From now on, by the grace of Apple, they may actually exist: applications that cannot be found in the App Store. But why should a developer want this at all and how do you get hold of these apps? There are good reasons for their existence and the iPhone manufacturer is now providing them.
Apple now allows its developers not to list apps in the App Store if they wish. Such apps for iPhone and iPad are generally available in the store, so they can also be downloaded, but they never appear in the search results. Likewise, they do not appear in app store categories, recommendations, charts, or other listings. In short: These are secret “undercover apps” (source: Apple via MacRumors).
Secret iPhone apps can only be found via link
Just whoever has the direct link to the app will ever be able to find and download such an application, there is no other way. However, these apps are also available via the Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager and can therefore be distributed centrally by the developers.
An app you don’t want anyone to find? Isn’t this the opposite of what developers usually want? This is usually the case, but there are good reasons why not everyone should be able to find such apps. So the provider recommends such Apps for specific organizations, special events or research studies. Likewise, such apps can be used as aids for employees or sales tools.
Don’t worry, these app recommendations are easy to find on the App Store:
Short and good: Apps not intended for the general publici.e. rather limited target groups such as your own employees, business partners, students or conference participants.
Not a substitute for test environments
Important: A very specific reason is ruled out and is explicitly not accepted by Apple. The apps for iPhone and iPad always have to be “ready”, i.e. not just in the beta stage. The solution shown here by Apple is therefore not a replacement for test environments such as Testflight, which still retain their raison d’être. If it is still a pre-release version of the app, Apple will promptly refuse publication with an “undercover request”.