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Keep Apple apps from installing automatically on enrollment


avargas
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Hopefully, this is an easy one. I'd like to be able to keep the Apple apps from installing automatically on enrollment. I don't want to exclude them, I just want them available in Self Service. 

(I.e. Garage Band, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie)

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance

4 replies

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  • Honored Contributor
  • 582 replies
  • September 22, 2023

You choose your distribution method when you setup the VPP app in MacApps:

But, if the computer is brand new the iWorks apps are pre-installed from the factory. But, they do not when get re-installed after a wipe and restore. 

 


avargas
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  • Author
  • New Contributor
  • 3 replies
  • September 22, 2023
Tribruin wrote:

You choose your distribution method when you setup the VPP app in MacApps:

But, if the computer is brand new the iWorks apps are pre-installed from the factory. But, they do not when get re-installed after a wipe and restore. 

 


Thanks for your reply. I have the distribution method set as Make Available in Self Service, but when I wipe and restore, they still re-install automatically. 


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  • Valued Contributor
  • 57 replies
  • September 23, 2023
avargas wrote:

Thanks for your reply. I have the distribution method set as Make Available in Self Service, but when I wipe and restore, they still re-install automatically. 


I'm guessing here, but I think you're experiencing something similar to us. First, the Apple apps (Garageband, Pages etc) come preinstalled on factory new devices. I'm not sure if they now persist after a wipe, but that could be the case. That's probably why they appear to be installed automatically.

In order to manage this situation, we make those apps available to all devices in Self Service, and tick the box to make those apps managed when possible. This converts the app to a managed app, and installs any update to it. This also covers the case when they're not preinstalled since they're available as usual in self service. It also covers the odd use case when a user logs in to the app store and installs it from there (for those that have the app store enabled).

One other possible solution we've considered is to scope the apps to a smart group that includes devices that were enrolled less than X days ago. After a few days have passed, they would thus no longer be a member of that group, and then the apps would uninstall. However, this would only be an appropriate approach if your org NEVER uses any of the iWork apps.


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  • Esteemed Contributor
  • 719 replies
  • September 25, 2023

Something I've done for a few years now is run a script on enrollment that checks the date of each app (pages, numbers, etc) and deletes the app if it's older than 7 days. I'm assuming that if the apps are older than 7 days then they're pre-installed. I remove them and then new managed versions will either be auto installed or they will be available in Self Service depending on the purpose of the computer.

Example script...

#!/bin/bash # Delete GarageBand, iMovie, Keynote, Numbers and Pages if they were pre-installed on the machine (checking for directory modified time older than 7 days) # GarageBand if [[ -d /Applications/GarageBand.app ]]; then if [[ $(find /Applications/GarageBand.app -mtime +7 -type d -maxdepth 0) == "/Applications/GarageBand.app" ]]; then echo "GarageBand.app older than 7 days. Deleting app..." rm -R /Applications/GarageBand.app else echo "GarageBand.app less than 7 days old. Leaving in place." fi else echo "GarageBand not installed" fi # iMovie if [[ -d /Applications/iMovie.app ]]; then if [[ $(find /Applications/iMovie.app -mtime +7 -type d -maxdepth 0) == "/Applications/iMovie.app" ]]; then echo "iMovie.app older than 7 days. Deleting app..." rm -R /Applications/iMovie.app else echo "iMovie.app less than 7 days old. Leaving in place." fi else echo "iMovie not installed" fi # Keynote if [[ -d /Applications/Keynote.app ]]; then if [[ $(find /Applications/Keynote.app -mtime +7 -type d -maxdepth 0) == "/Applications/Keynote.app" ]]; then echo "Keynote.app older than 7 days. Deleting app..." rm -R /Applications/Keynote.app else echo "Keynote.app less than 7 days old. Leaving in place." fi else echo "Keynote not installed" fi # Numbers if [[ -d /Applications/Numbers.app ]]; then if [[ $(find /Applications/Numbers.app -mtime +7 -type d -maxdepth 0) == "/Applications/Numbers.app" ]]; then echo "Numbers.app older than 7 days. Deleting app..." rm -R /Applications/Numbers.app else echo "Numbers.app less than 7 days old. Leaving in place." fi else echo "Numbers not installed" fi # Pages if [[ -d /Applications/Pages.app ]]; then if [[ $(find /Applications/Pages.app -mtime +7 -type d -maxdepth 0) == "/Applications/Pages.app" ]]; then echo "Pages.app older than 7 days. Deleting app..." rm -R /Applications/Pages.app else echo "Pages.app less than 7 days old. Leaving in place." fi else echo "Pages not installed" fi

 

 


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