> install it on your own iDevice, you have to pay a yearly subscription fee.

Not true anymore [1]

[1] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43932076/how-to-build-ap...

Not only do you still have to hassle with Apple's clunky provisioning profiles, it only lasts for a week and you're almost guaranteed to get an error message because you reached the device limit with as much as one device.

> Not only do you still have to hassle with Apple's clunky provisioning profiles

No you don't. XCode takes care of all of that automatically, I haven't had to hassle with provisioning profiles in years.

You provide anecdotal evidence (like me) as it requires me to set it manually to work and it has been so for about a year.

What do you need to 'set manually' ? You check 'automatically manage signing' and select your team from the list (if you're in multiple teams) and it should Just Work™.