Hey! Here's my gist where I'll talk about LiveContainer + SideStore (LC+SS). Feel free to leave comments to help people out and ask your questions. That's what helps us all! :)
Initially, I followed this tutorial with some modifications. The tutorial is really well explained, definitely check it out. I used to comment there a lot before creating my own gist. Credits for my first installation in September go to that kind contributor.
I was using Sideloadly with my main Apple ID, installing LC+SS on my iPhone first, then on my iPad. But when I tried to install on the iPad, I got the error: "You already have a current iOS Development certificate or a pending certificate request (7460)".
I found out this was a certificate conflict issue, so I discovered a solution using commands to list certificates. Here's what I did:
- Download Sideloader
- Unzip it and navigate to the folder
- Open a terminal and run:
.\sideloader-cli-x86_64-windows-msvc.exe cert list -i - Copy the certificate number found
- Revoke the certificate:
.\sideloader-cli-x86_64-windows-msvc.exe cert revoke <CERTNUMBER> -i
Then I'd finally get LC+SS on both my iPad and iPhone, and I'd continue with the classic installation (sign in to SideStore, refresh the app, cancel certificate). If I still had certificate issues, I'd revoke it again using the PC method.
The Problem: This worked, but after a few days I noticed the certificate said it was refreshing (spinning), but it wasn't actually refreshing, and it would expire on one of the devices. So I moved on to Method 2.
Almost the same, but I used one Apple ID per device. It worked and I did this for several months, but it wasn't practical. The thing is, I had to remember to refresh on both devices separately, and apps could uninstall. Also, I had no sharing possible between the LiveContainers - I had to install everything twice and redo everything in duplicate.
I managed this for several months until I had issues with my iPad, which I use less often. I wouldn't notice when it wasn't refreshing, and sometimes I had to reinstall - it was annoying. So I saw that it's possible to use the same certificate for two devices and I think that's golden! That's what I decided to do.
This eliminates the sharing issues I explained, and if I refresh in time on my iPhone, the iPad should handle it too. I absolutely had to figure out how to do this. I found this tutorial explaining how to do it, but I found it a bit complicated. I have something, I hope, easier to propose. Let's go!
So here's the method that's simplest for me. You're going to need to download iLoader. It's a tool I found recently that's goated. It combines Sideloadly, idevicepair, and Sideloader into one tool. No more messing around! There's even a way to install the IPAs we're talking about today without having to go through GitHub. It's goat.
- Open iLoader and sign in with your Apple ID
- Go to "Certificate" and revoke all certificates linked to LC+SS (or SS alone) to avoid conflicts (it's so nice to do it in one click!)
- Connect your first device (iPhone for me) and install LC+SS stable (if you haven't revoked certificates, there will be an error and the tool will ask you to do it)
- Open LiveContainer on your first device - it will ask you to trust the developer, do it in your phone settings
- Open LiveContainer again, it should work
- Open SideStore in the top left
- Sign in to SideStore with the same Apple ID
- Go to "My Apps" and refresh your app. (I have a seen a difference, I'll talk about it later. It doesn't ask to revoke the certificate and create a new one, nor does it quit LiveContainer. (see NOTE 2).)
- Plug in your second device (iPad) and directly install LC+SS (don't revoke your certificate!)
- Do the same steps: open LC, accept developer if it asks (it shouldn't)
- Go to SideStore, sign in, and refresh your LiveContainer
- ENJOY!
I find this tool incredible. I wish I'd known much earlier that it exists, and that's why I'm sharing. It might be obvious to some, but I didn't know. It also serves as future documentation for me :)
NOTE 1: I wrote this post right after testing. I might come back in a while to change everything because I realize it might not work. We'll see. For now it seems to work, but we need to see over time, like with Method 1.
NOTE 2: Coming back to what I mentioned before. I said I noticed something different from Sideloadly. When you refresh, it doesn't ask to delete the old certificate and the app doesn't close. I think that's what's incredible. I think iLoader creates a certificate on installation with the Apple ID, installs on the first device, and immediately imports this created certificate from the PC to the device. So instead of having to revoke the PC certificate like with Sideloadly and then recreate it by refreshing (which closes the app), it directly reuses its own certificate. And I think when installing the app on the second device, it reuses the same certificate again. This makes it genius - we create the certificate once and don't have to recreate it on reinstall, then export and import to the other device. If one of the iLoader devs sees this post and can confirm what I think, that would be great :)
NOTE 3: Originally I used iLoader for its ease because someone recommended it to me on Discord. I thought it would help me quickly. Actually, the tool is incredible for bringing everything together, but if on top of that it imports certificates intelligently, it's genius. Originally I wanted to make this tutorial and then follow the tutorial from this PR to import my certificate from my iPhone to my iPad. I think that might not be necessary, which is great. If it is, I'll come back to this post and add modifications.
For refreshing apps, check out Problem 2 below for my shortcut solutions!
I had some issues with VPN and WiFi when refreshing, so I made shortcuts to automate it properly. Here are two versions depending on your setup:
If you're using separate Apple IDs for each device (Method 2), this shortcut handles both:
How it works:
- Checks if you're connected to WiFi (tries to connect if not)
- Detects which device you're on (iPhone/iPad)
- Connects to your VPN (StosVPN or Stickdebug - customize it)
- Refreshes the correct SideStore instance
- Sends a success notification
VPN Connection Workaround: The shortcut connects to the VPN, waits 3 seconds, then connects again. This fixes a weird Apple issue: if you were on a different VPN before, asking to connect when VPN is disabled will just switch to the right VPN without actually enabling it. The second connection attempt (after waiting 3 seconds) sees you're on the correct VPN and properly activates it. Weird, but this handles all the edge cases where VPN is disabled or you're on a different VPN.
Setup note: The actions will appear as "unavailable" because each SideStore instance is unique to your Apple ID. Just search for "SideStore refresh" in the shortcut, find your action, and replace mine with yours.
Download: Refresh SideStore v1 (Two Apple IDs)
Since we're using the same certificate with Method 3, the shortcut is simpler - no need to check which device you're on!
How it works:
- Checks WiFi connection
- Connects to VPN twice with 3-second delay (same workaround as v1)
- Refreshes SideStore
- Sends success notification
Setup note: Same as v1 - replace the "unavailable" SideStore action with your own.
Download: Refresh SideStore v2 (Single Certificate)
Still searching for this one! :)
Feel free to contribute and ask questions!
Thank you for your response I will look into details for the multiple app it was interesting ! You are welcome for the shortcut, so far so good it didn’t fail me yet haha