Customer HubManage App Store apps
Apps from the Apple App Store can be distributed to managed devices through Relution. An app license is required in every case — including for free apps.
Obtaining a license
An app license can be obtained in two ways:
- through Apple’s Apps and Books program (VPP in the portal),
- or through an Apple Account signed in on the device.
Which route makes sense depends on the deployment scenario. On devices operated without an Apple Account, an Apps and Books license is mandatory.
If Apps and Books licenses are available for an app, Relution assigns a license automatically during installation. On devices with User Enrollment, a user-based license is used for this; on all other devices, a device-based license is used. With a device-based license, the app is installed on supervised devices without user interaction.
Apps from Apple School Manager and Business Manager
Apps purchased in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager are synchronised to Relution automatically. They appear there with the release status Release and are ready for distribution straight away.
Which users and groups may download an app in which release status is defined by the app’s permissions (the app’s Settings tab, Permissions section). If an app is not meant to be available to all users, the permissions are restricted there or the release status is changed manually.
Adding apps manually
Apps can also be added to the Relution App Store by hand at any time. Adding an app manually does not purchase any licenses. As long as the organization holds no Apps and Books licenses for the app, installation only succeeds on devices where an Apple Account is signed in.
If licenses are purchased later in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager, Relution assigns them to the existing app automatically. From then on, Relution assigns a license during installation, and an Apple Account on the device is no longer required.
Installing apps
Two device actions are available for individual devices:
- Deploy Relution store app: offers the apps from the Relution App Store, i.e. in addition to native apps also the App Store apps created there.
- Deploy an app from the Apple App Store: the app is searched for directly in the Apple App Store and installed without having to be created in the Relution App Store first.
If Apps and Books is set up, the Assigned licenses tab of a device lists the licenses assigned to the device. Install installs the selected app on the device.
Forcing an update
App Store apps are updated by the operating system on its own. In rare cases this does not happen. There are two ways to trigger an update in this case:
- In the app’s detail view, the affected devices are selected on the Devices with this app tab and updated via Update app. The button is disabled as soon as one of the selected devices already has the version in the Release status installed. The optional Update available column shows on which devices an update is pending.
- Alternatively, the device action Deploy an app from the Apple App Store or, if the app is already in the Relution App Store, Deploy Relution store app is executed again on the affected devices.
In both cases, the device starts the installation again and compares the app version against the App Store. If a newer version is available there, the existing app is updated.
For public apps, Relution keeps the version stored in the Release status up to date via the Update automatically option on the app’s Settings tab: the app details, including the version number, are then regularly taken over from the App Store. Without this option, the stored version stays unchanged, and Update app can remain disabled even though a newer version is already available in the App Store.