why do AppStore distribution provisions have an expiration date? [closed]

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I'm a bit confused on how AppStore provisions work. The company I work for created our first Distribution-Certificate on 10-15-2009, and it was set to expire 10-15-2010. Our first AppStore-Distribution-Provision was created around 12-22-2009, and was listed as expiring on 10-15-2010. So it seemed to share and be controlled by the Certificate it was linked to.

At the time we published, the ambiguity of the terminology was sort of bothering me, but I just put it aside because there was so much work to do.

But every now and then I would wonder to myself, does it mean apps that users purchase off the store can expire with the same message that AdHoc apps have when their provisions expire? I wondered if that meant we had to watch that date closely and what was being expected of us.

Anyway, now we are about to publish v1.2 of that first app we published back in December 2009. Only now it is January 2011, and that original certificate has been 开发者_运维技巧replaced with a new one that will expire Nov 12, 2011. And I am wondering if I have to create a new AppStore provision, or do I use the one that was used for builds 1.0 and 1.1? I don't have to create a new AppID I hope? I could maybe see if AppStore-provisions have to be re-created every 12 months... but appID's, being such a central column of the version tracking system... if those have to be replaced too then I'm pretty confused on their function. :)

Hopefully somebody can explain why AppStore provisions have an expiration date... like I downloaded Angry Birds from another developer... thats never going to expire is it? so why does its provision have an expiration date?

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App Store provisions have a date so you can't sign new binaries with them after a certain point. Gotta pony up your $$ to Apple.

Apps installed on devices don't expire.

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Apps that customers download from the App store are re-signed by Apple, and don't expire. However, if you don't renew your iOS developer account, your apps (and the users ability to update or re-download them) will disappear from the App store.

Apps that you distribute Ad Hoc will expire.

Your provisions have an expiration date so that if you don't renew, you can no longer sign apps, Developer, Ad Hoc or Distribution.

When you renew your Certificates, you may have to create new provisions, but can use the same App IDs.