Developer mode required to open app from firebase App Distribution, iOS 16

Question

We use Firebase App Distribution to share app with testers and customers, but now they're getting a "Developer mode required" message. Perhaps someone has had such a situation and you know how to fix it, we know that we can switch on the developer mode, but we don't want to burden testers and customers with this. Can we avoid including the developer mod for Firebase App Distribution?

Pettish

Same here. This has basically blocked us from using Firebase Distribution for sharing pre-release builds with stakeholders. We will most likely need to switch the iOS builds to TestFlight in the meantime. Really hoping this won't be required in the near future. – Spinning

I'm also running into this issue... Look like Apple is going agains Firebase AppDistribution a bit, because for testing the app it should (IMO) not be needed to mark your device as a developer device (by turning on developer mode). Can you shed some light on this "issue" Puf? – Revengeful

Answer 1

firebaser here

If you're using ad hoc distribution on iOS 16 or later, your pre-release testers will indeed have to enable developer mode as shown in the Apple docs on Enable Developer Mode. Specifically from there:

to enable Developer Mode go to Settings > Privacy & Security on the iOS device. Scroll down to the Developer Mode list item and navigate into it. To toggle Developer mode, use the “Developer Mode” switch.

This workaround is now also in our FAQ under "Developer Mode Required" error when trying to run test app and we're working to signal it in the UI, which is unfortunately the best we can do at the moment.

Koph

Answer 2

Did you add your testers' UDID to your Apple Dev account before creating the test build? This was the correct approach before iOS 16.

Offside