Symbian Signed
What is Symbian Signed?
Symbian Signed is the resource for application signing for one or many Symbian OS mobile phones.Why sign an application?
Signing is the process of encoding a tamper-proof digital certificate into an application sis (installation) file. The certificate identifies the application’s origin, and grants access to those Capability-protected APIs in Symbian OS that the application declared at build-time. Here are several Capability examples:On Symbian OS, protected APIs are those that allow sensitive operations, such as those that may:
- access end users’ private data, thus potentially breaching privacy
- potentially create billable events, thus costing the end user money
- access the mobile phone network, potentially affecting its operation
- access handset functions that can affect the normal behavior of the phone
- potentially impact the performance of other applications running on the phone.
When is signing an application not required?
- If the application uses no capabilities
- If the application uses “User Grantable” capabilities allowing the user to grant permission for these capabilities during installation or run time
- If the application is targeted for Symbian OS versions earlier than v9.x
Note: There is no guarantee that Device Manufacturers or network operators will always allow unsigned applications to install on their devices.
What are the signing options?
There are four signing options and they are based on application deployment requirements.- Open Signed Online is for people who wish to test or deploy their application to a particular phone (based on a single phone IMEI identifier).
- Open Signed Offline is for people who wish to test or deploy their application to particular phones (based on up to 1000 phone IMEI identifiers).
- Express Signed allows for commercial deployment and requires an application to adhere to a series of functional and performance tests.
- Certified Signed allows for commercial deployment and also requires the application to pass functional and performance tests through a Symbian Signed Test House.
View or download our Symbian Signed Grid document (29kb) which provides a comparison of previous and current signing options.
Resources and guides
Quick links
Open Signed Online Open Signed Offline Express Signed Certified Signed Test Criteria SDN Wiki General Forum Support Request Forum Symbian Signed Guide - high Symbian Signed Guide - low
FAQs
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