"Bottom line...it's complicated" T-Mobile CEO John Legere on the new iPads and Apple SIM
One of the more interesting features of the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 announced just over a week ago is the carrier-independent "Apple SIM". iPads are no longer locked to a single carrier, and users can switch carriers at any time. So it seemed.
When it comes to carriers nothing is ever simple. Now T-Mobile's CEO John Legere posted a "tweetstorm" to explain the user experience, which of course is very different from one carrier to another.
Here's the info: https://storify.com/jbrodkin/john-legere-tweetstorm-on-apple-sim-lockin
How To Handle A Gift of 50 iPads
Just joined this group and I ask for your forbearance - I'm new to all this.
I work for an agency that serves people with developmental disabilities and we have about 55 locations in Westchester County, NY. Some generous peopel gave us a donation of 50 iPads and I'm trying to rationally deploy them! I'd like to be able to synch them remotley for iOS and app updates to avoid a lot of travel. The devices would be shared at the remote locations amongst several clients and the slection of apps would be limited to about 20 or so. Of course, since we're a non-proift, funds are limited, so whatever solutions are available, they must be affordable.
Thanks for your input.
Jordan
P.S. Any suggestions for iPad cases without covers that would be durable?
iOS 8.1 coming out today — Apple Pay, Continuity, more
iOS 8.1, the next update to iOS 8 is arriving today. Major features are the inclusion of Apple Pay and Continuity. Continuity works when paired with other Apple devices running the latest operating system (Mac OS X 10.10 was released just last Friday), and allows for a few cool and actually useful features:
- receive and send SMS messages from iPads and Macs
- continue viewing and editing documents and email between iOS devices and Macs and iPads
- "Instant Hotspot" lets you easily share your iPhone's LTE connection
Let us know how the upgrades go.
Devices can't be enrolled in DEP, what's my best course of action?
A department bought iPads outside of our registered Apple Education purchase account and now they can't be enrolled in DEP.
If I can't manage the iTunes account for this shared-use lab, what's my best course of action.
On another note, Apple Configurator 1.6 is dead slow updating new iPads to 8.0.2 even though the ipsw file is downloaded. It's taking over an hour. Any thoughts?
Thanks all!
Forbidden Apps
There are a number of apps out there, and new ones popping up all the time, that students are downloading for one reason or another. Mostly VPN apps to try and bypass our web filters. GBA4iOS is a little more innocuous, but does make the user change the time on their iPads to a date in the past.
We are blocking the install of Configuration Profiles which helps with VPNs. I also lock and disable features on the iPad if it is seen in inventory. It installs a Web Clip they click on that brings them to a page and explains why their iPad is disabled and how to get rid of it.
A new app I found yesterday is vShare. This is an app that allows you to pirate other apps, wants you to change the time on your iPad to a time in the past and installs a Provisioning Profile called "Anyone".
I would like to create this and start a list of apps that students use to bypass rules. A wiki of things that are Forbidden or otherwise screw up your configs. If this has already been done in another post please let me know, but I did not find anything. Here is my list so far:
VPN
GBA4iOS
vShare
Anyone - Provisioning profile
prevent adding passcode?
We are getting ready to deploy ipads in a shared environment. We are using Maas360 as our MDM. The only issue left is that there seems to be no way to prevent users from enabling a passcode on the device. A student could potentially configure a passcode and prevent the next person from picking up the ipad and using it.
Any way to lock them out of this? How are others dealing with this?
iOS 8.0.2 released last night
iOS 8.0.2 was released last night, just eight days after 8.0, and just a day or so after 8.0.1 was released but quickly pulled. Our database of iOS Devices has all the links for direct downloads. Here are the release notes.
This release contains improvements and bug fixes, including:
- Fixes an issue in iOS 8.0.1 that impacted cellular network connectivity and Touch ID on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
- Fixes a bug so HealthKit apps can now be made available on the App Store
- Addresses an issue where 3rd party keyboards could become deselected when a user enters their passcode
- Fixes an issue that prevented some apps from accessing photos from the Photo Library
- Improves the reliability of the Reachability feature on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
- Fixes an issue that could cause unexpected cellular data usage when receiving SMS/MMS messages
- Better support of Ask To Buy for Family Sharing for In-App Purchases
- Fixes an issue where ringtones were sometimes not restored from iCloud backups
- Fixes a bug that prevented uploading photos and videos from Safari
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
Apple Firewall Issues
Everyone,
Just a heads up that it looks like Apple may be using a different service now to load the App Store. I ran into the issue today where the App Store was blocked for all of our students' iPads. I ran a trace on the HTTPS traffic coming from the device when it said it couldn't connect and I found it trying to hit this IP: 69.192.18.217
That IP also resolves to the domain name of:
http://a69-192-18-217.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com/
I hope this helps anyone that may be having issues connecting to the App Store or maybe some can provide us with info on why the App Store seems to want to connect to that IP now.
Thanks!
Jesse
Third Party Keyboards.... Beware!
I just thought i would insert a quick note, as this isn't really documented anywhere on the internet yet that i can see...
The issue with Third party apps is that you can grant them full system access, which is great for those who want third party keyboards.
However, with that setting comes big consequences, as a result of this a keyboard can now interact with applications on a much deeper level, it can also now report home to the internet. This gives genuine applications visibility of what is being typed, most give privacy agreements around credit card and password fields which is fine.
But for those of us in the enterprise who are using these "secure containers" this is a serious breach of security, you could be unaware of the fact you are leaking sensitive information out to a third party.
Its important to know in order to prevent this all you need to do is make sure you have your corporate applications set as "Managed". Luckily our applications are already managed, so providing we never chose to manage third party keyboards.
There is an important extract in the latest Apple Security document detailing this;
For devices enrolled in mobile device management, document and keyboard extensions obey Managed Open In rules. For example, the MDM server can prevent a user from exporting a document from a managed app to an unmanaged Document Provider, or using an unmanaged keyboard with a managed app. Additionally, app developers can prevent the use of third-party keyboard extensions within their app.
Ensure that in your policy "Allow opening managed app documents in unmanaged apps" is unchecked to prevent third party keyboards. Resulting in the restriction named "Opening documents from managed to unmanaged apps not allowed" being set on the device under General > Profiles > Restrictions.
The setting of "Allow opening unmanaged app documents in managed apps" has no impact on third party keyboard, so this can stay set to suit your current corporate policy.
Hope this helps someone.
Supervision
What is Supervision?
Supervision was introduced by Apple in iOS 5 to differentiate institutionally-owned iPhones and iPads from personally-owned devices. Supervision is enabled using Apple Configurator, Device Enrollment Program — if purchased directly from Apple — or by GroundControl.
Supervision offers tremendous benefits to enterprises and institutions. It unlocks more than 20 additional management features, including single app mode, silent app push, and always-on VPN. Supervision also allows IT departments to restrict many features not appropriate for corporate-owned or shared devices, such as AirDrop, Messages, Handoff, and even Erase.
Despite the benefits, the supervision process had been too cumbersome for most organizations. According to a major MDM provider, fewer than 10% of all institutionally-managed devices are supervised.
Supervision features by iOS release:
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Applescript for verification emails
I created an AppleScript to automate clicking the verification link and signing in. The script is messy...I just wrote it and used it today and haven't cleaned it up or commented at all.
The workflow I'm using it with is like this:
Use the Apple ID creator script, using the same password for all of the accounts.
Setup an Outlook rule to move verification emails to a folder named "AppleVerify".
Create another folder named "AppleVerifyDone".
Then I run this script.
The script will scan through AppleVerify to grab the verification link and the apple id, opens safari to that link, input the Apple ID, and inputs the password. Then it closes the safari window and moves the email to AppleVerifyDone.
Again, it's really messy and it will probably break for you since I wrote it specifically for my workflow. But I figure it might help someone out.
Rename .txt to .scpt
Edit the idpassword and emaildomain variables
Apple Configurator 1.6 is out...supports iOS 8
Apple has updated its free tool for supervising and configuring iOS devices. Apple Configurator is available now on the Mac App Store.
Note bullet #1: it may have a big impact on some established workflows.
Apple Configurator 1.6 contains improvements and bug fixes including:
- Devices are erased before restoring a backup
- Support for new configuration profile payloads and settings introduced in iOS 8
- Content Filter: Plug-in filter type
- Domains
- Email & Exchange: Per-message S/MIME encryption switch
- Restrictions: Allow Handoff, Allow iCloud sync for managed apps, Allow backup of enterprise books, Allow notes and highlight sync for enterprise books
- Restrictions (supervised only): Allow Erase all Content and Settings, Allow configuring restrictions, Allow Internet results in Spotlight
- VPN: IKEv2 connection type and Aways-on VPN
(As an alternative, check out the new GroundControl )
Start downloading: iOS 8 is now available
There you go, folks. iOS 8 is released and available. Good luck!
Update: Build# 12A365, which is the same as the GM released last week.
JavaScript for Automation
So there's this: https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/mac/releasenotes/Interapp...
Now who wants to port the Apple ID creator?
How to efficiently update many devices to iOS 8 using Apple Configurator
[UPDATE: MAKE SURE THERE IS ENOUGH DISK SPACE ON THE DEVICE!! Configurator doesn't handle low disk space gracefully...the device will be forced into recovery and you will need to erase the device.]
Apple is releasing iOS 8 tomorrow, and you know what that means. Gigabytes of data streaming through your WAN connection, making real work next to impossible to get done.
But it doesn't need to be that way. You can use Apple Configurator to download once, and upgrade many devices quickly, safely and efficiently. Be the superhero of the day by getting your colleagues iPhones and iPads updated in the least amount of time possible.
Note: FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. You don't want to be the guy who asks, "Why didn't you have a backup?"
Step 1: Find a Mac. Any Mac will do. Connect it to the biggest USB hub as you can find.
Step 2: Download Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store.
Step 3: Launch Configurator.
Step 4: Make sure the "Prepare" tab is selected.
Step 5: Set up the options EXACTLY as they are here. Pay special attention to make sure "Supervision" is off and "Erase before installing" is UNCHECKED.
Step 6: Make sure you aren't installing any apps and aren't setting anything in setup, in their respective tabs.
Step 7: Double-check the settings. Make sure you have no iOS devices connected via USB.
Step 8: Click the "Prepare" button at the bottom of the screen.
Step 9: Connect the first iOS device. Configurator will download iOS 8 and install it.
Step 10: Connect the second iOS device. It is safe to do this while the first is downloading. It won't download the same file twice, but it will download the unique version for that model when needed.
Step 11: After download and install, disconnect the device.
Step 12: When you have upgraded all the devices you want, click the "Stop" button.
Good luck tomorrow, and let us know how it goes. Who among you will upgrade the most devices?
(Pro Tip: The cached firmware takes up a HUGE amount of space. To clear them out, look in the path /Users/USERNAME/Library/Containers/com.apple.configurator/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.configurator/Firmware.)
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