Deployment
Testing on devices and uploading to the App Store
Deployment Checklist
Whether you are deploying to a test Watch, or uploading to the App Store, you need to complete
the steps on this page:
In the iOS Dev Center:
App IDs have been created.
App Groups configured (if required).
Distribution Provisioning Profile(s) created.
In your solution:
Verify the Bundle IDs and project references are set.
Check your icons are configured correctly.
Check the bundle version numbers match in all projects.
Configure the Entitlements.plist for App Groups (if required).
Then follow the instructions to:
Deploy to an Apple Watch for testing, or
Upload to the App Store.
App IDs
As discussed in the setup instructions, all three projects in a Watch App have related Bundle IDs,
such as:
Xamarin.iOS Unified project - com.xamarin.WatchKitCatalog
WatchKit Extension project - com.xamarin.WatchKitCatalog.watchkitextension
Watch App project - com.xamarin.WatchKitCatalog.watchkitapp
All three projects require a matching Distribution Provisioning Profile, either using explicity App
IDs for each, or a wildcard App ID.
Explicit App IDs
Create an App ID for each each project's Bundle ID (which will look like this on the iOS Dev
Center):
When creating or configuring App IDs, remember to enable the specific features your app
requires. This could include push notifications and app groups.
You will need to create a Distribution Provisioning Profile for each App ID.
Wildcard App ID
Alternatively, you can create a wildcard App ID that matches all three projects, such as
com.xamarin.*.
Note that some features cannot be used with a wildcard App ID (such as push notifications). If
your app requires these features you should create explicit App IDs.
For distribution, you'll only need to create one Distribution Provisioning Profile for the wildcard
App ID.
App Groups
You can use an App Group to share data between your iOS App and the Watch Extension. You
should ensure that your solution has:
Configured the App Group in the Apple Developer Portal Certificates, Identifiers &
Profiles section.
Enabled App Groups (and provided the App Group ID) in both the iOS App and the
Watch Extension's App ID and Entitlements.plist.
Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles
To use an App Group, create an entry in the App Groups screen. In the example below the
group is named with the same reverse-DNS style that is commonly used for App IDs, but with the
group. prefix (which is required):
The app group will then appear in the list:
Once the group is created, it can be referenced in your App ID configuration. Remember to
include it both the iOS App and Watch Extension App IDs.
Do not enable App Groups in the Apple Watch App ID. It is not required to be enabled on the
watch itself.
Entitlements.plist
Some app features (eg. App Groups) require you to set your entitlements. Double-click to edit
the Entitlements.plist file in these projects:
iOS App project
Watch Extension project
Do not enable entitlements in the Watch App project. It is not required to be enabled on the
watch itself.