In order for MDM to be able to push updates to or delete an application on a device, it must be "managed" by MDM. Apps deployed to devices via MDM will be considered "managed" by default. In order to update or delete an app that was installed using an alternative method, MDM must request management of that application.
In SimpleMDM, you can determine whether or not MDM has management permissions for an app by looking at the installed app inventory.
Apple's Apple Configurator software also allows for apps to be installed on iOS devices without an MDM. When a device has an app installed on it using Apple Configurator, Apple Configurator becomes the managing entity for that app. This means that if the device is enrolled in MDM, MDM will not be able to manage, push updates, or delete the application that was installed using Apple Configurator.
When attempting to modify an app through MDM that was installed originally using Apple Configurator (or another method), you may see one or more of the following errors/prompts:
- Error: "The app with iTunes ID ___ is already installed."
- Error: "Please log in to your iTunes Store account."
- Prompt: “Sign in to iTunes to allow ‘a.simplemdm.com’ to manage and install apps.”
We have found that apps installed on devices through Apple Configurator cannot be "managed" by MDM. As a result, if you want to use MDM to update an app that was originally installed using Apple Configurator, you will need to manually delete the application from the device and then re-install through MDM.
