As a lone developer (whose personal iPhone is stil a 6s), I would obviously need to acquire iPhone 7, 8, and X test devices -- how do I do this without disturbing my personal iPhone? Do I need to form a DBA or some other business entity and purchase devices as that entity?
As a semi-retired programmer, I'm not familiar with these various legal/business aspects of app development -- any advice appreciated.
I’m not sure I understand your question. There seems to be two independent axes here:
Team type — Apple supports three types of teams (Individual, Organisation, Enterprise).
Acquiring Test Devices
From reading your post it seems like you think that these are connected. That’s not the case. There’s no way to acquire a test device ‘through’ your team and, once you’ve acquired a test device, you can enroll it whatever team or teams you want.
With regards your team type, if you plan to build apps commercially I strongly recommend that you set up an Organisation team. This requires some extra paperwork but, IMO, it’s worth it in the long term.
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let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"Thank you eskimo
I replied via email, and you suggested that I reply in forums, so I'm doing that now... My confusion is simply this: if I buy a new iPhone now, it will become my personal phone, but that is not what I want. I want to acquire devices with no phone service as test devices that have no effect on my personal iPhone. Do I need a separate Apple ID? Again, I am just an individual, so I am not sure how to go about this -- I realize that you recommed I set up an Organisation Team -- can you elaborate on what that is? What do I need to do in my developer account and/or Xcode to change to an Organisation Team, and how will it allow me to purchase devices that don't affect my personal iPhone?
Thanx again,
Rob
I thought it might be worth addressing the "obviously" at the beginning of your question.
Developers do not, in general, acquire every Apple device that is going. It is perfectly possible to develop software for the whole range of iPhones from 6 to XS purely by having one test device and simulating the rest.
The main exceptions to this are if you are using a hardware feature that an old device doesn't have. For instance, if you seriously depended on Force Touch then you would have to have a 6s at the very least. But simple things such as the changes of screen size and layout that accompany new devices can usually be handled perfectly well in the Simulator.
The only times I have deliberately delayed updates until I had the device in question were the very first iPad and the very first Apple Watch. This is because the user experience was different enough that one couldn't imagine it without actually getting one's fingers onto the device itself.
As for your question about phones, I don't want to get into that because I am not an expert. But if I just buy a phone then it doesn't become my main phone unless I specifically set it up as a replacement for my old phone in iTunes and specifically move my old SIM card to my new device. I don't have to do either of these things.