Default iOS 6-character passcode requirement overriding JSS config profile?

[bcornwell]

I've done some searching on this and couldn't find an answer. I just started noticing it happen, and it seems like it has something to do with iOS 10. I'm not seeing the same behavior on iOS 9 devices.

I have a configuration profile for our iPads that defines passcode settings, but it seems like iOS 10 is overriding the minimum passcode length setting that I have defined in the profile. In the profile I have set that a 3 character passcode is allowed, but when the "you must set a passcode" prompt pops up on the iPad it says enter 6 or more characters.

If I set a 6 character passcode at the prompt, then go into Settings and change the passcode it will let me set a new one with only 3 characters, but the iPad forcing 6 characters initially is unexpected and undesirable.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a bug? Like I mentioned earlier, I haven't been able to find any reference to this being a known issue.

[dmw3]

@bcornwell Did you ever find an answer to this? we would like to disable the passcode on our supervised iPads but are running into the same requirement that you found.

If we set no passcode in a configuration profile, iOS 9 and 10 require one to be set within 60 minutes.

[bcornwell]

@dmw3 With the help of our Apple rep we found that this is a bug. Although the message says a 6 character passcode is required, it will accept a 3 character passcode when our configuration profile is applied. So, the bug is more in the wording than in the application. Our situation is slightly different so I haven't tested what you're attempting to do.

I have filed a bug report with Apple but it doesn't look like it has even been acknowledged yet, so I would encourage others to file bug reports of their own as well.