Disregard the orientation of that photo (thats what kind of Monday it is)
But that is what the apps look like on all iPads.

I'm looking for a solution for the exact same problem. It's not happening to all of our apps, but there are many students with at least one app that does exactly what you describe. So far I've able to get an app to install correctly if I delete the grayed-out app, update inventory on the device, restart the device, and re-download the app from self service... but there's one device today that just won't install Microsoft Word with any amount of coaxing. My next step is going to be a support ticket as well, so I'll make sure to reference this post since it seems we're having the same issue.

Edit to add: Now affecting multiple students school-wide, all with the one app (Word).

I see this occasionally w/ a single app ... MS Word this AM (others mentioning issue w/ Word on Slack). I hit cancel (vs retry) and clicked the app for it change from grey and then launch. I was able to reinstall from Self Service shortly thereafter w/ any issue.

Edit ... scratch that comment on Word as it's still flaking out w/ "Unable to Download App" messaging.

I am also experiencing this with word as well

Hit by the Word issue here too.

We are also having this issue with Microsoft Word

+1 on Word not installing. Reported yesterday AM from one of our collegiate units.

Same here! Something wacky went on with the versions now it doesn’t install at all.

I'm in the same boat. Apps that used to install fine are having issues. Even basic app cleanup on activation is slow and tedious. We are hosting our own JSS if that makes a difference.

Same. Still no answer from anyone at JAMF. this is disaster for us as a 1:1 district. No new students can get their required apps. Unacceptable.

I can also confirm Microsoft Word is also the main offender for our deployment, however a couple of other unrelated apps are exhibiting the same issue. Minimal impact so far, but interesting that it's isolated to only Word and not the other suite apps from Microsoft.

I am also having the same issue with Word and yes just word .... the rest of the Microsoft suite is working as expected.

for anyone else trying to work this out I just heard from Jamf support

"Thank you for passing that discussion over. You're certainly onto something, and this appears to be a known issue. We have it filed on our end as PI-006259

It appears that iOS apps updated on iTunes after September 10th, 2018 are not installing via MDM.

We have confirmed that Microsoft Office (including Word) is one of the affected Apps.

Right now, we do not have a workaround or fix in place; but we do have an AppleCare ticket filed currently, 100639602054."

My issue with grayed out apps is NOT just microsoft apps. It is Microsoft AND Google(all google apps).

@udadmin i think that’s covered in my comment above here “It appears that iOS apps updated on iTunes after September 10th, 2018 are not installing via MDM.”

I've got Two JAMF instances affected by this, so far it's only Word...

This is happening to me as well. Other Office apps acquired via vpp.apple.com are deploying correctly. NOT WORD.

The only app I am having this issue with is Microsoft Word. Is everyone getting the same error? "Unable to Install "Microsoft Word" You must purchase this app to install it." This is incredibly frustrating.

@tguyers360

Thanks for the update. It may not be isolated to just apps updated after the 10th, as I have one app, 'Cisco Webex Meetings' where the last known feature update occurred around 29th August.

Unless of course, you're referring to the actual process of updating after the 10th September. If that's the case, then apologies!

EDIT: So According to the "Unable to Download Apps" error, I have 18 items listed as 'could not be downloaded' on one device.

Seeing this in our environment as well - we’ve been investigating reports of staff unable to install Flipgrid and MS Word.

just heard back from Jamf support “We've been informed by Apple that the issue with MS word has been fixed.”

I need to un-scope the app from devices that failed to install the app and re-scope them again.

it’s after hours for me so won’t be able to test until tomorrow ... if there is someone who can try this let us know if it worked :) otherwise i’ll let you know tomorrow

I tried the un-scope and re-scope with a few recons and pushes without success.

If I delete the greyed out app on the device it pops back on successfully...

We were experiencing this exact problem with apps like Word, Flipgrid, and Hudl. Just now, I was able to install them all with no problem on devices across the district. So maybe the issue is resolved on their end? Just passing along in case anyone else would like to try in their district or environments.

+1 for us on this issue.

For Microsoft Word I performed the following:
- Browsed to App in JAMF Pro
- created an exclusion for my test device
- App went white with the grid in the middle
- Forced an update and send blank push - no change
- removed exclusion
- app installed successfully

We have the apps set so students cannot uninstall apps.

I hope this helps.