Would you be able to upload the .ipa files for iPhone installation?

[Amir-Arsalan]

Hi. People in certain countries in the world are suffering access to the internet. Many of them have iPhone phones but Apple App Store is blocked in those countries and they cannot download ProtonVPN. Could you please upload the .ipa files as an asset in your releases so that people from outside of Iran can download the .ipa file and share it with people in Iran via email or other methods? I would really appreciate it if you could upload the .ipa file for the latest version of ProtonVPN here as soon as possible. Please do not wait until the next version is released even if it means you have to create a new release in order to be able to add an asset (the .ipa) file.

Thank you thank you thank you

[jaroslavas]

Hello Amir, thanks for suggestion!
Do you have means to sign the ipa file yourself? Otherwise it just won't install on your devices.

[Amir-Arsalan]

@jaroslavas I'm not sure what that means. How can an iPhone user sign the ipa file? Does it need to use App Store for that? I'm basically looking for a way to download the installation file of ProtonVPN and install it on a phone, similar to the process of installing an app on an Android device by downloading the .apk file and installing it manually. Do you think it would be possible to do something like this for iPhone as well?

[Amir-Arsalan]

Assuming that people don't have access to App Store to "sign" .ipa files, is there any other way to circumvent this? Is there a a method described on a GitHub page/repo or other website that provides an alternative/easy way to sign .ipa files?

[yagee-de]

You could hack your phone if it is old enough, or you wait until Apple allows side-loading. It should be a matter of time:
https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en

Expect iOS 17.2 or whatever release happens between Sept. 1st and end of February 2024 to either support 3rd party App Stores or side-loading.

[account183892]

Appsync and also dropping iOS 12 support without adding the Stealth protocall is dumb because in countries that are developing more people still use old iPhones.