The following is a quick guide that I found very helpful after signing up for the Apple Developer program and wanting to quickly get my app up and running on my own device! It was generated by ChatGPT.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to set up and deploy a .NET 8 MAUI iOS application to an iPhone, including obtaining the necessary certificates and other steps not covered by .NET MAUI/Visual Studio’s Automatic Provisioning feature.

Prerequisites

  • Enrolled in the Apple Developer Program
  • A Mac with macOS Catalina or later
  • Xcode installed (version 14 or later)
  • Visual Studio 2022 (latest version) installed on your Mac or a Windows PC connected to a Mac
  • .NET 8 SDK installed

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Set Up Your Apple Developer Account

  1. Sign in to your Apple Developer account:

  2. Create an App ID:

    • Navigate to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles > Identifiers.
    • Click on the “+” button to create a new App ID.
    • Choose “App IDs” and click “Continue”.
    • Select “App” as the type, and click “Continue”.
    • Enter a description and Bundle ID (reverse domain style, e.g., “com.yourcompany.yourapp”).
    • Select the necessary capabilities for your app (e.g., Push Notifications, In-App Purchases).
    • Click “Continue” and then “Register”.

Step 2: Create and Download Certificates

  1. Create a Development Certificate:

    • Navigate to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles > Certificates.
    • Click on the “+” button to create a new certificate.
    • Select “iOS App Development” and click “Continue”.
    • Follow the instructions to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) using Keychain Access on your Mac.
    • Upload the CSR and click “Continue”.
    • Download the generated certificate and double-click it to install it in Keychain Access.

  2. Create a Distribution Certificate:

    • Repeat the steps above but select “App Store and Ad Hoc” instead of “iOS App Development”.

Step 3: Create a Provisioning Profile

  1. Create a Development Provisioning Profile:

    • Navigate to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles > Profiles.
    • Click on the “+” button to create a new profile.
    • Select “iOS App Development” and click “Continue”.
    • Select the App ID created earlier and click “Continue”.
    • Select the development certificate and click “Continue”.
    • Select the devices you want to test on and click “Continue”.
    • Name the profile (e.g., “YourApp Development Profile”) and click “Generate”.
    • Download the profile and double-click it to install it.

  2. Create a Distribution Provisioning Profile:

    • Repeat the steps above but select “App Store” instead of “iOS App Development”.

Step 4: Configure Your .NET MAUI Project

  1. Open your .NET MAUI project in Visual Studio.

  2. Edit the Info.plist:

    • Set the Bundle Identifier to match the App ID created in the Apple Developer portal.

  3. Edit the Entitlements.plist:

    • Ensure the necessary capabilities match those enabled in your App ID.

  4. Configure the iOS project settings:

    • Right-click on the iOS project in the Solution Explorer and select “Properties”.
    • Go to the “iOS Bundle Signing” tab.
    • Select “Manual Provisioning”.
    • Set the Signing Identity to the development certificate installed earlier.
    • Set the Provisioning Profile to the development profile installed earlier.

Step 5: Build and Deploy the App

  1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac.

  2. Trust the Device:

    • Open Xcode and go to “Window” > “Devices and Simulators”.
    • Select your connected iPhone and click “Trust” if prompted.

  3. Deploy from Visual Studio:

    • Select your iOS project as the startup project.
    • In the toolbar, select your connected iPhone as the target device.
    • Click the “Run” button to build and deploy the app to your iPhone.

Additional Steps Not Handled by Automatic Provisioning

  1. Handle Certificates Manually:

    • If you encounter issues with the automatic provisioning, manually download and install certificates and profiles as described above.

  2. Device Registration:

    • Ensure your iPhone is registered in the Apple Developer portal under Devices to be included in the development profile.

  3. Manual Profile Updates:

    • Regularly update your provisioning profiles to include new devices or capabilities as needed.

By following these steps, you should be able to successfully set up and deploy a .NET 8 MAUI iOS application to your iPhone. If you encounter any issues, refer to the official Microsoft documentation for .NET MAUI and the Apple Developer documentation for further guidance.

Delete log files from these locations to solve connectivity issues. Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Xamarin\Logs\17.0\ MAC: ~/Library/Logs/Xamarin.Messaging-

.NET Maui is pretty cool.