Sideload KDE Connect iOS

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For general audience, please use the official App Store/TestFlight releases.

This is intended for contributors outside of K Desktop Environment e.V. development group to test their code on a physical device before opening a merge request. This process should theoretically work even if you don’t have a paid Apple Developer account, though I’ve never tested.

THE INSTRUCTION IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE INSTRUCTION OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE INSTRUCTION.

  1. Download KDE Connect iOS source code from GitHub mirror/KDE Invent
  2. Open KDE Connect.xcodeproj in Xcode
    1. In Build Settings for target KDE Connect, delete Code Signing Entitlements (but do not delete the entitlements file)
    2. In Singing & Capabilities for target KDE Connect, change the Team and Bundle Identifier so the project builds for Any iOS Device.
    3. In Products folder, right click on KDE Connect (which shouldn’t be red) and select Show In Finder
  3. In terminal, navigate to the folder containing KDE Connect.xcodeproj
  4. In terminal, type the following commands line by line (other than comments starting with #). See References section about what each of these lines do:
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    build=#drag the KDE Connect.app here from Finder
    security cms -D -i "$build/embedded.mobileprovision" > provision.plist
    name=$(basename "`pwd`")
    /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -x -c 'Print:Entitlements' provision.plist > entitlements.plist
    # Note that extra ' is added because name contains whitespace in path
    /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -x -c "Merge '$name/$name.entitlements'" entitlements.plist
    # Replace `YOUR NAME (TEAM)` with the actual value of your Apple Development Certificate name (found in KeyChain Access)
    codesign -d --entitlements entitlements.plist -f -s "Apple Development: YOUR NAME (TEAM)" $build
  5. Place the KDE Connect.app in a folder named Payload, zip the Payload folder, and (re)name it KDE Connect.ipa
  6. Install self-signed KDE Connect.ipa on your own physical device for testing (requires jailbreaking or apps like Sideloadly)

References