Re-sign .ipa with less or more devices

Question

I am having problems with resigning my Ad-hoc app to contain more/less devices. By following the steps outlined here https://coderwall.com/p/cea3fw/resign-ipa-with-new-distribution-certificate I manage to resign my ipa using codesign, however it does not seem to have any effect, because even when I remove my device from the provisioning profile, the ipa can still be installed on this device using XCode devices.

Any clues where I may have gone wrong?

Answer 1

The device has stored a copy of an old provisioning profile, and that profile permits the app to be installed on the device.

Mostly we can consider a code signing certificate and a provisioning profile as one thing. But they actually perform two separate functions.

• A code signing certificate and its private key is used for signing an app.
• A provisioning profile contains lists of devices, code signing certificates, entitlements, and a bundle ID. It is a ticket from Apple which gives permission to install apps not from the App Store.

When a device attempts to install an app, it searches for a stored provisioning profile that may be used to install the app. This may be the provisioning profile included with the app, or a previously installed profile.

To remove provisioning profiles from a device:

1. Open Xcode and select the menu Windows -> Devices...
2. Ctrl-click on the device and select “Show provisioning profiles...” from the drop down menu.
3. Select unwanted profiles and press the “-”-button.