AutoSign

Keep sideloaded iOS apps alive with a free Apple ID, automatically.

Italiano: README.it.md

A free Apple developer account signs apps for 7 days only. AutoSign is a small macOS menu bar app that re-signs and re-installs your apps on your iPhone or iPad every few days, over Wi-Fi or cable, without you doing anything.

How it avoids breaking when Apple changes things: AutoSign does not talk to Apple's servers itself. It delegates certificates, device registration and provisioning profiles to Xcode's own command line tools (xcodebuild -allowProvisioningUpdates), which already hold your Apple ID login, handle two-factor authentication and are maintained by Apple. Tools that reimplement Apple's private APIs (AltServer and friends) stop working on new macOS releases; this approach does not.

Requirements

• macOS 13 or later, with Xcode installed and your Apple ID added in Xcode → Settings → Accounts (a free account is enough).
• xcodegen (brew install xcodegen), used only to create the throwaway project that makes Xcode issue a profile for an .ipa you did not build yourself.
• Your device paired with Xcode once (cable, "Trust this computer"). For cable-free renewals, enable Connect via network for the device in Xcode → Window → Devices and Simulators.
• Free account limits still apply: 3 sideloaded apps per device, 10 new App IDs per week, 7-day profiles.

What it does

• Xcode projects: builds the scheme for the device with automatic signing and installs the result. Your own apps, always fresh.
• .ipa files: unpacks, obtains (or reuses) a development profile for the bundle ID through a template project, re-signs every framework and the app with your development certificate and the profile's entitlements, verifies the signature, installs.
• Checks every 30 minutes; renews an app when its profile is within 36 hours of expiry or the chosen interval (default 5 days) has passed, and the device is reachable. Installing over the existing app keeps its data.
• Notifications on success and failure, launch at login, log in ~/Library/Logs/AutoSign.log, config in ~/Library/Application Support/AutoSign/config.json.

Install

git clone https://github.com/mvennarini/AutoSign.git
cd AutoSign
./build.sh
open build/AutoSign.app

A signature icon appears in the menu bar. Turn on Launch at login from the menu so it keeps running in the background.

Use

1. Menu → Add Xcode project… and pick the .xcodeproj of one of your apps (the scheme must have the project's name), or Add .ipa… for an app you already have built.
2. AutoSign signs and installs it right away, then checks every 30 minutes and renews it when the profile is within 36 hours of expiry or the chosen interval (5 days by default) has passed, if the device is reachable. If it is not, it retries every 5 minutes.
3. Installing over the existing app keeps its data. A notification reports every renewal, successful or not.

Each app in the menu shows its last renewal, profile expiry and any error, with Renew now and Remove. Log in ~/Library/Logs/AutoSign.log, configuration in ~/Library/Application Support/AutoSign/config.json.

Limitations, honestly

• Needs Xcode (about 15 GB). This is a tool for people who already have it.
• Apps that need entitlements a free account cannot grant (push notifications, app groups, iCloud) lose them when re-signed.
• Renewal only happens while the Mac is awake and the device is reachable.

Credits

Designed and built by Michele Vennarini with the support of AI tools.

MIT License. Copyright 2026 Michele Vennarini.