Apps (Apps & Books)
This is the organization’s app catalog. You put an app in the catalog, then grant a license and tell devices to install it.
- 1 · At AppleABMThe organization buys or claims the app.
- 2 · LicensesTokenBring the license count into VN-MDM.
- 3 · This catalogChoose an appGrant a license and tell devices to install.
- 4 · On the deviceApps tabSee the license and the installed app.
Open Apps & Books on the top bar. The iOS tab is iPhone and iPad. ADE (a device that enrolls itself at power-on) is a different path of the same Apple account — do not look for a device serial on this page.
Put an app in the catalog
- Sync from ABM pulls apps from Apple Business Manager, after an Apps & Books token is in place.
- Add app → Marketplace app: add one from the App Store.
- Add app → Enterprise app: upload a signed company app (.ipa). The device also needs an app signing profile before that file can run.
- Add app → File: publish a document or a media file.
The search box accepts a name, a publisher, or a bundle ID.
Two different actions when you open an app
| Button | Result |
|---|---|
| Assign VPP to device / user / group | Grants a license seat. The device is allowed to use the app. It is not necessarily installed. |
| Assign & install | Tells the device to install. For a licensed app, the system waits until Apple confirms the license, then installs, so the device does not show a store sign-in screen. |
A supervised device that already has a license installs quietly, without an Apple password. Without a license, the device may ask for an Apple Account. A device that is not supervised shows a prompt for the person to agree, even when a license is already there. The command can be Acknowledged while the app is still missing from the Apps tab → Installed apps.
Three sources, three paths
| Source | What you do first | Then |
|---|---|---|
| App Store / Apps & Books | The token for the right location in ABM, then Sync from ABM. | Assign VPP, then Assign & install. A supervised device usually does not ask for an Apple password. |
| Company app (.ipa) | Add app → Enterprise app, and Import profile for the .mobileprovision file that goes with it. | Install the app from the catalog. Install the signing profile with a command on each device. |
| A document file | Add app → File. | Publish the file. There is no VPP license, and it is not in the app blocks on Defaults. |
If an installed app should receive a server address or an account name: that item is In-app configuration, which is not open yet. Device limits (camera, Wi-Fi, passcode) are not set here — use Configuration profiles and Device policies.
Common questions
- Install reports the app is already on the device?
- The user already installed that app with a personal Apple Account. The command row stays Failed. The Apps tab still lists the app, which means the system marked it installed. You do not need to send it again by hand.
- The install command is Acknowledged, but Installed apps does not list it?
- A device that is not supervised is asking the person holding it. Ask them to agree on the phone, then click Refresh list on the Apps tab.
- The license column is all dashes?
- The token is not connected, or this app was not bought through Apps & Books. See Apps & Books token.
- How long after install does the device have the app?
- An App Store app on Wi-Fi is usually a few minutes. The Apps tab on one device updates when the device reports that it installed.