deploy you app to the testers.
There is no way to do that, for the Adhoc, you must register their UDID devices.
You can upload the app in the AppStore, put it's price high, and give the prople that you want to test the app a redeem code that will download the app free, but i think the number of redeem code you have is 25. If you find anyway to do that, share it with us please.
If the 80 people that will be testing/using the app are employees of the company, you should look into the Enterprise Developer Program. Enterprise development lets you deploy an internal app to employees of your organization that is not released to the App Store. It essentially lets you build an Ad Hoc like version of your app that can then be installed on devices without the need to get UDIDs.
The cost is $299 instead of the normal $99 and there are a few caveats on whether or not your organization qualifies. But if you do qualify, it vastly simplifies deploying an internal app and it gives you specifically what you were asking for - no review and no need to ask for UDIDs. You can put the signed bundle up on a website and simply give people the URL to it for OTA installation, so you don't even need iTunes.
Alternatively, if the end users are not a part of your organization, you can also look into developing Custom B2B Apps. This one comes with a few more hoops to jump through and it also requires an Apple review, but it allows your app to be sold only to specific customers and doesn't put it in the App Store. If you're already a developer with Apple, there's even a WWDC video on it.

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