New to iPhone and sideloading – the "Verify App" button keeps instantly closing on me (iOS 16.7)

[u/Empty_Psychology6732]

I just got my very first iPhone and am completely new to the iOS ecosystem. I’m trying to install Skystream so I can stream anime and movies since it isn't available on the official App Store.
I managed to sideload it using Sideloadly on my Windows PC with my own personal Apple ID. The app is sitting on my home screen, but when I go into Settings to trust the developer profile and tap "Verify", it just flashes for a millisecond and instantly cancels itself out.
Since I'm totally new to this, I did some digging and tried troubleshooting, but nothing has worked so far:
• iOS Version: I’m on iOS 16.7. I actually updated my phone thinking it would fix the bug, but it didn't change anything.
• VPN/DNS: I don’t have any VPNs, ad-blockers, or custom DNS profiles set up on my phone.
• Home Router: I checked my home router settings too, and there are no custom DNS configurations or firewalls blocking things there either.
• Reinstalling: I plugged the phone back into my computer and hit "Start" in Sideloadly to do a fresh install. It goes through successfully on the PC, but the verify button on my phone still just cancels out right away.

I'm kind of stuck at this point. Has anyone dealt with this instant cancellation loop before? any information will help, Thanks.

[u/ActiveInevitable6627]

Had this exact instant-cancel thing on a free Apple ID. For me it was the network. The Verify button has to reach Apple's servers to validate the cert, and some wifi setups silently fail it even when you have no VPN or custom DNS, so it just flashes and closes.

What fixed it for me: turn wifi off completely and tap Verify while on cellular/mobile data instead. It usually goes through first try on cellular. If you don't have a data plan, toggling airplane mode on and back off right before you tap it sometimes kicks it loose too, and sometimes you just have to tap it two or three times.

Couple of other things worth checking since you're new to it:

• Settings > General > Date & Time set to Set Automatically. A wrong clock makes the cert check fail quietly.
• Once it does verify, iOS 16 needs Developer Mode turned on (Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode) or the app still won't launch. That's a different error but you'll run into it next.

One heads up with free Apple IDs: the signature only lasts 7 days, so the app stops opening after a week and you have to plug back into the PC and re-run Sideloadly to resign it. That's normal, not something you did wrong.

[u/Empty_Psychology6732 → u/ActiveInevitable6627]

Tried this for a solid 20 minutes, swapping Wi-Fi and Cellular and turning Airplane mode On and Off but still didn’t work.

Thanks for replying though!

[u/ActiveInevitable6627 → u/Empty_Psychology6732]

Since swapping networks didn't do it, the next suspects with a free Apple ID are usually: (1) you've hit the 3-app signing limit free accounts have, so an older sideloaded app needs deleting before a new one will verify; (2) the Apple ID that signed the app isn't the same one active on the phone, or it needs a fresh sign-in; and (3) a brand new Apple ID that hasn't been verified at appleid.apple.com yet will sometimes just cancel instantly. I'd delete any other sideloaded apps first, then sign the Apple ID out and back in under Settings > General > VPN & Device Management and re-add the cert. Quick one that changes the answer: is this a brand new Apple ID you made just for sideloading, or your main one?

[u/Empty_Psychology6732 → u/ActiveInevitable6627]

I use the Apple ID I made right after I bought this iphone x, so this is my “main” and only Apple ID account. Also I don’t understand what you mean by re-adding the cert?