iPhone Untrusted Developer: How to Trust a Developer on iPhone
To fix Untrusted Developer on iPhone, trust the developer in VPN & Device Management while online. Also why free Apple ID apps stop after 7 days.
When an app on your iPhone shows “Untrusted Developer” or “Untrusted Enterprise Developer”, the person or company that signed it hasn’t been trusted on this phone yet. To fix it, go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, tap the developer’s name and tap Trust. The phone must be online when you do this. This article explains when the alert appears, the settings path on each iOS version, and what to check if the app still won’t open after you trust it.
When does the Untrusted Developer alert appear?
iOS only asks you to trust the developer for some apps installed outside the App Store and TestFlight. There are two common cases.
- Apps signed with a free Apple ID. An account that hasn’t joined the Apple Developer Program shows up in Xcode as a Personal Team. Apps signed with it show “Untrusted Developer” the first time you open them, and you trust them under the Developer App section in Settings.
- Apps signed with an enterprise In-House certificate. These are apps a company distributes to its own employees through the Apple Developer Enterprise Program. They show “Untrusted Enterprise Developer” the first time you open them, and you trust them under the Enterprise App section.
Builds from a paid Apple Developer Program account usually don’t show the alert. That covers builds signed with an Apple Development certificate and a Development provisioning profile that includes the phone’s UDID, and Ad Hoc builds. Apps from the App Store and TestFlight never show it.
| Installed from | Manual trust needed | Section in Settings |
|---|---|---|
| App Store, TestFlight | No | None |
| Paid account Development or Ad Hoc build, device registered | Usually not | None |
| Free Apple ID (Personal Team) | Yes | Developer App |
| Enterprise In-House certificate | Yes | Enterprise App |
If you’re a developer and keep running into this alert while testing, switch to a Development certificate and provisioning profile from a paid account and register your test phones’ UDIDs. See Get an iOS certificate, p12 and provisioning profile on Windows.
How do you trust a developer on iPhone?
These steps follow Apple’s support article Install custom enterprise apps on iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, as of October 2026.
- Open the app. When the “Untrusted Developer” alert appears, tap Cancel.
- Make sure the phone is connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data.
- Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
- Under Enterprise App or Developer App, tap the developer’s name. It’s the person or company name on the signing certificate.
- Tap Trust “Developer Name” and confirm in the dialog.
- On iOS 18 and later, the button in the dialog is Allow & Restart. After the phone restarts, follow the prompts on screen to finish.
- Go back to the Home Screen and open the app again.
You only need to trust a developer once. Other apps signed by the same developer work without repeating the steps.
Paths on different iOS versions
| iOS version | Settings path | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| iOS 18 and later | Settings > General > VPN & Device Management | After you tap Trust, tap Allow & Restart. Trust completes after the restart |
| iOS 15 to iOS 17 | Settings > General > VPN & Device Management | Trust takes effect immediately |
| iOS 14 and earlier | A device management item under Settings > General | The name varies by version. Look for an item with “Device Management” in its name |
If there’s no VPN & Device Management item under General, the phone has no app that needs trusting and no configuration profile or VPN installed. Check that the app actually installed and that its icon isn’t grayed out.
Why must the phone be online to trust a developer?
Apple verifies the developer certificate online when you establish trust. If you tap Trust while offline, the developer page shows Not Verified and the app still won’t open. Connect to a network, go back to the same page and tap Verify App.
On company or campus networks with a firewall, allow https://ppq.apple.com, or verification keeps failing. Trying once on a personal hotspot quickly tells you whether the network is blocking it.
Trust doesn’t last forever. Apple’s documentation says the device periodically re-verifies the developer certificate. After a long time offline you may see a message that verification is about to expire. Opening the app once while online renews it.
What if the app still won’t open after trusting?
If you trusted the developer and the app still crashes on launch, says it can’t be verified or won’t open, go through the causes below.
The certificate was revoked
When the signing certificate is revoked in the Apple Developer portal, no app signed with it can launch. Apple’s deployment guide states that apps with a revoked certificate won’t launch. The phone checks certificate status online and caches the result for a few days, so the app may keep working for a short while after revocation, but it will stop opening.
If you’re the developer, check the certificate’s status on the Certificates page of the portal. If it’s revoked, request a new certificate, regenerate the provisioning profile and build again. If you’re a user, ask whoever gave you the app for a new build.
The provisioning profile expired
The app won’t open once its provisioning profile expires. Profiles for apps signed with a free Apple ID last only 7 days, after which you have to build and install again. Profiles from a paid account last up to a year. Enterprise In-House profiles also have an expiration date.
Developers can check the ExpirationDate field in the profile on their computer. See 16 common iOS code signing and .ipa install errors, and how to fix them.
The date and time on the device are wrong
Certificates and provisioning profiles have start and end dates. If the phone’s clock was set far into the past or future by hand, the signature is treated as invalid. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time, turn on Set Automatically and open the app again.
Verification didn’t complete online
While the developer page shows Not Verified, the app won’t run. Connect to a network and tap Verify App.
Developer Mode is off
On iOS 16 and later, apps signed with a development certificate also require Developer Mode, otherwise an alert says Developer Mode is required. Turn it on in Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode. See Where to find Developer Mode on iPhone.
Summary
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Untrusted Developer” alert | Signed with a free Apple ID or an enterprise certificate and not trusted yet | Trust it in VPN & Device Management |
| Developer page shows Not Verified | The phone was offline when you trusted it | Go online and tap Verify App |
| Verify App keeps failing | The network blocks ppq.apple.com | Switch networks or allow the domain |
| Stops opening after about a week | The free account’s profile expired after 7 days | Build and install again |
| Many people can’t open it at once | Certificate revoked or profile expired | The developer gets a new certificate and signs again |
| Stops opening right after changing the phone’s clock | The device time is outside the certificate’s validity | Set Date & Time to automatic |
| Alert says Developer Mode is required | Running a development-signed app on iOS 16 or later | Turn on Developer Mode and restart |
How can developers keep testers from seeing the alert?
For your own test phones, use a Development provisioning profile from a paid account and register each phone’s UDID. For a small group of testers, use an Ad Hoc profile. For many testers or changing devices, use TestFlight. It needs no UDIDs and no manual trust.
When you build with KXBuild on Windows or Linux, put the .p12 certificate and the .mobileprovision profile in the keychain folder. The build picks them according to the project’s signing settings. See sign iOS apps on Windows. With signing and devices set up this way, test phones stop showing the Untrusted Developer alert. If the device isn’t registered, installation fails outright. See iOS app install fails because the device isn’t registered.
FAQ
What if there’s no VPN & Device Management in iPhone Settings?
The item only appears when the phone has an app that needs trusting, a configuration profile or a VPN. Check that the app installed and its icon isn’t grayed out. On iOS 14 and earlier, look under General for an item with “Device Management” in its name.
What if trusting the developer says it can’t be verified?
The phone has to be online because Apple verifies the developer certificate over the network. Connect to a network that can reach ppq.apple.com, go back to the developer page and tap Verify App. If a company network blocks it, try a personal hotspot.
Why does an app signed with a free Apple ID stop opening after a few days?
As of October 2026, provisioning profiles signed by a Personal Team expire after 7 days, and you have to build and install the app again. For longer use, join the Apple Developer Program, where profiles last up to a year.
Do I have to trust the developer again after deleting and reinstalling the app?
If you delete every app from that developer, the developer entry disappears from Settings and you have to trust it again after reinstalling. If another app from the same developer stays installed, you usually don’t.
Do App Store apps ever show “Untrusted Developer”?
No. Apps from the App Store and TestFlight are signed and distributed by Apple and need no manual trust. Only apps installed some other way show this alert.