I don’t have a iPad, and [bizarrely] creating an iPad app (for the experience mostly) but I would like to put it on the App Store after testing it.
My cousin has an iPad, and possibly could lend it to me. Is there any chance of the iPad being broken by an app that doesn’t go outside the App Store rules (no private APIs etc)? I know each app has it’s own sandbox, and it can’t “get out of it”, but has anyone ever experienced a problem that couldn’t be resolved by a restore from iTunes, or has anyone had to perform restore at all?
That way madness lies. In essence, lots of things can go wrong – you might drop the iPad into a carelessly placed vat of liquid nitrogen for example.
However, it’s incredibly, incredibly unlikely that you’ll in some way “break” the iPad by simply installing a provisioning certificate and test app onto it. (I won’t say “impossible”, as your computer might be struck by lightning, reducing all attached USB devices to a cripsy un-pleasantness the very second you first run the app.)
That said, if you’re feeling paranoid, simply get the owner to back-up the iPad within iTunes before you borrow it. 🙂