Signing an xOS App for another Apple Developer Account
Tags: xcode
Published: 2022-03-31 02:59:31

There are situations when an app is developed by Bob using his Apple Developer account but the app is published with Alice's Apple Developer account. In this case Bob shares the app archive to Alice for distribution. This post shows how, with Xcode, Bob prepares an archive for Alice and how Alice prepares for distribution.

>**Version:** Xcode 12.4, macOS 10.15.7

## Bob Archives His App
### Disable Automatic Signing
Disabling automatic signing generates an archive which does not contain provisioning profile and certificate information. Failing to do so will prevent signing the archive with a different Apple Developer account.

To disable automatic signing, choose the (1) _project name_ at the top of the _Project Navigator_, choose the (2) _Target_ (if there are more than one target), navigate to the (3) **Signing & Capabilities** tab, then _disable_ the (4) **Automatically manage signing** checkbox.

![Disabling automatic signing](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/cvlcj7w0xidgvylyg28b.png)

### Archive
From the Xcode menu, choose **Product > Archive**. The _Organizer_ window launches showing the archive.

Bob can confirm that the archive has no signing information if there is no "Team" in the _Details_ section.

![Organizer showing an archive without a team](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6qkbg7v2pny21vegfc7h.png)

Here is an example of an archive with signing information.

![Organizer showing an archive with a team](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/yau4q962gv1qr31hbkjn.png)

### Compress archive
Bob now needs to compress the archive into a zip file to share with Alice. To locate the archive file, _right-click_ on the archive and choose **Show in Finder**.

![Show the file location from the Organizer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/m4j0t0u9ba3o5jfmd2z2.png)

The _Finder_ window launches showing the _.xcarchive_. _Right-click_ on the _xcarchive_ then choose **Compress `file.xcarchive`** to create a zip file with the archive inside.


![Zip the xcarchive](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xoc3ys8i6j0co9k87f74.png)

Bob sends the zip file to Alice for distribution.

## Alice Signs the App for Distribution
### Uncompress and Open the Archive
Alice uncompresses the zip file by _double-clicking_ the file. The xcarchive will be in the same folder as the zip file. _Double-click_ the xcarchive to open the archive in the _Organizer_.

### Preparing for Distribution
Check that the file does not contain signing information as described in the _Archive_ section. Then click on the **Distribute App** button to start the distribution process. 

![Organizer before distribution starts](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/u35lmyhyi2tzfgpzthjy.png)

The next steps are not shown as it will depend on the distribution target. If the app is a macOS app, you may refer to [Distributing a macOS App Outside the Mac App Store](https://dev.to/ajpagente/distributing-a-macos-app-outside-the-mac-app-store-433g) if this is your preferred distribution method.