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Set Up a Binary Handoff Project for Experience Cloud Apps

Use the binary handoff distribution method to have Salesforce build your app and provide you with the binary file (.ipa or .aab) for manual signing and distribution. This method is ideal for organizations with security protocols that require in-house code signing or specific internal distribution processes. Use the binary handoff distribution when you’re certain you don’t want to change the distribution method, because you can't change it to fully managed or binary upload.

Required Editions

Setup for Mobile Publisher available in: Lightning Experience
Setup for Mobile Publisher available in: production only (not sandbox)
Available in Lightning Experience in: Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited Editions
User Permissions Needed
To create and modify a Mobile Publisher project: Manage mySalesforce Apps
To create and modify a site: Create and Set Up Experiences

Before you create a project, make sure that you have an active Experience Cloud site.

Important
Important After you request the app binary, the distribution method is locked to Binary Handoff and can’t be changed.

When you use Binary Handoff, Salesforce builds the app binary and delivers it to you, but your organization maintains full control over the signing identity and store submission.

  1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Mobile Publisher, and then select Mobile Publisher.
  2. Click Create New App.
  3. Select External Client App and click Next.
  4. Select Experience Builder Site as the app type and click Next.
  5. Enter a project name and click Next.
    Important
    Important You can’t change the project name after you save it. The project name is only seen internally, not by the app users.
  6. Click Start for the platform (iOS or Android) you want to configure.
  7. In the Set Up the Mobile App section, click Start.
  8. Click Change App Distribution Method, select Binary Handoff, and click Done.
  9. Important
    Important For Android apps, register your app in Firebase using the Customer Store Identifier field in the Setup UI to obtain the google-services.json file. If your app uses deep links, supply the SHA-256 value in the setup form. You can find the value in your Google Play console, in Test & Release | App Integrity | App Signing | Play App Signing | Settings.
    Complete the Customer Store Identifier and all other required fields on the form.
  10. Click Submit.
  11. In the Set Up an External Client App section, click Start to configure and deploy your ECA to production.
    Note
    Note To test your app in a sandbox, deploy the ECA to the sandbox org after deploying to production. During ECA setup, you can also turn on push notifications by adding your Apple APNs key (.p8 file) or Google Firebase Admin SDK JSON file.
  12. From the main Mobile Publisher Setup page, click Request Binary. Salesforce builds the app binary and delivers it to you. You can also just directly download the binary in Mobile Publisher.

After receiving the binary, you're responsible for re-signing it with your own signing certificates and private keys and submitting it to the app stores.