Notifying users of new iOS and macOS apps or app updates

The following options are available for notifying users of new apps or app updates:

These features are not supported when Ivanti EPMM is configured for MAM-only iOS devices.

Informing users of new apps and updates on iOS and macOS devices

You can send out a message informing iOS and macOS device users about the availability of a new app or an update for an installed app. You can also request device users to convert installed, unmanaged apps to iOS managed apps, without having to uninstall the unmanaged app. You can only convert unmanaged apps to managed on iOS devices running iOS 9.0 or newer versions.

When a user’s device checks in, the Update tab displays a badge number indicating the number of in-house and public app updates available for the device user to download. Once the user updates the apps, the badge number will disappear on next device check-in.

Update messages can be sent to a particular label. Ivanti EPMM will not update the app, rather, Ivanti EPMM sends a message to the device requesting the device user to install the app from the Apple App Store. If the Apple App Store indicates an update is required, Ivanti EPMM installs the update. If no update is required, Ivanti EPMM re-installs the app. For in-house apps, Apps@Work indicates whether an update is required, and Ivanti EPMM provides the updated app.

While you can initiate a Send Message for Update request through MDM, the notification directs the device user to the public app in Apps@Work, providing an option for re-installing the app. However, the section for Updates in Apps@Work may not have this public app listed.

Note the following:

  • Messages sent to iPad-only apps will only be sent to iPad devices.
  • If data protection is enabled on managed devices, messages will be sent only to those devices with a passcode.
  • When sending a message regarding a hidden app, Ivanti EPMM shows a prompt asking whether to send the message to device users.
  • Device users may not see a given app in the Apple App Store under the following circumstances: the app is Apple License device-based or B2B, or device access to the Apple App Store is disabled.

Before you begin 

You must first assign Apple Licensed-macOS apps to a label before using this feature.

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 featured app you want to work with.
  4. Go to Actions > Send Installation Request.

  5. Use the following guidelines to select the app installation option:

    Item

    Description

    Send request for new installations

    Prompts the device user to install the app, if not already installed.

    This applies to those devices to which the app has not yet been installed.

    Send request for updates

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Prompts the device user to update the app. For public iOS apps only.

    Applies to devices with the app installed, where an update is available.

    Select one of the following options:

    • Use the app install date on device to determine if updates are required. Ivanti EPMM determines whether to install the app based on the last installation date as reported to Ivanti EPMM. When installing an app to a device, the device sends to Ivanti EPMM a list of all apps installed to the device. Ivanti EPMM stores this time stamp reported by the device as the date for the installation of that particular app. When selecting this option, Ivanti EPMM only updates the app on devices where the last installed date is lower than the release date of the app.

    • Ignore the app install date on device. Ivanti EPMM sends an install command to the device. The app is installed from the Apple App Store, without checking the install date on the device.

    When sending a request to devices to update a public app in the App Catalog, Ivanti EPMM is unable to use the app install date on the device to determine whether updates are required, if the app was recently converted from an unmanaged app to an iOS managed app. When sending a request to update a recently converted iOS managed app, select Ignore the app install date on device.

    Send request for both new installations and updates

     

    Prompts the device user to install or update the app.

    Applies to all devices, regardless of whether the app has been installed yet.

    Send request to convert the app to Managed

     

     

     

    Prompts the device user to convert the unmanaged app to an iOS managed app on devices running iOS 9 or newer versions.

    This setting does not display for macOS apps.

    Use iOS managed app install/update action (iOS 5 and later)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Skip the Apps@Work display and install or update the app.

    Users will receive installation or update prompts at the next device check-in.

    Note the following:

    • Ivanti EPMM will silently install or update the app on supervised devices, instead of prompting the supervised device user, even when selecting this option. This is due to changes in Apple’s implementation of this feature.
    • This setting does not display for macOS apps.

    Send message to all

    Select this option to send a message to all devices in all labels.

    Select labels to send message

    Select this option to send a message to all devices in a selected label.

    Select devices to send message

    Select this option to search devices by name, model, platform, phone, then select the devices you want to send the message. The Selected tab tracks devices selected from the search.
  6. To check the content of push notifications prior to sending:
    1. Select the App Distribution template from the list.
    2. Click View Messages.

  7. Click Apply.

    Ivanti EPMM only sends the message regarding featured apps.

Related topics 

Applying an Apple license label to an app

Editing the app distribution push notification template for iOS and macOS

You can customize the template Ivanti EPMM uses to send app distribution push notifications.

Procedure 

  1. In the Ivanti EPMM Admin Portal, go to Settings > Templates > Others.
  2. Click the edit icon for the template you want to edit.

  3. The app distribution message displays.

    App distribution messages must include the $APPNAME$ variable, which indicates the application name of the app being distributed.

  4. Make changes to the displayed message.
  5. Click Save.

User notification of newly-published iOS apps

When a featured app or an update to an installed app is published to device users, those users receive a notification in Apps@Work. The Updates category shows a number corresponding to the number of updates available. Tapping the Updates category shows the list of apps that are available for update.

Ivanti EPMM determines the availability of an update by comparing the version number for the installed app to that of the newly-published app. If the user deletes a published app, that app will not become available for reinstalling again until the status of the app is updated during the next sync with Ivanti EPMM.

  • Updates: These include updates for in-house featured apps only. The Updates number shown on the left hand menu in Apps@Work includes app updates, new installations, and unmanaged to iOS managed app conversions. Unmanaged public apps (running iOS 9 or newer versions) are also included in the total number of updates indicated in the Updates badge.
  • New installations: When an app has a new installation available, a badge indicating the number of installations per app displays. Both in-house and featured public apps can have badges indicating a new installation. Note that you can only send an installation request, not an update message, for apps that are publicly available from the Apple App Store.

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.

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.

Copying a direct link to an iOS app

After adding an app to the App Catalog in Ivanti EPMM, a direct link to the app is shown in the app details page on Ivanti EPMM. You can copy the direct link to the app and include it in an email or notification to device users, allowing users to install the app directly, rather than searching for it in Apps@Work.

Procedure 

  1. In the Ivanti EPMM Admin Portal, go to Apps > App Catalog.
  2. Scroll for the app whose direct link you want to copy.
  3. Click the name of the app to view its details.
  4. Scroll down to the Apps@Work Catalog section.
  5. Next to App URL, click Copy Link to Clipboard.