Open APK File

IPA File

IPA files are used to distribute applications for iOS operating system. After XCode builds an iOS application developer selects Project->Archive from the main menu and XCode creates an IPA archive which is ready for distribution. IPA files either could be uploaded to ITunes Connect for further distribution to the Apple App Store or distributed to the TestFlight users. But even during TestFlight distribution IPA files are never sent directly to Test users. IPA file is still being uploaded to the ITunes Connect and users download their Test app using TestFlight. Thus technically end-user should never deal with IPA files. But developers frequently do and that is why we provide below a typical IPA file structure with its folders and files:
iTunesArtwork
iTunesMetadata.plist
Payload/
{Application_Name}.app/
(other application files)


Technically IPA file is a ZIP archive which could be opened by an unarchiver app but doing so usually will not provide much of information since parts of the IPA file like images and binaries are encoded to avoid unauthorized access.

It is also possible to install IPA file using ITunes. But this scenario is not very frequently used and will only work with properly signed IPA files. Do not install IPA files which are not signed and which were downloaded from untrusted sources.