You don't need to pay anymore.

Actually, if you don't pay the developer fee, you can only install 2 apps per apple account and they get deactivated in a week. If you do pay, I think its unlimited apps and a 3 month long period before they get deactivated.

not true. I’ve written a couple personal apps that sync with health kit data collected from my Apple Watch and nutrition apps to help me track things in a way that is useful for my fitness goals. In 2016-2027 I used these apps to put on 30 lbs and stay relatively lean but I’ve never wanted to publish them in the app store. I don’t pay for any developer program. Just need to download some (free) developer tools / SDK for XCode, build the source, and put it on my phone. The install is tethered, but afterwards it stays there until I delete it. Restarting the phone doesn’t delete the app either. Only time I needed to re-install was when my 5s crapped out and I had to get a new phone.

If you turn on WiFi debugging the install can be untethered.

When did that change? I wrote an app that I use every day and have been for about 4 years now. The most recent time I've had to load it on a new phone was in Dec of last year.

My apple dev account was originally a paid one though so maybe that has something to do with it?

I really hope I don't run into this deactivation thing.

>My apple dev account was originally a paid one though so maybe that has something to do with it?

Yeah that is why. I had a paid one also and I still have those perks.

I think you're confused with iTunes Connect. Whatever I push with Xcode stays on my phone forever.

Are you sure you don't have a paid account? My provisioning profiles expire after 7 days (the app is still on my phone but upon launch it just crashes with a white screen)

http://mybyways.com/blog/new-limitations-imposed-on-free-app...

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36998956/why-does-my-fre...

https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/47837

https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/4hotx3/news_free...

The worst part is that these changes weren't announced by Apple in any way.

>a 3 month long period before they get deactivated

It's 12 month long actually.

They still stop running after seven days.

This is completely false, I have several apps that I've built on my own personal account, which is expired because I haven't released a personal app in a year or so, all of them are still running just fine after a year.

Incorrect. Provisioning profiles created by free Apple developer accounts only last for 7 days. After that you have to fire up Xcode and rebuild your app and reinstall it.

This is a very well known fact that you can find documentation for on many sites outside of apple.com, such as right here - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/ios/get-started/ins...

The sad fact is that it's not your phone, it's Apples.

Provisioning profile expiration doesn't stop apps from running, it just prevents you from building more apps until you refresh the profile.

Apple - Its not your device, but the data is yours.

Google - Its your device, but the data is ours.

This IS NOT INCORRECT. I have numerous apps that still work. Provisioning profiles have nothing to do with the app running and everything to do with installing the app. If you need to re-install the app XCode automatically regenerates a new provisioning profile for you. Please educate yourself about the details of how technical items work before speaking negatively about something.

I have my fair share of complaints about Apple but speaking negatively via ignorance is always something that should be corrected.

If you are a paid developer your apps don't expire (at least not for a year or so).