Scarlet is the quickest way to get an IPA onto an iPhone. You install it from Safari, trust it in Settings and you’re signing apps a couple of minutes later, with no computer and no Apple ID. That speed comes from one thing: Scarlet runs on a shared enterprise certificate. It’s also the reason it breaks, sometimes without warning.
This guide covers setting Scarlet up on current iOS, installing your own IPA with it, and what to do on the day it stops working.
What Scarlet is
Scarlet is an app installer that runs entirely on the iPhone. It does two things: it shows a library of apps you can install with a tap, and it lets you import your own IPA files to sign and install them on the phone.
Both rely on a borrowed enterprise certificate, the kind companies use to distribute internal apps. When Apple notices one being used publicly, it revokes it, and Scarlet goes down along with every app it installed until a new certificate is in place. Some Scarlet download pages advertise a “permanent” signing option. We haven’t been able to verify how that works, so treat it with caution.
Compared with SideStore: Scarlet is faster to set up and needs no Apple ID, but every app dies when the certificate is revoked. SideStore signs with your own Apple ID and refreshes itself, so apps you care about are far more likely to survive. Speed versus staying power. The full comparison lays out the other trade-offs.
A word on that built-in library. It’s convenient, but you don’t always know who built the IPAs in it or what was changed. Only install apps you have the right to use, and when it matters, get the IPA from the app’s own developer instead.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad. Support depends on the current Scarlet build and its certificate, so check the download page for your iOS version.
- Safari. Other browsers often can’t handle the install profile.
- An internet connection, since the profile and app list come from Scarlet’s servers.
- Your own IPA files, if you’re not using the built-in list.
No jailbreak, no computer and no developer account required.
Setting up Scarlet
- In Safari, open Scarlet’s official download page and tap Install.
- Tap Allow when iOS asks to download a profile.
- Go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management.
- Under Enterprise App, tap the developer name tied to Scarlet. It’s usually some company name you’ve never heard of. That’s normal.
- Trust it. On iOS 18 and later, including iOS 26 and 27, this is Allow & Restart, and the phone reboots. On older versions you tap Trust and confirm.
- If iOS asks, switch on Developer Mode under Settings > Privacy & Security and let it restart.
- Open Scarlet from your Home Screen.
Scarlet keeps its own list of the apps you’ve installed through it.
Installing your own IPA
- In Scarlet, tap the import option and choose Import IPA.
- Pick the file from the Files app or wherever you saved it.
- Confirm, and give Scarlet anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes to sign it.
- The app appears on your Home Screen. Apps signed by Scarlet share its certificate, so they normally open without another trust step.
When things go wrong
”Untrusted Developer” on an app you just installed
Scarlet may have signed it with a newer certificate than the one you trusted. Look under Enterprise App in VPN & Device Management for a second developer name and trust that one too. If there are several, the oldest is probably a leftover you can delete.
”Cannot Verify App”, or apps crash straight away
That’s a revoked certificate. A fresh one can last weeks or be gone in days, depending on how fast Apple moves. When it happens, Scarlet itself usually won’t open either, and everything you installed with it stops at once.
What to do: reinstall Scarlet once a new certificate is available, then re-sign the apps you need. Anti-revoke DNS profiles promise to stop this, but they’re unreliable; the RevokeGuard page explains why if you’re tempted.
Why doesn’t Scarlet have the seven-day limit?
Free Apple ID signatures expire after a week. Scarlet’s enterprise certificate doesn’t work that way, which is a real advantage. Revocation is the trade-off you make for it.
Want something more stable?
If the revocation cycle gets tiring and you have a computer for ten minutes, Sideloadly signs with your own Apple ID, so there’s nothing shared to revoke. TrollStore is permanent, but only on a small window of older iOS versions.
Removing Scarlet
Delete Scarlet and any apps it installed from the Home Screen as usual. The enterprise profile stays behind, so go to Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, tap the profile under Enterprise App and delete it too.
FAQ
Will my Scarlet apps survive an iOS update?
Usually. An update doesn’t touch the certificate, so the apps keep opening unless Apple revokes it in the meantime.
Does Scarlet work on iOS 27?
Whether its current certificate is alive matters more than the iOS version. The download page usually says when a certificate has been swapped.
Why does it suddenly say “Cannot Verify App”?
Apple revoked the certificate. You didn’t do anything wrong, and it will probably happen again on Apple’s schedule.
Is Scarlet free?
The installer costs nothing and needs no account. You pay for it in revocations instead.
Scarlet is the grab-and-go option when you want apps on the phone in minutes with nothing plugged in. For anything you’d be upset to lose on a random Tuesday, use a method that signs with your own Apple ID.
