iPads, volume purchase program and personal iTunes accounts

[jwomelia]

We recently purchased the Casper suit and wanted to know if there is a way to let end users install Apps on a university iPad with their own iTunes and a way for me to install university volume purchased apps on that same iPad under a university iTunes account? For example, and end user may want to install a Facebook app with their iTunes account and also have iMovie on the same ipad installed under a university account.

Basically, if the end user installs a University Paid apps under their own iTunes account and leaves the university there is no way for us to get the app(s)back.

My fear is that if we install apps with a University iTunes account end users wouldn't be able to install apps on their own without connecting the iPad to a computer....and if they did re-sync their ipad to another computer for their personal apps, then the university apps would no longer exist on the same iPad...

[mm2270]

If you're talking about the Apple ID you need to enter when installing an app, or redeeming a VPP code, its technically possible to use both a personal one for personal apps and a university one for university purchased apps, but in practice, its almost impossible to enforce. When a user gets the prompt to enter an ID to install an app, they can enter anything they like. I don't believe there is a way currently to force an app purchased though a school VPP account to be redeemed only by a university owned ID. Unless something has changed recently and I just missed the news. I'd love to be proven wrong on that.
This isn't so much a limitation with the Casper Suite as it is with Apple's implementation of the whole Apple ID process. Its still really not intended to be used in institutional environments. Its a huge sticking point with organizations from Fortune 100 to local public schools and everything in between.

[jwomelia]

thanks for the reply, however i thought that when you install an app on an iPad doesn't it only ask for a password? I don't believe their is an option to change a user ID.

[mm2270]

I think that depends on whether you're manually installing an app from the App Store directly or from a link from within the Self Service web clip on the device. In the former case, yes, it only asks for a password and assumes the ID of the account currently logged in on the device. In the latter, if my memory serves me, it will ask for both a username & password. In other words, if you either push the app with the deploy automatically option or publish to Self Service, the user has a choice of what ID to use.

But don't take my word for it, since I'm not currently using this part of the Casper Suite. I'm only going on memory of what I had seen and used. I may be wrong, or something may have changed since I last used it.

[FastGM3]

In our K-12 district, we have used several Apple ID's on a single iPad and we don't connect them to a computer. It's a pain but it works. Each site has a site assigned Apple ID, and the teachers also use personal Apple ID's. The main key is is on the iPad itself in settings under App Store, the user needs to log off of one account and sign in under another account, when purchasing applications, including redeemable apps purchased with VPP codes put in the self service. iCloud will back up and restore all accounts applications back to an iPad, without plugging into a computer. However the end user must know the passwords to each account used on that iPad. As for district paid or site paid apps, we try to hold the end user accountable but there's no way to really keep them honest. Bottom line, is a .99 application purchased by the district or site worth IT's support to make sure they are being honest. You'll probably spend more more in labor and time trying to keep them honest. So, you just have to willing to let it be a loss.

[John_Wetter]

This is where you get into the three approaches... Institutional ownership, personal ownership, and layered.

If you do anything but personal, you will forever (at least in iOS 5) need to sync your iPad via a cable. The only way to cut the cord is to go personal ownership. In this model, you can set up the app with a VPP code in Casper, but then when it's installed, the student takes ownership of the app, essentially it's a 'gift'.

In Institutional ownership, you retain ownership of the app, but then you must use something like Apple Configurator to manage the devices. They keeps the AppleID and VPP information for the iPads. This sucks when you're decentralized... Your VPP codes live on the computer you're syncing with.

Layered ownership... You get both, but you then have the restriction of still needing to cable it. And, you'll need to keep the AppleID around. Then when an update comes out, it'll forever prompt the end user for the AppleID and they'll try passwords and it'll lock you out. Then, when you need to do something, you'll have to reset the account and get it working so you can use the AppleID again.

So in short, yes, you can use several AppleID's for different things on a single iPad, but you need to know what you're getting yourself in to before going there...

This is the consumable app economy.