Silently Updating iOS Enterprise Apps in Single App Mode

Question

I have a need to update my managed app running on a large amount of iPads without any user interaction. These devices all have the managed app locked in Single App Mode. As I understand it, it's an iOS limitation that an app cannot be updated if either of the following conditions are present:

• The app to be updated is in the foreground.
• Any app is locked in Single App mode.

With our use case, both of these conditions are present. I also understand that the current workaround is to do the following:

1. Disable Single App Mode.
2. Enable Single App Mode for a different app (e.g. Safari) to bring that app into the foreground.
3. Disable Single App Mode.
4. Update app.
5. Re-enable Single App Mode for your app when the update finishes to bring it back into the foreground.

While this method works, it has a lot of drawbacks:

• It's highly manual, we have not found a way to automate it. This is especially a problem as the number of devices becomes large. Internet connections can be spotty and there is no robust way to ensure that each step has executed for all devices.
• It's prone to failure. Especially between steps 4 and 5 above. It seems there are little to no guarantees of when/if an update was successful to know definitively when to re-enable Single App Mode.
• It fails for devices that are offline at time of update. If a device does not have internet connection when the update is executed, there is no way to guarantee that the steps execute fully and in the correct order the next time the device comes back online.

I am looking for a scalable solution to reliably update my managed, Single App Mode app running on thousands of devices in an automated way with no user interaction. I am using Meraki for an MDM right now, for what it's worth.

Answer 1

With iOS 11.2 you can now push a silent update to a device with it running SingleApp mode.

Apple failed to mention this to the public but is included in the beta notes.

Answer 2

iOS 13.1 beta 1 seems to fix most of the issues I have been having in this area.

I had seen issues in iOS 11-12.* where updates sometimes worked, but sometimes showed a pin-pad even though no passcode or guided access code was set, or otherwise behaved strangely.

In the 13.1 beta 1 you can push an App update and nothing will happen on the device, but if you send a restart command afterwards the device will restart, update the App and continue in single app mode.

I have tested with both 'Single App Mode' (SAM) and 'Autonomous Single App Mode' (ASAM) and it has worked every time for me so far.

This works for my use case as you can push the update anytime and schedule the restart at suitable time when the device is not in use.

edit: 13.1 beta 2/3/4 changes this, now when you push an update from your MDM the App will close, update and re-open and continue in single App mode. I checked both SAM and ASAM both now update without the need for a restart.

Answer 3

Called Enterprise Support today, They could not find any official documentation mentioning ios 11.2.x supports the updating of apps while in single app mode :(

Answer 4

Now with iOS 11.3 beta it is working again but after updation, app is not automatically locking in Single App mode we have to restart device.

Hope in upcoming beta's this issue will get addressed.