Making iOS and macOS apps available to users in Apps@Work

Note the following:

Managing iOS apps in Apps@Work involves:

Publishing iOS and macOS apps to Apps@Work

After adding any iOS or macOS app to the App Catalog, the app must be made available to the relevant users through Apps@Work. This is done by applying the app to a relevant label. The label determines the group of device users who will see the app in Apps@Work on their iOS or macOS devices.

Procedure 

  1. In the Ivanti EPMM Admin Portal, go to Apps > App Catalog.
  2. Select iOS or macOS from the Platform list.
  3. Select the app you want to work with.
  4. Click Actions > Apply to Label.
  5. Select the label that represents the iOS or macOS devices for which you want the selected app to be displayed.

In the Apply to Labels dialog box, select the check box next to the app's name. Click in the Mandatory field, a drop-down displays. Selecting Yes makes the selected app mandatory; leaving it to the default No makes the app optional.

  1. Click Apply.

Updating iOS apps in Apps@Work

When an update for an iOS managed app becomes available, you can update the iOS managed app in the App Catalog, as described in Manually importing iOS apps from the Apple App Store. Ivanti EPMM sends the update information to Apps@Work on devices associated with the same label as the updated app.

When you update a managed app configuration, the changes will be pushed to all associated devices, including a newer version of that app found in the AppConfig repository. Ivanti, Inc recommends you first inspect the updated Managed App configuration schema in the AppConfig repository before proceeding.

Apps@Work includes an Updates category, where it lists iOS managed apps that are available for update. The list of iOS managed apps with updates displays when the user taps the Updates category.

An Update tag displays on the entry for the app with an update.

Updates to featured apps are published in the same way to all devices in the labels assigned to the apps. You can also send a message to devices to announce the availability of updates to featured apps (see Notifying users of new iOS and macOS apps or app updates).

Apps have a Re-Import link, allowing you to re-import the app into Ivanti EPMM at any time.

Note, however, that Ivanti EPMM does not:

  • Contact the Apple App Store to check for updates to unmanaged apps,.
  • Track the version numbers of public apps.
  • Control which version a user can install.
  • Support updating apps on MAM-only iOS devices. Specifically, if you update the app in the App Catalog, Apps@Work on the device makes the updated app available, but does not indicate that it is an update. You also cannot send a message to the devices that an update is available.

Ivanti, Inc recommends that device users consult the Apple App Store to confirm the availability of new versions of apps. Alternatively, you can use the send message feature to inform device users of a new version of an app. For more information about using the send message feature, see Informing users of new apps and updates on iOS and macOS devices.

Unpublishing iOS apps from Apps@Work

You can unpublish an iOS app from Apps@Work by removing the app from the label to which it was originally applied.

Removing an app from a label causes that app to be uninstalled from the devices associated with that label, and removes the apps listed in Apps@Work on devices.

Note the following:

  • On MAM-only iOS devices, iOS apps are removed from Apps@Work on the device, but not uninstalled from the device.
  • You cannot unpublish macOS apps from macOS devices, as macOS apps are not managed apps.

When you apply a label to an app, Ivanti EPMM makes that app available to devices associated with that label. After the label is applied, device users can install the app from Apps@Work. Simply applying the label to the app does not install the app to devices belonging to the label.

If you want to install an app to all devices in a label, you can do so by sending a message to devices, or configuring the app to be installed upon sign-in (for multi-user devices).

If you remove an app from a label, and then decide you want to apply the label to the app after all, the app will still be uninstalled and removed from devices. Re-applying the label to the app causes the app to be available in Apps@Work on the devices associated with that label. Re-applying the label to the app will not install the app to devices on that label. To re-install the app to devices on the label, send a message to devices or configure the app to be installed upon multi-user sign-in.

Procedure 

  1. In the Ivanti EPMM Admin Portal, go to Apps > App Catalog.
  2. Select iOS from the Platform list.
  3. Select the app you want to work with.
  4. Click Actions > Remove from Label.
  5. Select the labels from which you want to remove the app.
  6. Click Remove.
    The app is immediately removed from the apps list on the devices associated with the given label.

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