For up-to-date product documentation, see the IBM MobileFirst Foundation Developer Center.

Specific platform requirements

Different operating systems impose specific requirements for deploying, installing, or using applications on the appropriate mobile devices.

Android

The mobile device must be configured for installation from unknown sources. The corresponding toggle can be found in the Android Settings. See User Opt-in for apps from unknown sources for details.

In Application Center, applications have an internal and a commercial version number. The internal version number is used to distinguish which version is newer while the commercial version is only used as an informative display string. For Android applications, the internal version is the android:versionCode from the application manifest, and it must be an integer.

iOS

All applications that are managed through Application Center must be packaged for "Ad Hoc Distribution". With an iOS developer account, we can share your application with up to 100 iOS devices. With an iOS enterprise account, we can share your in-house application with an unlimited number of iOS devices. See iOS Developer Program and iOS Enterprise Program for details.

In Application Center, applications have an internal and a commercial version number. The internal version number is used to distinguish which version is newer while the commercial version is used only as an informative display string. For iOS applications, the internal version is the CFBundleVersion from the application manifest Info.plist. The version number must have the following format: a, or a.b, or a.b.c, where a, b, c are non-negative integers, and a is not 0.

Windows Phone 8

Applications are not installed from the Windows Store, but from Application Center, which acts as what Microsoft documentation calls a Company Hub. See Company app distribution for Windows Phone for details.

To use a company hub, Windows Phone requires you to register a company account with Microsoft and to sign all applications, including the Application Center client, with the company certificate. Only signed applications can be managed through Application Center.

You must enroll all mobile devices through an application enrollment token that is associated with your company account. Application Center helps you to enroll devices through facilities to distribute the application enrollment token. See Application enrollment tokens in Windows 8 Universal for details.

Application Center supports the distribution of applications as Windows Phone application package (.xap) files for Microsoft Windows Phone 8.0 and Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1. With Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft introduced a new universal format as app package (.appx) files for Windows Phone. Currently, Application Center does not support the distribution of app package (.appx) files for Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1, but is limited to Windows Phone application package (.xap) files only.

In Application Center, applications have only one version number. The version number is used to distinguish which version is newer. For Windows Phone 8 applications, the version number is in the Version field in the WMAppManifest.xml file. This version number must have the following format: a.b.c.d where a, b, c, d are non-negative integers.

Windows 8

The Application Center mobile client is provided as a normal desktop executable file (.exe). Use it to install on the device Windows Store applications, which are packaged as .appx files.

Install a file of type appx on your device without using Windows Store is called sideloading an app. To sideload an app, we must comply with the prerequisites in Prepare to sideload apps. The Windows 8.1 update simplifies the prerequisites for sideloading. For more information, see Sideloading store apps to Windows 8.1 devices.

Files of type .exe cannot be executed on ARM-based tablets, so Application Center does not support Windows RT; only Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 are supported.

The device user needs administrator rights on the device to execute the Application Center client.

Application Center does not provide any predefined way of distributing the mobile client.

In Application Center, applications have only one version number. The version number is used to distinguish which version is newer. For Windows 8 applications, the version number is in the Version field in the AppxManifest.xml file. This version number must have the following format: a.b.c.d, where a, b, c, d are non-negative integers.

Parent topic: Application Center