Should I use one iOS distribution certificate to sign different apps?

Question

I just learned that you can only create a maximum of 3 iOS distribution certificates in the Apple Dev Center. I'm pretty new to iOS development, what is the common way to use the certificates? Should I create one distribution certificate to sign all my different iOS apps with it?

Cloister

Answer 1

Yes, it's standard practice to just use one certificate to sign all distribution binaries.

I previously worked at 2 very large, prominent software companies and they both did it this way. Each had their own custom protocols/systems in place for limiting who could create binaries using the certificate.

Overhappy

Why is there a limit of 3 certificates then, if you can use a single certificate to sign all your binaries. My team is getting confused, as to if we need one cert per app. – Decapitate

Answer 2

You can create one distribution certificate whereas make seperate provisioning profiles for all the apps. You can also let Xcode handle it and create the provisioning profiles automatically.

Tenstrike