iOS app 'The application could not be verified' only on one device

Question

I have two iphone devices( 4s and 5 ) connected to my computer and i am trying to install an application in both the devices. It installs pretty well in iphone 5 but it gives an error 'The application could not be verified.' when attempted to install in the iphone 4s device.

The UDIDs of both the devices have been added in the provisioning profile generated for the application.

Also, to add a note, I have just updated my iphone version to 8.1.3 in my 4s device. I am not sure though if the error has anything to do with it.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. I have been stuck on this for some time now.

EDIT:

I just connected this to another iPhone device and the issue seems to be there again. Basically this means that the app, for some reason, installs only in the phone which I have been using for some time now and not in any other phone. Once again, I am pretty sure that the provisioning profile contains the UDIDs of all these 3 devices.

Answer 1

I had something similar happen to me just recently. I updated my iPhone to 8.1.3, and started getting the 'application could not be verified' error message from Xcode on an app that installed just fine on the same iOS device from the same Mac just a few days ago.

I deleted the app from the device, restarted Xcode, and the app subsequently installed on the device just fine without any error message. Not sure if deleting the app was the fix, or the problem was due to "the phase of the moon".

Answer 2

As I notice The application could not be verified. raise up because in your device there is already an app installed with the same bundle identifier.

I got this issue because in my device there is my app that download from App store. and i test its update Version from Xcode. And i used same identifier that is live app and my development testing app. So i just remove app-store Live app from my device and this error going to be fix.

Answer 3

just delete the app and try again, it happens to me when i try to launch over a device that has the same app but generated by an ipa file.

Answer 4

You probably used the "Fix Issue" option in Xcode when plugging in a new device. Old question but I believe this is the actual answer to WHY this is happening. When you install an app on a device it is signed with a specific development provisioning profile. If, for instance, you plug in another device that is not registered on your developer account Xcode will ask you to "fix the issue". When you press that the device is added and another provisioning profile is created/modified. If you try to overwrite an existing app you'll receive that error. Deleting the app and reinstalling it works since the profile has been altered. I find this often happens when a Team is set and a member plugs in a new device then Xcode "Fixes" the problem.

Answer 5

Might have figured it out... Deleting the app from the device worked for me, as others mentioned before (thanks!).

I think the reason is that the app on the device was actually signed with a separate provisioning profile, specifically a distribution profile in my case.

Answer 6

To others not using RubyMotion and don't think that deleting the app is acceptable (as in, you want to do upgrade testing). Check out the bottom of these docs from Apple:

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/technotes/tn2319/_index.html

It looks like they changed something in 8.1.3 to check for this new rule.

The Fix

"[Add] the installed application’s application-identifier value, as logged in the second parentheses, to the previous-application-identifiers entitlement’s array value for the app being installed (by resigning it or re-building it) and requesting new special provisioning profiles as shown below."

<key>previous-application-identifiers</key>
<array>
    <string>{Your Old App ID Prefix}.YourApp.Bundle.ID</string>
</array>

EDIT:

In order to do this, you need special provisioning profiles. You can request these from Apple: "To enable signing with the previous-application-identifiers entitlement new special provisioning profiles are required that can be obtained by going to the Contact US page and requesting them." (from the docs linked above).

Answer 7

I faced this issue a lot. I am not sure if this is the issue, but I think, when xCode saw that there is an app with the same bundle identifier as of the app, I am trying to install, it didn't allow me. So, I had to delete the older one and attempted to install and it worked. However sometimes for testing purpose, I needed multiple version of the same app and in that case, I would change the bundle identifier and try to install. It only works if, I am using an wildcard provisioning profile.

Answer 8

Had the same issue on my iPad running 8.1.3 Deleting the app and installing again fixed the issue. I use two different provisioning profiles on two different machines and that could have caused this issue.

Answer 9

Working & tested solution, which does not require to delete application:

It looks like AppStore Distribution Provisioning Profile or just iOS Distribution certificate have special permissions and "Could not be verified..." problem does not apply to them. They will always override previous certificate.

In other words: AppStore release will install successfully, even if already installed (testing, adhoc or enterprise) app has been signed by the certificate from different team.

If you are lucky and have previously uploaded app to the AppStore account owned by the same team as in certificate you have a problem with - then things are very simple: just download & install app from AppStore.

When it installs - app certificate will be the same as the one you want to test with and problem goes away.

If your app is not on the AppStore yet - iTunesConnect beta comes to the rescue:

Disclaimer: I did not tested this but since cert an prev are the same as AppStore release, I bet it works:

1. Archive your app with AppStore provisioning profile (iOS Distribution cert) and upload to iTunesConnect (to the account owned by the same developer team as included in the provisioning profile not you want to run).
2. Invite person with the device you want to run on (yourself?) to beta test.
3. Download & install the app from iTunes connect beta.
4. Now you are able to install your testing version.

Answer 10

The application could not be verified" , in your device there could be already an app installed with the same bundle identifier.

So Simple solution Just delete the App & try again.. ....

Answer 11

TL;DR answer - There is no real solution besides "delete app and reinstall".

This answer is not satisfactory for many situations, when you have an existing database that needs to not get deleted within the app.

Lukasz and plivesey are the only ones with solutions that don't require delete, but neither worked for me.

Answer 12

I resolved this issue by changing the Build System to legacy in xcode.

I had the same problem but the mentioned solutions above didn't work for me. Even I had no previous app on device, I got this error when deploying on my device.

How to do:

Simply, go to menu File > Project Setting, inside Share Project Settings, change Build System from "New Build System (default)" to "Lagacy Build System".

Answer 13

I also encountered the same issue. Deleting the app didn't work, but when I tried deleting another app which was the current one's 'parent'(I copied the whole project from the previous app, modified some urls and images, then I clicked 'Run' and saw the unhappy 'could not be verified' dialog). Seems the issue is related to provisioning and code signing and/or some configurations of the project. Very tricky.

Answer 14

I had changed the team but I forgot to change it in my Tests target it so it caused that. Maybe this helps someone.

Answer 15

Just had the same problem and I found out that the issue is with expired certificate. My app was distributed (AdHoc) through firebase and few days ago app was working just fine. Today I've realized that I can't install it because 'The application could not be verified'.

Finally I realized that certificate that I was using for app signing has expired 2 days ago. You need to upload it again and you'll be able to install it.