>> "iOS is "okay, generate a CSR here, (insert 20 steps), still not finished""

A few years ago maybe. Now Xcode handles most of this stuff for you automatically. There are still some situations when the member centre is queried but for the most part Xcode seems generate everything you need when you try to build & run for the first time.

Xcode handles the simple case automatically and screws up everything else making the "Fix Issues" button a bit of a gamble, honestly.

I have recently switched to automatic provisioning profile management, only to have it completely broken in Xcode 7.3 (radar filed and confirmed). Still using Member Centre for now.

Don't you need admin access for that to work? I'm doing work for another organization, and their sysadmin has me under a restricted role (very reasonable) so Xcode can't automate any of that.

i hate to admit it, but you're right, its much easier now. i am on about 7 "teams" and Xcode handles it really well - provided i only ever use the one machine.

Actually, when you go to 'Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles' section it is unchanged, so the tutorials should still be usable :).

On a side note, I usually didn't need to go there very often. These days XCode takes care of most of the certificate/provisioning profiles crap. Still, for a newcomer this can be overwhelming and they should really try to simplify it.

The right way to do large-scale testing isn't to add everybody to the developer account, it's to use TestFlight or Crashlytics/Fabric. TestFlight is a nicer experience for the end users, but it does require going through beta app review for every new version number bump (though beta app review is faster than normal app review and once a version goes through review you can upload new builds of that version without review).

TestFlight/Crashlytics still have the 100 devices limit. The answer is actually to get Enterprise distribution if you need to install it on more than 100 devices.

Nope, TestFlight is now 2000 devices. And I thought Crashlytics always used the enterprise distribution mechanism? That's certainly the only exposure I've had to it.

They've done a pretty good job automating the provisioning stuff. It still can be annoying to debug when it doesn't work, but for an individual or a small team it's pretty seamless these days.

I will agree with you about the Push Notifications (and other related features like IAP, GameCenter, etc).

Any company larger than a handful of developers should be using an Enterprise account, which costs about as much as three individual accounts, and has no limit to the number of devices for testing.

yeah but some team selection dropdowns still don't distinguish between the Enterprise and App Store teams, so you end up with two "MyCompany Inc." entries. Using any "fix issue" magic becomes an even more risky gamble then.

Do you still need a beta review to deploy to external testing with Enterprise account?

you never did; enterprise distribution is usually done via mdm/OTA provisioning or by installing the .ipa directly via iTunes

I think the biggest annoyance by far is iTunes Connect. It's an odd beast.

It's awkwardly separate from the rest of developer centre, and have this bizarre requirement that you use a separate Apple ID for each iTC organisation, so you end up with one primary Apple ID tied to all developer programs and separate Apple IDs for each iTC account.

you might want to recheck, they recently allowed to use one apple id for multiple itc organizations/teams

I didn't know, that's great news.

Android and Google's developer console seemingly gets a new UI every time I venture in to get a push or maps API key, so I wouldn't say it's much better. The play services api also seem to change its mind every couple of months on how and where you even insert the api keys.

There is fastlane and testflight which makes life easier.