iPhone Game Development - Chris Craft [10]
Apple Push Notification Service. This service allows you to push events in the form of alerts, sounds, and tags to your application even when it is not running. Because this process requires you to communicate with the Apple Push Notification server, you will need to come here to activate this feature for your application. You will need to visit the App IDs section of the iPhone Developer Program Portal to create and download a Push SSL Certificate.
This list should help you decide which features of the iPhone Developer Program Portal you will need, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. When you visit the site, you will have the following options to choose from:
Home. This is a general dashboard to the portal. The Portal Resources section is where you will find a collection of videos that we recommend watching. There are links to Support Resources and a feed where you can read Apple's latest developer announcements. The Development Provisioning Assistant is a new addition and a great tool for getting started (Figure 1.7).
Figure 1.7
Get a jump-start by using the Development Provisioning Assistant.
Team. This option is divided into the following sections:
Manage: If you join the iPhone Developer Program as a Company, this is where you will manage your list of team members. If you join as an Individual, you will be the only person on your team.
Tech Support: Incidents grant you code level assistance from Apple engineers. The Standard program includes two such incidences for the year.
Agreements: Here you can revisit the list of agreements you or your company has accepted.
Contact Info: Here you can review the contact information you or your company submitted when you signed up for the program.
Certificates. In this section of the portal, you can request iPhone Development and Distribution Certificates. This option is divided into the following sections:
Development: This sub-section allows you to create and download Development Certificates. iPhone applications must be signed by a valid certificate before they can be installed on an iPhone or iPod touch.
Distribution: This sub-section allows you to create the certificate you will use to sign your application in preparation for submission to the App Store. This certificate is needed to associate a developer or company with the applications they submit.
History: Here you can view a list of all development and distribution certificates you have created in the past.
Devices. This option is divided into the following sections:
Manage: You will be allowed to install your applications on up to 100 devices for testing purposes. This sub-section is where you will manage this list of registered devices. Be aware that any devices you remove from your list still count against your 100-device limit. However, you can reset the total count of your Registered Devices List for the upcoming membership year. You can only do this once per membership year. Be sure to leave open slots for new devices that may come out during the year.
History: Here you can view a list of all the devices you have added and removed in the past.
App IDs. You need to generate App IDs to identify your applications. This allows your application to associate with a certificate, connect to Apple Push Notification servers, communicate with external hardware, and share keychain data between applications.
An App ID begins with a unique 10-character Bundle Seed ID that is generated by Apple. The ID ends with a Bundle Identifier that is entered by you. It is recommended that you use reverse-domain-style strings for your Bundle Identifier; for example, 1234567890.com.yourdomain.YourAppName.
If you need to share the same keychain between applications, you will need to create a single App ID for all of these applications by appending