Apple Development is one of the two main certificate types Apple issues to a developer account. It identifies a person on a team and signs builds intended to run on devices that person has registered. Builds signed with it cannot go to TestFlight or the App Store. For that you need an Apple Distribution certificate.
In current tooling there is a single unified Apple Development certificate that works across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. The older, platform-specific iOS Development and Mac Development certificates still appear in Apple's docs and in legacy provisioning profiles, but new development certificates issued today are the unified kind.
When you need one
- Running a build on a teammate's iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Vision Pro that you have added to the team's device list.
- Debugging a Mac app locally without going through notarization.
- Working on entitlements that require a signed binary to test (push notifications, App Groups, HealthKit, Sign in with Apple).
How it differs from an Apple Distribution certificate
- Apple Development
- Signs builds for the developer's own registered devices. Paired with a Development provisioning profile.
- Apple Distribution
- Signs builds for TestFlight, the App Store, Ad Hoc distribution, and Mac App Store submission. Paired with an App Store, Ad Hoc, or Mac App Store provisioning profile.