Glossary
Short explanations of terms you'll meet when installing IPA files on iPhone, such as IPA, certificate, UDID, revoke, trust, Developer Mode and configuration profiles.
- IPA
- The install file format for iOS apps, similar to an APK on Android.
- Sideloading
- Installing apps from outside the App Store.
- Certificate (cert)
- An Apple-issued “signature” that lets an app run on iPhone. See what a certificate is.
- Enterprise certificate
- A certificate meant for a company’s internal apps. When shared with many people, it tends to get revoked quickly.
- Personal, ad-hoc or development certificate
- A certificate tied to specific devices’ UDIDs. More stable, but it needs Developer Mode.
- .p12 and .mobileprovision
- The two files in a certificate set: the password-protected signing key and the provisioning profile.
- UDID
- Your iPhone’s unique identifier, needed to register a personal certificate. See how to get it.
- Revoke
- Apple disables a certificate. Every app signed with it stops working.
- Trust
- The step that allows an enterprise app to run, done in VPN & Device Management. See the guide.
- Developer Mode
- Required since iOS 16 to run apps signed with a development certificate. See how to turn it on.
- Configuration profile (.mobileconfig)
- A file that configures settings on iPhone, for example to read the UDID or set DNS. Only install profiles from trusted sources.
- itms-services
- A link type that installs an app directly from a web page. It only works in Safari.
- TrollStore, CoreTrust
- TrollStore uses the CoreTrust bug in some older iOS versions to install apps permanently.
- Respring
- Restarting the Home Screen interface, which is faster than restarting the whole device.
- Alternative app marketplace
- An app store other than the App Store, allowed by Apple in the EU and Japan, such as AltStore PAL.
- Jailbreak
- Breaking iOS restrictions to gain full control. Not needed for any method on this site.