Set Up Distribution for iOS

Mobile Publisher needs certain pieces of information from your Apple Developer account to distribute your branded app. To participate in the Mobile Publisher program for iOS apps, you must have an Apple Developer Program account enrolled as an organization. See the Enrolling as an Organization section in What You Need To Enroll.

Important To distribute your Mobile Publisher app using the Fully Managed or Binary Upload distribution methods, your Apple Developer account must have an iOS distribution certificate available for your app. By default, Mobile Publisher generates an iOS distribution certificate from your Apple Developer account. However, if you've reached the limit for iOS distribution certificates, you must make one available to distribute your app.

Before you submit your app, verify that your Apple Developer account has an iOS distribution certificate available. To verify, log in to your Apple Developer account, go to the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles page, and click + to add a new certificate. If you get an error that there are no iOS distribution certificates available, then you've reached the limit and you must make a certificate available for your Mobile Publisher app. If you don't get an error, you can cancel the new certificate and proceed to submit your app to Mobile Publisher.

For private distribution specifically, Salesforce requires one Distribution Signing Certificate and one push token from your Apple Developer account to distribute and maintain your branded app.

The setup steps for iOS are the same whether you choose public or private distribution, with two exceptions:

• When you choose your distribution type in Mobile Publisher, you select either Public Distribution or Private Distribution.
• For private distribution users: the Update Test User Credentials step is skipped because test user credentials were already entered during the Create a Placeholder App step.
• For private distribution only, you must also add your Apple Business Manager (ABM) account information to Mobile Publisher so that Salesforce can distribute the app to your organization.

Complete the following steps in order, noting which steps apply to your distribution type.

1. Choose Distribution Type for Your iOS App
   Start the distribution process by selecting your distribution type in Mobile Publisher.
2. Register Salesforce Bundle ID
   Register your Salesforce bundle ID with your Apple developer account.
3. Create a Placeholder App with Privacy Questions and Age Ratings
   Create a placeholder app in your App Store Connect account.
4. Update Test User Credentials for Public Distribution
   For public distribution, update the test user credentials in your App Store Connect account to avoid app rejections. For private distribution, this step was completed during the Create a Placeholder App step.
5. Invite Salesforce to Your App Store Connect Account
   Grant Salesforce with App Manager access to your App Store Connect account to distribute your branded app.
6. Record Your Apple Developer Team Account Info
   Mobile Publisher needs your Apple developer team name and ID to distribute your branded app.
7. Enter Your Apple Developer Information into Your Mobile Publisher Project
   After your prep work, return to your Mobile Publisher project and enter your Apple Developer Team Account information.
8. Unlisted Option for iOS App Distribution
   Learn about unlisted app distribution, an alternative to the traditional public and private app distribution options. Unlisted app distribution is sometimes appropriate for apps that were rejected from App Store public distribution.