Why your own iPhone app stops opening after 7 days (and the fix)

By Sigsten Gustavii· 27 October 2026· 8 min read

Your own iPhone app stops opening after 7 days because Apple's free accounts sign apps with a provisioning profile that expires 7 days after it is issued; reinstall or re-sign it and it works again.

If you have put an app on your iPhone with Xcode or a sideloading tool and a free Apple ID, you have probably met this: one day the icon is there, you tap it, and nothing happens, or iOS says the app is no longer available. Nothing is broken. This is how Apple's free tier works, and this guide explains exactly what the limits are, from Apple's own page, and how to stop it happening.

Why it happens

Every app on an iPhone has to be signed. Apps from the App Store are signed by Apple. Apps you install yourself are signed with your own Apple Account and a provisioning profile, a small file that says which app may run on which device. According to Apple's membership comparison, when your account is not in the paid Developer Program, Xcode treats it as a Personal Team, and the provisioning profiles it issues expire 7 days from issuance. After that, Apple says, you need to rebuild and reinstall the app.

Apple does this to keep free accounts for testing your own work, not for distributing apps around the App Store. The 7-day limit is part of that design, not a bug and not a fault with your phone.

The other free-account limits

• Up to 3 apps per device. A fourth app needs one of the others removed. Apple states this limit directly.
• Up to 10 App IDs, expiring after 7 days. Every new app identifier counts, so tools that create a fresh identifier on each install burn through them fast.
• Up to 3 devices, which also expire after 7 days.
• Fewer capabilities. Apple reserves advanced capabilities for paid members. In Borel's experience, an app installed with a free Apple ID cannot use push notifications, iCloud, Sign in with Apple or in-app purchases.

What you see when it expires

When the profile runs out, the icon usually stays on your Home Screen, but the app will not open: it may flash and close, or iOS may show a message that the app is no longer available. Your app's data on the phone generally survives if you reinstall the same app with the same identifier, which is one more reason to reuse the identifier rather than create a new one each time.

Fix 1: reinstall every week

The manual fix is to rebuild and reinstall the app before or after the 7 days run out, from Xcode on a Mac or from the tool you used. It works, but it is easy to forget, and it means plugging in or opening the tool every week. If you go this way, set a weekly reminder on the day you installed.

Fix 2: let a tool renew it for you

The more comfortable fix is a tool on your computer that re-signs and reinstalls the app before the 7 days end. That is what Borel Companion does for apps you build in Borel, on the Pro plan:

• It reads the real expiry date from each app's provisioning profile and shows how many days are left.
• It renews apps automatically before a free Apple ID's 7 days run out, while it is running on your computer, over Wi-Fi once the phone has been connected by cable once.
• One click to reinstall any app for a fresh 7 days.
• It reuses the same App ID for every build of an app, so updates and reinstalls do not spend another of your 10 App IDs.
• It runs on Windows and Mac, and your Apple ID password and signing keys stay on your computer.

The limits Apple sets still apply: Companion needs to be running, the phone on the same Wi-Fi or the cable, and a free Apple ID holds 3 of your apps at a time.

Fix 3: join the Apple Developer Program

With Apple's Developer Program, at 99 USD a year, you can distribute the app through TestFlight, which Apple says reaches up to 10,000 external testers, or publish it on the App Store, where it never expires. If the app is for more than you, or you are tired of the limits, this is the permanent fix. Our guide to enrolling in the Developer Program walks through it, and the guide to the free Apple ID versus the Developer Program compares the two.

Mistakes that make the limits worse

• Creating a new app identifier on every install. Each one counts against the 10 App IDs a free account gets per 7 days, and an old install's data stays behind under the old identifier.
• Installing more than three of your own apps. The fourth will not go on until you remove one; decide which three you use most.
• Waiting until the app has stopped. Renew a day early, so the app is never unavailable when you need it.
• Signing with a different Apple ID each time. Keep to one account, so the apps, identifiers and device registration stay together.
• Treating it as a way to share apps. Each friend's phone counts against your devices; TestFlight is the tool Apple built for sharing.

None of this applies once an app is on the App Store, and none of it applies to TestFlight builds in the same way: those are Apple's routes for apps that other people use.

If the app will not install or open at all

Two other messages are often confused with the 7-day expiry:

• Developer Mode. On iOS 16 and later, apps you install yourself need Developer Mode turned on: Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Developer Mode, then restart.
• Untrusted Developer. On a new install, you may need to trust your Apple ID in Settings, then General, then VPN and Device Management.

Borel's Learn page on your iPhone covers these steps for Companion.

How to keep your own app on your iPhone with Borel, step by step

1. Build the app on Borel, free to start, and try it on the live iPhone in your browser.
2. Upgrade to Pro when you want it on your phone; installing with Companion comes with Pro.
3. Download Borel Companion for Windows or Mac and sign in with your Apple ID; a free one works.
4. Plug in your iPhone once, tap Trust, and turn on Developer Mode if asked.
5. Install from Borel's Run on your device button. Later updates go over Wi-Fi.
6. Leave Companion running and it renews each app before the 7 days end.

A personal medication log: what I took and when, a reminder at 8 am and 8 pm, and a history I can scroll back through. Just for me, no account.

For more on apps made just for you, see personal apps and installing an app on your iPhone without the App Store.

The bottom line

Your own iPhone app stops after 7 days because Apple's free accounts issue provisioning profiles that expire 7 days after they are made, alongside limits of 3 apps per device and 10 App IDs. Reinstall weekly, let Borel Companion on Pro renew it for you, or join Apple's Developer Program for TestFlight and the App Store. If you are building an app just for yourself, start free on Borel and keep it on your phone without the weekly chore.

I think a weekly reinstall is a strange chore for an app you made for yourself, which is why Companion does it for you. If it ever misses a renewal, tell me.

– Sigsten

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