Hi everyone,
We manage approximately 330 student iPads with Jamf School and have used Time Filter-based Safari restriction profiles for a long time.
During the semester, we normally restrict Safari from 7:30 PM to 8:00 AM, and this setup had previously worked reliably across almost all student devices.
The issue started after our summer break.
During the semester, we used our normal Safari restriction profile. When summer break began, we switched to a different Safari restriction profile with the same restriction settings but a different Time Filter schedule.
We used that vacation profile for about six weeks, and when the new semester began, we switched back to the original semester Safari restriction profile that had worked reliably before.
That is when the problem suddenly started.
At first, some grade-level groups were showing only about 4–11% Installed during the active Time Filter window.
We are now seeing several different behaviors:
- Some devices have recent check-ins and successfully acknowledge other MDM commands, but no automatic
Install/Update Profilecommand is generated at all for the Safari restriction. - Some devices receive the InstallProfile command but return
NotNowand remain Pending. - Some devices eventually install the profile, but the command is generated hours after the configured start time.
- Manually clicking Reinstall sometimes helps, but this is obviously not a practical solution for approximately 330 devices.
We also tested the same Safari restriction without a Time Filter, and it installs quickly and normally. This makes us think the Safari restriction payload itself and general MDM communication are working.
To see whether the number of simultaneously targeted devices was affecting the issue, we reduced the test to only two grade levels:
- Grade 8: 64 devices
- Grade 10: 50 devices
This improved the overall result significantly. By the following morning:
- Grade 8 reached 75% Installed
- Grade 10 reached 92% Installed
However, even with only these two grade levels — approximately 114 devices instead of all 330 — significant delays still occurred.
For example, one device in this test had a Time Filter start time of 19:30, but the Activity Log showed:
Install/Update Profile
Created: 22:05:06
Completed: 22:21:07
Status: Acknowledged
So the InstallProfile command itself was not created until about 2 hours and 35 minutes after the configured start time, and it was not completed until almost 3 hours after the intended restriction time.
This suggests that reducing the number of simultaneously targeted devices may improve the overall installation rate, but it does not completely solve the delayed command generation or NotNow behavior.
After the Time Filter window ends in the morning, the devices eventually return to Restricted, so the overall Time Filter cycle appears to complete. The main problem seems to be the reliability and timing of profile installation at the beginning of the active window.
Our main concern is that we need to manage approximately 330 student iPads remotely again, and manually refreshing or reinstalling profiles on individual devices is not a realistic solution.
Has anyone experienced something similar, especially after temporarily switching away from a previously reliable Time Filter profile and then re-enabling it later?
We would especially appreciate any experience with:
- Whether recreating the semester profile as a completely new profile helped
- Whether re-saving or rebuilding the Scope resolved similar behavior
- Whether large Jamf School environments can reliably apply Time Filter profiles to 300+ devices at the same start time
- Whether staggering start times actually improves reliability
- Any workaround for large numbers of
InstallProfile → NotNowresponses - Any recent Jamf School issue, known bug, or support case related to Time Filter scheduling or delayed InstallProfile command generation
Ideally, we would like all students to have Safari restricted at the same time, as this worked successfully in our environment before.
Any similar experience, workaround, or information from Jamf Support would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!