# Development vs Ad Hoc vs Enterprise Provisioning Profiles

> The four iOS provisioning profile types side by side: who can install each, how long they last, and how to tell which one a .mobileprovision file is.

Last updated: 2026-11-10
Canonical: https://buildferry.app/provisioning-profile-types

A provisioning profile is Apple's permission slip for an app. It says who may sign the app, which app it is, which devices it can run on, until when, and which entitlements it may use. Apple signs every profile, and the iPhone checks it before running the app.

There are four kinds for iPhone apps.

## The four types

| | Development | Ad hoc | App Store | Enterprise (in-house) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| For | Running your app while you build it | Test builds for specific people | The App Store and TestFlight | Apps for your own employees |
| Devices | Registered devices listed in the profile | Registered devices listed in the profile | None directly | Any device |
| Certificate | Development | Distribution | Distribution | Enterprise distribution |
| Xcode export | Debugging (`debugging`) | Release Testing (`release-testing`) | App Store Connect (`app-store-connect`) | Enterprise (`enterprise`) |
| Account | Paid membership | Paid membership | Paid membership | Apple Developer Enterprise Program |

The export names in brackets are the `method` values for `xcodebuild -exportArchive`. Before Xcode 15.3 they were `development`, `ad-hoc` and `app-store`.

## Development

For running builds on your own devices from Xcode, with the debugger attached. Its entitlements include `get-task-allow`, which lets a debugger attach. On iOS 16 and later, apps signed this way need [Developer Mode](https://buildferry.app/enable-developer-mode-iphone) turned on.

## Ad hoc

For testers outside the App Store. It works like the release app, but only on the devices listed in the profile, up to [100 per device family](https://buildferry.app/apple-device-limit) each membership year. A new tester means registering their iPhone and regenerating the profile. [How ad hoc works](https://buildferry.app/ad-hoc-distribution).

## App Store

For uploading to App Store Connect, which is also how builds reach TestFlight. It lists no devices, so an App Store build can't be installed directly on a test iPhone.

## Enterprise

For apps a company distributes only to its own employees, through the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. It isn't meant for customers or the public.

## How to tell which one you have

Decode the profile, as shown in [this guide](https://buildferry.app/check-udid-in-provisioning-profile), or drop it on our [profile viewer](https://buildferry.app/mobileprovision-viewer). Then:

1. **`ProvisionsAllDevices` is present:** enterprise.
2. **No device list at all:** App Store.
3. **A device list and `get-task-allow` set to true:** development.
4. **A device list and `get-task-allow` false:** ad hoc.

The certificate name is a clue too: current development certificates are called "Apple Development" and distribution certificates "Apple Distribution".

## How long they last

Every profile has an `ExpirationDate`, usually no more than a year away. When it passes, apps signed with it stop opening and you need a new profile and a new signature. Revoking a certificate also makes its profiles invalid.

## Which one to use

- **Debugging on your own iPhone:** development.
- **A build for a client or a few testers today:** ad hoc. [BuildFerry](https://buildferry.app/) registers each tester's iPhone and re-signs the build for you.
- **A big beta or a public release:** App Store, through TestFlight and then the App Store.
- **Internal company apps on an Enterprise account:** enterprise.