How to Create an Apple Developer Account and Configure Your Whitelabel App

Summary: This guide is for IT administrators setting up a custom branded (whitelabel) iOS app. It walks you through enrolling your organization in the Apple Developer Program, inviting Speakap to your account, generating the required API keys, and entering everything into the Speakap Whitelabel Portal so we can publish your app.

What is an unlisted app?

An unlisted app is an app that is not publicly indexed in the App Store. It is distributed via a single URL. This means a specific link is needed to download it, and it cannot be found via the regular App Store name search. This option is much easier to distribute than VPP apps, for which you would need to purchase individual codes and distribute them between your users to allow them to download the app. The link to the unlisted app in the App Store can be shown on introduction materials via QR code and can be included in the invitation emails.

More information from Apple: https://developer.apple.com/support/unlisted-app-distribution/

Step 1: Create an Apple Developer account

As an employee at a company, nonprofit organization, joint venture, partnership, or government organization, follow these steps to enroll in the Apple Developer Program. Note that as the person enrolling your organization, you must have the legal authority to bind your organization to legal agreements. You must be the organization's owner/founder, executive team member, senior project lead, or an employee with legal authority granted to you by a senior employee, as listed in the chamber of commerce / DUNS.

Before you begin, you'll need:

• An Apple ID for your organization with two-factor authentication turned on. Your Apple ID information must be valid and up to date, including your first name, last name, address, phone number, trusted phone number, and trusted devices. Important: use an Apple ID that is linked to a reliable email address. We recommend a company-managed Apple ID, so future team members can manage the account as needed. Store the credentials securely in a password manager.
• A D-U-N-S Number that is not connected to a Proprietorship, but instead to a Corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Partnership (in some cases), or Non-profit. These unique nine-digit numbers are assigned by Dun & Bradstreet and are widely used as standard business identifiers. You can look yours up and request one for free. More details: https://developer.apple.com/support/D-U-N-S/

Start enrollment and enter the Account Holder's info:

1. Go to developer.apple.com.
2. Go to 'Account' and sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Click 'Enroll today', then 'Continue enrollment on the web'.
4. Enter your legal first name, legal last name, and phone number. Do not enter an alias, nickname, or company name as your legal name, as doing so will cause a delay in the completion of your enrollment review.
5. Click 'Continue', then select I develop as a 'COMPANY/organization'.

Enter your organization's information:

Provide the following on the next screens:

• Entity type.
• Legal entity name: DBAs, fictitious businesses, trade names, or branches are not allowed. The legal entity name will appear as the "seller" for apps you distribute. The name should be exactly the same as on the DUNS report.
• D-U-N-S Number: Your organization must have a D-U-N-S Number so that its identity and legal entity status can be verified by Apple.
• Headquarters address and phone number.
• Website: Your organization's website must be publicly available and the domain name must be associated with your organization.
• Signing authority confirmation: Confirm that you have the authority to bind your organization to legal agreements and provide the contact information of an employee who can verify your signature authority.
• (Optional) If your organization is a nonprofit, educational, or government organization, you can request a fee waiver.

Complete enrollment and purchase:

After you've submitted your information, it will be reviewed by Apple. Once verified, you will receive an email letting you know that you can complete your enrollment. Typically this takes 7-10 working days.

1. Accept the Apple Developer Program License Agreement/Ts&Cs.
2. Apple charges an annual membership fee of $99 (USD) for an organization account. Membership is provided on an annual basis as an auto-renewable subscription that renews until canceled. We recommend auto-renewing so that the app doesn't disappear from the App Store 1 year later.
3. You can make your purchase using one of your Apple ID payment methods. If you need to use your organization's credit card, add it to the Apple ID that's signed in to your device's settings. This can be a different Apple ID than the one you use to enroll.

A receipt will be emailed to you, and you can resend it to yourself at any time from Purchase History in Settings. You can cancel your subscription in Settings up to one day before your annual renewal date. Membership fees paid for the year during which you cancel are nonrefundable. Learn about managing your Apple ID payment methods.

Step 2: Invite Speakap to your Apple account

1. Log in to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/login.
2. Select Users and Access > People and click the blue plus sign.
3. Enter First Name: Speakap, Last Name: Development.
4. Enter Email: mobile-development@speakap.nl.
5. Select the Admin role.

We request the Admin role because it provides all the access we need and helps avoid delays if incorrect permissions are assigned. If you would prefer not to grant Admin access, the minimum permissions we require are the App Manager role with the following permissions enabled:

• Access to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles
• Access to Cloud Managed Distribution Certificate
• Create Apps

Note: To be able to generate the app, we need the Apple Developer account to have less than 3 "already created" distribution certificates. If you already have 3 distribution certificates in your account, you can share one of the existing ones with us.

Step 3: Give us API permissions

To upload the app and its updates to your account we need an App Store Connect API Key. This can only be generated by the Apple account's "Account Holder" user.

1. Log in to https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/login.
2. Select Users and Access > Integrations > App Store Connect API.
3. You may have to 'Request Access'. Typically, access is granted within a few hours to a few business days. Sometimes immediately. In the meantime you can move on and return to complete this API key section later.
4. Once you have access, click the Add (+) button.
5. Enter a name for the key. The name is for your reference only and is not part of the key itself.
6. Under Access, select the role for the key. We recommend "Admin", as it allows us to manage the app version upload and certificate renewal processes.
7. Click Generate.
8. Click the Download API Key link next to the new API key. This key can only be downloaded once. Be sure to store it somewhere safe and accessible for you.
9. Note down the API Key ID and Issuer ID. You will need these in step 5.

More information about generating the API key: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appstoreconnectapi/creating_api_keys_for_app_store_connect_api

Step 4: Provide a .p8 key for Apple Push Notifications (APNs)

An authenticated connection to APNs is required to send push notifications to an iOS app. Our recommendation is that you create a .p8 file and share it with us, since the .p8 certificate doesn't expire while the .p12 does. If you decide not to share a .p8 with us, you can still have push notifications, but you will need to create a .p12 certificate and refresh it when it expires (normally every year).

Note: This is a step we can perform for you if you gave our mobile-development@speakap.nl user the Admin permissions explained above. If you want to keep a local copy of the key, follow these steps yourself:

1. Log in to your Apple Developer Account (https://developer.apple.com/) and go to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles > Keys, then select the blue + button.
2. Select Apple Push Notifications service (APNs) and enter a name for the key.
3. Tick the 'Apple Push Notifications service (APNs)' checkbox, then click 'Configure'.
4. Choose these exact options: Environment: Production and Key Restriction: Team Scoped (All Topics).
5. Save, Continue, and on the next page select Register.
6. Download your new key and save it in a secure place (you can only download it once).
7. Note down the Development Team Name and ID (at the top right of the screen) and the APNs Key ID. You will need these in step 5.
8. Click "Done".

Step 5: Enter your details in the Whitelabel Portal

To complete the process, enter your Apple Developer details directly into our portal. You can request access to the portal by contacting your CSM. If your CSM is already handling the app configuration upload to our portal, you can simply email them your Apple account details directly.

Before you start, locate your Development Team Name and Development Team ID. You can find these values by logging in to https://developer.apple.com/account/resources/certificates/list with your account.

1. Log in to the Speakap white-labels portal and go to the iOS section.
2. Developer team: Enter your Development team name and Development team ID (a 10-character alphanumeric string).
3. API access: Upload your downloaded API Key (.p8) file. Enter the API Key ID and the Issuer ID.
4. Unlisted apps: Click Fill out questionnaire to provide the required answers for the Apple Unlisted App request.
5. Push notifications: Upload your APNs Key (.p8) file and enter the APNs Key ID.
6. Click Save details to finish your configuration.
7. There should be a green icon on the left, shown to the right of the word Apple.

About the unlisted app request: when your app is ready, we send it for review and indicate to Apple's reviewers that it is intended for their Unlisted program. We can only submit this request on your behalf if you gave us Admin rights in the account. If you gave us fewer permissions, you will need to submit the unlisted request yourself via https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/unlisted-app/, answering "Yes" to "Have you submitted your app to the App Store for review?". We will then need to coordinate timing so the app and the request are processed together by Apple. If they are not processed together, the app would be automatically rejected.

Still stuck?

Email us at technicalimplementations@speakap.nl with your organization name, the step you are stuck on, and any error message you see, and we'll help you out.