S60 applications need to be digitally signed before they can be installed on any handset. Most of the applications now available for download are signed, but there are exceptions. There are freeware developers out there that have submitted their apps to Symbian Signed (the service created exactly for the purpose of dealing with signing issues) months or even years ago, and have yet to receive a reply.
This is why the signing of apps by the end-user took off during the last year or so. There are some apps released by their developers as 'unsigned', where the end-user must step in and sign the apps himself/herself. Until February, there was a method of getting a certificate (what you actually need to be able to sign apps offline) around the nets, and those of you who have used that method and got a certificate can still sign apps offline with software such as SignSIS (until the certificate expires).
For those who didn't have the chance to get a certificate or have bought a new phone recently, the only available method of signing apps right now is the new Open Signed Online service. "Open" because you don't have to have a developer ID, "online" because the process is done via a website and email.
Important note: not all the unsigned apps out there can be signed using this method, only the ones that do not have protected UID ranges associated with them. If you don't understand what that is, do not worry, what it means is that there are some modifications to the apps that have to be done by the developers in order for the apps to be ready for signing using this procedure. Most likely, in a few weeks, all of the unsigned apps out there will have been updated accordingly. As soon as updates that allow signing by Open Signed Online are available, I will write about them.
How to use Open Signed Online
- Go to the website
- Complete the form with your phone's IMEI (find out what your IMEI is by typing *#06# on your phone when it's at the home screen) and your email address (Warning! Further communication will take place by email, so this must be a valid email address!)
- Click the Browse button to get the file you wish to sign from your computer's hard drive. Select it.
- At "Capability information", select all
- Enter the security code you see in the image, as above
- Accept the legal agreement
- And click Send
You will then see this message:
Then check your email. You will immediately receive an email with a confirmation link in it. You must click on that link for the procedure to continue. After you have confirmed your email by doing this, the file will be processed.
In a matter of minutes, or, at most, hours, you will receive another email from Symbian Signed, this time with a download link. Follow that link and you can download your signed file.
