How to install iOS apps silently or without requiring an Apple ID?

Description

MDM lets you install iOS apps silently on Supervised devices and without requiring an Apple ID on unsupervised devices by integrating Mobile Device Manager Plus with the Volume Purchase Program (VPP) by Apple. Silent installation is useful if you want to install apps on the managed devices, without any user action.  It also makes bulk installation of apps easier. Installing apps without Apple ID is useful if you want to push apps to corporate-owned devices but do not want to associate Apple account with the devices. The other advantage of this method, is that it requires minimal user intervention for installing apps on the device.  In case of unsupervised devices, the users will be prompted to either to install the apps immediately or install later. If he wants to install the app later, it will be available in the app catalog.

Scenarios

This section explains what happens when different apps are distributed by enabling the option Install Automatically.

  1. When an app is distributed to devices without integrating with VPP- The user will be prompted to enter his Apple ID and then manually complete the installation, even if the device is supervised.
  2. When a VPP app is distributed to unsupervised devices- The user will be prompted that the organization is distributing apps to the device and they can choose to allow the installation immediately or manually perform it later from the app catalog. They will not be asked to enter their Apple ID to initiate the app installation
  3. When a VPP app is distributed to supervised devices- The app will be distributed to the devices without any user interaction

In addition to integrating Mobile Device Manager Plus with VPP, you can also migrate the App Store apps in the App Repository to VPP apps by following the steps below.

Steps

  • Configure your VPP account as shown here
  • Purchase the required apps with sufficient licenses, through VPP. You can migrate the apps already distributed to the devices from non-VPP to VPP as well. Assume the app has already been distributed to 5 devices, purchasing 5 licenses lets you migrate the apps from Non-VPP to VPP. In case you want to distribute the app to more devices, you can do so by purchasing additional app licenses.
  • Upload the sToken in MDM Console. Also, ensure you've selected 'Without Apple ID' for the option 'App Installation Type'.
  • Now, click Sync Apps in the App Repository module.
  • All the purchased apps are now available in the MDM App Repository. The apps can be distributed and installed without requiring an Apple ID.
  • Apps in App Repository are migrated to VPP apps automatically on syncing and hence, apps in the App Repository which have  already been distributed to the devices need not be distributed again.

 NOTE: This is applicable for iOS devices running 9.0 or later versions.