CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosxcodeapp-store-connectipaxcarchive
Tony
Tony

Reputation: 10208

Difference between ipa and xcarchive?

What is the difference between an IPA file and an .xcarchive?

Which one do I have to create to upload an app using Xcode's Application Loader?

Upvotes: 46

Views: 33149

Answers (2)

Ben Butterworth
Ben Butterworth

Reputation: 28838

First comes .xcarchive, which can be used to create an .ipa and sent to App Store Connect.

TLDR: .xcarchive is intermediary step for you, and an .ipa can be used for uploads to the App Store.

.xcarchive:

  • xc is a hint that its for Xcode, not users. (e.g. other files for Xcode: .xcodeproj, .xcworkspace)

enter image description here

.ipa: iOS Packaged App

After generating your .xcarchive and you can find it in Windows > Organizer > Archives, you can click Distribute app > App Store Connect > Export , which creates this, which you would upload to App Store Connect:

enter image description here

To investigate whats in the .ipa, you can rename the .ipa file into a .zip and extract it. You'll find the following directory structure:

enter image description here

Upvotes: 10

0x8badf00d
0x8badf00d

Reputation: 6401

Difference between IPA and .xcarchive:

IPA is a zipped up Payload folder which has YourApp.app bundle. .app contains all your application resources like images, plist files, compressed nibs and the executable, CodeSigning resources,etc.

xcarchive contains your app and dsym files. .DSYM is required to desymbolicate your crash logs. Right click on saved .xcarchive and select show package contents to see what it contains.

Upvotes: 55

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