Every mobile developer who makes apps for iOS deals with Code Signing. Beginners can struggle with the concept, and for experienced developers managing signing can take some effort and time. To make Code Signing for iOS apps straightforward, we’re introducing a new feature on Appcircle: Automatic Code Signing.
To enable Automatic Code Signing, make sure that:
<ol>
<li>You’ve created and uploaded an Apple Development and an Apple Distribution Certificate (.p12 file)</li>
<li>Provide access to App Store Connect via an API Key</li>
<li>Use Xcode 13 or higher when building</li>
<li>Enable Automatic Code Signing on your build configurations.</li>
</ol>
<h3>What’s Changed?</h3>
Before we dive into detail for each step, we want to assure you that your current code signing settings will still work the way they were. You can opt-in to Automatic Code Signing if you’ve already uploaded certificates to Appcircle and have an App Store Connect API key added in your Integrations tab. 
You can still use manual code signing and explicitly upload provisioning profiles and use them.
<h2>1) Create and Upload iOS Certificates</h2>
Appcircle has a Signing Identities module that hosts your iOS certificates securely. We need two certificates in total: Apple Development and Apple Distribution. Make sure you export certificates as public/private pair, in .p12 format. To learn how to do that, <a href="https://docs.appcircle.io/signing-identities/ios-certificates-and-provisioning-profiles#2-upload-ios-provisioning-profiles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we have a tutorial on our documentation</a>:
Once you have your files, navigate to Signing Identities &gt; iOS Certificates tab in Appcircle:
<img width="1900" height="941" class="alignnone wp-image-6082 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1.webp" alt="Signing Identities &gt; iOS Certificates Screen on Appcircle" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-300x149.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-1030x510.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-768x380.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-1536x761.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-1500x743.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/certificate-welcome-addnew-scaled-1-705x349.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
Tap Add New &gt; Upload Certificate Bundle (.p12)
<img width="1900" height="946" class="alignnone wp-image-6083 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1.webp" alt="Upload certificate bundle selection" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-300x149.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-1030x513.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-768x382.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-1536x765.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-1500x747.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-selection-scaled-1-705x351.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
Then, select your file and enter the password you set when exporting the .p12 file. Leave blank if you didn’t set a password.
<img width="1800" height="913" class="alignnone wp-image-6084 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1.webp" alt="Upload certificate form" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1.webp 1800w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-300x152.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-1030x522.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-768x390.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-1536x779.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-1500x761.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/upload-certificate-form-scaled-1-705x358.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" />
Repeat the same steps for the second p12 file.
<h2>2) Enable App Store Connect Access</h2>
Appcircle needs to communicate with Apple’s servers to successfully sign your builds. You can enable this via providing an App Store Connect API Key. If you need help on obtaining an API Key, <a href="https://docs.appcircle.io/account/adding-an-app-store-connect-api-key" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check our detailed tutorial on our documentation</a>:
To upload an API key, navigate to Organization tab on the lower left corner, then click the Integration tab. Then click the Add New/Manage button next to App Store Connect API Keys item inside the integrations list:
<img width="1900" height="943" class="alignnone wp-image-6087 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1.webp" alt="App Store Connect API" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-300x149.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-1030x511.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-768x381.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-1536x762.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-1500x744.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/integration-pane-scaled-1-705x350.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
Once you navigate to upload form, upload the .p8 file, copy Team ID and Issuer ID from App Store Connect and finally give the API Key a name.
<h2>3) Select Xcode 13 from Build Settings</h2>
Congratulations! Retrieving and uploading files are finally done. Now we have 2 steps left. First, go to the Build tab, and select a build profile (your mobile project you want to code sign)
Select the branch you want to be code signed on the left, and click config:
<img width="1900" height="945" class="alignnone wp-image-6088 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail.webp" alt="Build profile detail" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-300x149.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-1030x512.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-768x382.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-1536x764.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-1500x746.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-profile-detail-705x351.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
On the settings modal, go to config tab and make sure you use Xcode 13 or greater:
<img width="1900" height="972" class="alignnone wp-image-6089 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane.webp" alt="To enable Automatic Code Signing, make sure Xcode 13 or greater is selected from the Xcode Version Dropdown" srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-300x153.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-1030x527.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-768x393.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-1536x786.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-1500x767.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-config-pane-705x361.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
<h2>4) Enable Automatic Code Signing in Build Settings</h2>
From the same Config modal, navigate to Signing tab, and activate Automatic Code Signing toggle:
<img width="1900" height="953" class="alignnone wp-image-6090 size-full" src="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane.webp" alt="Enable Automatic Code Signing Toggle" max-width=100% srcset="https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane.webp 1900w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-300x150.webp 300w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-1030x517.webp 1030w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-768x385.webp 768w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-1536x770.webp 1536w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-1500x752.webp 1500w, https://ac.appcircle.io/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/build-settings-signing-pane-705x354.webp 705w" sizes="(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px" />
You can select which API Key and which certificates to use. This is helpful for teams that make apps for multiple Apple Developer Accounts.
Finally, pick the type of distribution you would like. The options are:
<ul>
<li>App Store: Builds that will be uploaded to App Store / Testflight.</li>
<li>Ad Hoc: Builds that will be sent to a group of testers using Appcircle Testing Distribution or other third-party distribution services such as Firebase App Distribution. Make sure device identifiers of the testers are added to your Apple Developer Portal.</li>
<li>Development: Builds that will be sent to developers’ devices only.</li>
<li>Enterprise: Builds that will be signed with an Enterprise Distribution certificate and distributed in-house within your organization. You can also create your own app store with Appcircle using our Enterprise App Store feature.</li>
</ul>
And you’re all set. If you build your iOS app, whether native, React Native or Flutter, your app will be automatically signed and be ready for distribution.
<h2>Next steps</h2>
Thank you for reading this article! As Appcircle, we’re working towards helping mobile developers automate all tasks and create CI/CD workflows that just work, without the complicated setup process. Automatic Code Signing is another step to remove your burden while signing your iOS apps.
Now all that’s left is for you to try this feature. You can sign up to our forever free Starter plan using the button below:
<button class="call-to-action"><a href="https://my.appcircle.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Start Using Appcircle for Free</a></button>
If you have any questions or feedback, please reach us via <a href="https://twitter.com/appcircleio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://appcircle.io/contact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Email</a> or join <a href="https://slack.appcircle.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Appcircle Slack</a> to chat with us directly.
Happy coding!

Save time, reduce costs and increase developer productivity now.

Automatic Code Signing for iOS in Now Available

Automatic Code Signing for iOS is Now Available

Related Posts

Secure and Simplify iOS Code Signing with Appcircle

What is Xcode Cloud, and Why Consider Alternatives?

How to Use Fastlane with Appcircle for Automated Mobile CI/CD

Automate Your Mobile Code Reviews with Danger CI