# Share an IPA File: Free Install Link for iPhone, No Sign-up

> Drop an Ad Hoc or Development .ipa and get a link testers open in Safari to install it. Free, with a QR code: 24 hours with no account, a week and a list of your links when you sign up.

Canonical: https://buildferry.app/share-ipa

## How it works

1. Export your app from Xcode with **Ad Hoc** or **Development** (Product → Archive → Distribute App).
2. Drop the **.ipa** above. In a few seconds you get an install link and a QR code.
3. Send the link. Testers open it in **Safari** on their iPhone and tap **Install**.

## Keep your links with a free account

| | Link lasts | Kept | Uploads |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| No account | 24 hours | Not kept | 10 a day per network |
| Free account | 7 days | 10 live links | 25 a day |
| Solo | 30 days | 50 live links | 100 a day |
| Pro | 90 days | 200 live links | 300 a day |

- Every link on your **Quick shares** page, so a refresh or a closed tab loses nothing.
- How many times each build was installed, and how long each link has left.
- Copy, QR code and delete for each link, and bigger builds on paid plans.
- When you need testers who aren’t in the profile yet: connect Apple and BuildFerry adds their iPhone and re-signs the build.

Sign up free: https://buildferry.app/signup

## Questions

### Is it free?

Yes. Without an account, builds up to 200 MB and each link lasts 24 hours. Sign up free and links last 7 days, all listed on your Quick shares page with how often each was installed.

### Who can install the app?

Only the iPhones in the build's provisioning profile. That's how Apple's ad hoc and development signing works: anyone else sees “Unable to Install”, even with the link.

### A tester can’t install it. What now?

Their iPhone isn't in the profile. Ask for their UDID (they can get it at buildferry.app/udid), add it in Apple Developer, regenerate the profile and export again. Or sign up: BuildFerry adds each tester's iPhone and re-signs the build for you.

### Which builds work?

Ad Hoc and Development builds install straight from the link. App Store or TestFlight builds, and builds whose profile has expired, still get a link, but iPhones refuse them until they're re-signed, which a BuildFerry account does for you. Enterprise builds need an account, and simulator builds never run on an iPhone.

### What happens to my file?

It is stored privately and deleted when the link expires (24 hours without an account, 7 days or more with one), or straight away when you tap Delete link. Files that aren’t iOS builds are deleted at once.

### What does a free account add?

Your links last 7 days instead of 24 hours and stay listed on your Quick shares page, with how many times each was installed, a QR code and delete. Solo and Pro keep links for 30 and 90 days and allow more at once.

### How many builds can I share?

Without an account, 10 a day from one network. A free account keeps up to 10 links live and shares up to 25 a day; Solo and Pro allow far more. Delete old links any time to make room.

### How is this different from a BuildFerry account?

Quick share hosts a build that's already signed. With an account, one link per app stays live, each new tester's iPhone is registered with your Apple account, and the build is re-signed for them, so nobody sends UDIDs.