17 July 2010

Public Beta of Nokia
Signing Symbian Apps for Free

To assure end users that the data on their mobile devices is protected, it’s essential to properly package and sign your applications whenever possible but with the wide range of choices for developers, the question becomes: Which packaging and signing solution is the right one for your application?!

In an attempt to make it easier to publish apps in Ovi Store, Nokia recently simplified the tools and the process, and removed some of the cost associated with developing mobile apps for distribution in Ovi Store.

Developers must make initial investments to create Symbian apps; for example, obtaining a Publisher ID and paying a third party to have the application Symbian signed. Currently, this takes around four weeks, and can cost up to $215.

With the new public beta, Nokia is exploring a developer workflow to reduce the time for developers to two weeks and bring the cost down to free. Symbian OS platform security was introduced in Symbian OS v9. The most important factor from a developer’s point of view is the existence of distinct ‘capabilities’.

The capabilities are used to prevent the misuse of sensitive functions in Symbian OS. The operating system is divided into 21 parts, one of which is open and 20 of which are behind various capabilities, based on how sensitive they are and which functionalities they protect. The developer must declare which capabilities an application requires.

It’s important to note that for this public beta they’re only covering Symbian signing of SIS files that would normally be express signed. For apps (SIS files) that require certified signing, those SIS files will not be signed by Nokia which mean using a third party signing solution will be required.

If you’re interested in participating in this public beta, please send an email to publishtoovi.support@nokia.com with your Ovi Publish username and you’ll receive more details.