Apple configurator basics

Digital Maestro Magazine

Apple Configurator Fundamentals

Prepare devices for distribution Supervise device settings Install and manage free Apps Create an Apple ID so you can download free apps.

Manage a few or hundreds of iOS devices with these basic skills.

Empower yourself and your students to use iPads or iPod Touches for instruction and learning.

April 2, 2015

Apple Configurator Basics Introduction

What is Apple Configurator and why should I as a teacher use this tool in my classroom? Isn’t that someone elses job? You might be lucky enough to have someone at your campus support and maintain the technology, but that isn’t often the case. If you have someone, this person is usually busy and difficult to find. My focus in these lessons is the classroom teacher. I believe as teachers we should empower ourselves to manage our classroom instruction, and that involves instructional technology tools.

I don’t want you to struggle with those iOS devices and I want your students to use them. I want you to look forward to asking students to get those iPads out and get to doing some great things. Plan to spend a couple of hours learning how to do this. I know how precious your time is and that’s why you should spend at least a couple of ours learning how to use Apple Configurator.

Once you learn how Apple Configurator can help, you will spend less time managing and more time using them.

I’ve been a teacher for over twenty years and over those twenty years I’ve learned that we wear many hats and one of those hats in today’s classroom is tech support. That’s why I write this magazine. We don’t have time to wait weeks, days or even hours for someone to get some technology done for us. This is why you should know how to use Apple Configurator if you have iOS devices in your classroom.

When a device isn’t managed, students can get into things they shouldn’t. This often means they remove apps or change device settings. The most important step in preventing students from doing stuff they shouldn’t is to have effective classroom management. This is true if you are going to use technology like iPads or traditional technologies like paper and pencil. I want to focus less on what they shouldn’t be doing and more on what can be done with them and how Apple Configurator can help you get things done.

You probably have a handful of iPads or iPod Touch devices in your classroom for students to use. If you’re like most teachers you’ve probably spent hours downloading and installing apps for your students. You’ve probably also spent time re-installing Apps after a student has removed them from the device. You’ve probably had to reset some settings that were changed by students and struggled with getting into an iPad after a student has set a password. There are probably a dozen more things you’ve had to do to make sure those devices are working and ready for your students. You might have given up and decided not to use them. They’re probably locked in a closet somewhere never to see the light of day until they are sent to that technology cemetery of outdated devices. I see that happen all too often in school districts.

You won’t be able to get much done if you download and start Apple Configurator. You need to have some things in place first and you need to have some information ready. Apple Configurator is a software tool that is designed to help setup and manage iOS devices like iPads, iPod Touches and iPhones. It can be used to quickly setup one to several hundred iOS devices. Apple Configurator is easy to use but you need to understand some things before it can help you work effectively.

We will be learning the basics to get you started with Apple Configurator. I won’t cover all the options available because that would entail an lengthy book. Instead I will chunk the instructions for you so that in time you will learn all you need to know to effectively manage these devices.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics What will you need?

Your OS

After Yosemite

Apple Configurator is a free utility from Apple and it can be downloaded through the Apple Store. To access the Apple Store, you will need a computer with OS X, Version 10.6 or later. Version 10.6 is Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard is no longer available to download from Apple or to Purchase.

You might be able to find someone selling a copy on Ebay or Amazon. The price is usually about $20 plus shipping and handling.

If you are reading this after Yosemite is no longer available and the latest OS X version is out, there might be issues. I don’t know yet if the newer OS X will support your older computer. It might not. I will post helpful information if that does happen when it happens.

Your RAM

Software Licenses

If your computer does not have at least version 10.6 of OS X, it might be too slow to help you manage the iOS devices. If this is all you have, then you might look into upgrading the RAM on the computer. Most computers that old came with 1GB of RAM. You should look into purchasing 2GB or 4GB of RAM. I recommend 4GB of RAM. This additional memory will help compensate for the slow processor on the computer.

The Latest OS X Updating to Snow Leopard and updating the RAM is only half the process. You need to update Snow Leopard to the latest OS X, which is Yosemite. If your computer was purchased in 2007 or later you will be in luck because the minimum requirements for Yosemite is an Intel MacBook or iMac built in late 2007. If your computer doesn’t even match this minimum hardware requirement, don’t bother with Snow Leopard or the RAM.

In the mean time I highly recommend purchasing an updated computer to help handle future updates from Apple.

Apple Configurator will help you install apps onto iOS devices. Apple Configurator is programmed to abide by Apple’s software license agreement.

This means that unless the app is free, you will need to purchase a license for any paid apps.

This includes the installation of even one paid app. You will need the Redeem code those that apps. Redeem codes are available when apps are purchased through the Apple Volume Purchase Program. If you are not part of the Apple Volume Purchase Program then your district can apply to be part of the program.

Don’t worry too much about not being able to install purchased apps through Apple Configurator.

There are plenty of great free apps to install. In the future I will be expanding the list of free education apps on my site to help you.

If you can update to Yosemite then your in luck once again because the latest OS X versions are free. Go to the Apple Store and search for Yosemite. Click the get button and follow the instructions for updating your OS X version.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Get An Apple ID

Having an Apple ID is essential for using Apple Configurator to setup your iOS devices. An Apple ID is used to authenticate a computer to manage your iOS devices and it is used to install Apps from the Apple App Store.

Where do you get an Apple ID? I’m glad you asked. In this lesson we will learn how to get our own free Apple ID. You might already have an Apple ID for your campus or district. How do you know if we have one? Ask the technology person at your campus or in your district.

plan to manage. Apple IDs are free, so you can get one for your class and one for yourself.

Apple IDs are usually associated with a credit card or other payment method. The idea is that you will be using this ID to purchase media from Apple. In this lesson I will show you how to create an Apple ID with the option to opt out of a payment method. To get the no payment method option we need to select a free application from the iTunes Store.

Sometimes campuses or districts will setup Apple IDs that can be used to purchase and distribute Apps to iOS devices. This is often done in concert with Apple’s Volume Purchase Program. Find out if there is an Apple ID that can be used by you at your campus. If there is, use that.

An Apple ID is usually an email address. Make sure to get the password for the Apple ID too. If the district has given you an Apple ID as part of a Volume Purchase Agreement, you won’t be able to purchase anything with that ID. The ID in this case will be used to install apps and manage the device only. There is a volumen purchase ID that is used to purchase and in some cases distriubute those apps onto devices.

Start iTunes

Free’s good, there’s lots of great stuff you can use on the iPad for free. On the other hand if your district is in the Volume Purchase Program, then the district can use that program to purchase lots of Apps and media at 50% discounts. You get the discount when you purchase 20 or more of one item.

If you don’t have an Apple ID provided by your campus or the district, we will walk through the process of getting your own Apple ID. Keep in mind that this Apple ID is to be used in your classroom and associated with the iOS devices you

Most people have a personal iTunes account and you might be using yours on this computer. If you are, you will need to sign out of that account.

Click on Store in the menu and select sign out.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

I recommend you use a designated computer in the classroom to manage the devices. Try not to use your personal computer. If you will be using your personal computer and use it to purchase items with your personal iTunes account, I recommend you create a separate iTunes library. I cover the process for creating a separate iTunes library at the end of the lesson. A separate iTunes library will provide a clear way of separating apps purchased with your account from apps purchased through your classroom, campus or district.

If for some reason your personal app purchases get mixed in, Apple Configurator will not install them and you will get an error message. The error message doesn’t tell you exactly what went wrong and it can be very frustrating. I know because campus technolgists and teachers have called me ready to give up because they have made this very simple mistake. Head my advice, separate your apps.

You will be prompted to enter your Apple ID and password.

Below the Apple ID login fields, you will see a button to create an Apple ID. Click on this button to begin.

A welcome page will open. Click the continue button.

Let’s search for a free application to purchase. I’ll search for Evernote because I know this App is free. Search for this free app or a free app of your own. Click on the Get button.

A page with Apple’s Terms and conditions will open. Click on the box to indicate you have read the information and click the agree button.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Get An Apple ID

The next step is where you create your Apple ID name. Don’t use your personal email. Use your personal email for your personal Apple ID. I recommend you create an email address just for this account. There are lots of services out there that provide free email accounts. These include Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Stop here and go create an email account using one of these services.

place of the letter ‘A’ and alternated upper and lower case letters. Apple requires that you include a number in the password and that the password be at least eight characters. To accommodate this requirement my password will be @@RdV@rK#1.

This password is more than eight characters long, includes both upper and lower case letters and at least one number.

Enter the email address you created for the Apple ID and create a password. I recommend using a different password from the one you used for the email. Knowing the password for both the email and Apple ID is a serious security problem. A student could easily change both passwords and you would have no way of accessing either.

The security questions are important. If you forget the password or Apple ID, Apple will not be able to help you until you answer these questions. Click on the pull down menu and select a question. Provide an answer for each of the three questions.

Keep the password complex but easy for you to remember. For example, the password could be aardvark but instead of spelling it the regular way, try it this way, @@RdV@rK. I used the @ symbol in

These security questions are great, but if you are in any way involved with social media, most of these answers can be easily answers by anyone that knows you, and your students pay close attention weather you know it or not.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

Here’s a trick to up the level of these security questions. Provide the answer from one of the other questions. For example, for the question that asks for your favorite children’s book, which you’ve probably read to your students a few times, provide the answer to your first car. If the Velveteen Rabbit is your favorite children’s book, type Mustang for your favorite children’s book.

For the question about the model of your first car, enter Velveteen Rabbit.

For the third question you could spell out the name backwards. For example if you grew up on Mocking Bird Lane, Type Lane Bird Mocking.

Yes, these tricks are all fine but that just makes it harder to remember! When you forget a password, you’re already stressed about forgetting the password or Apple ID. In addition to these tricks, I recommend you use a password manager. There are several free apps that help keep passwords.

These apps include Keeper password manager, Password Manager, and last pass just to mention three. Your probably tempted to write this information down on a sticky and place it under one of your desk drawers. That could work, just don’t forget it’s there.

Please don’t use stickies I know dozens of teacher password because they are taped to their laptop or to their screen.

A rescue email is where Apple will send a link to reset your password or with a reminder of your Apple ID. This email can be your personal email. I recommend you use your personal email because if anyone ever tries to reset the password the email will go to you and you’ll know somethings rotten, and it ain’t that cafeteria food.

younger, and it is one of the security questions.

Don’t lie on this one. Several teachers have, and then can’t remember what date they gave. Provide you real birth date. I’m 51 and I’ve managed to stick around this long so I’m proud to let people know I’m still here and made it through the eighties and punk rock music.

You can choose to receive email from Apple or not. Remove the check marks if you don’t want to get email from Apple about announcements or offers.

Click the continue button.

A payment method page will open. We selected a free App to purchase and by doing so we are provided the option to not provide a payment method. This option is automatically selected for us. You can use gift cards with an account that does not include a payment method. Leave the option set at none or choose a payment method if you are creating this as a personal account.

DON’T use your personal credit card for payment options with an account that is going to be used at your school. That’s just crazy!

If you have a gift card to use with this account, this is the time to enter the redeem code in the box provided below the payment methods.

Provide your campus mailing address. Use your personal address for your personal Apple ID account.

Click the Create Apple ID button.

Provide your date of birth. This serves two purposes. It identifies you as being older than 13, Apple won’t provide IDs for children thirteen or

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Get An Apple ID

A page will let you know that the email address used to create the Apple ID needs to be verified.

You will be prompted to login with your Apple ID to complete the verification process.

Go over to the email and click on the verify link.

When the account is verified you will see this verification page.

Now we’re going to use this Apple ID in our next step.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Authorize iTunes

We are going to use your Apple ID to authorize the computer to manage the iOS devices through Apple Configurator. This is an important step. The first time I tried to use Apple Configurator it took me a couple of days to figure out what was going wrong. Not matter what I did, I could not install Apps through Apple Configurator onto the iPads.

Authorizing the computer permits Apple Configurator to install Apps onto managed devices.

Enter your Apple ID and password and click the Authorize button.

A message will display to let you know the computer is now authorized to manage the media purchased from iTunes.

That’s all there is to this step. You can quit iTunes.

Open iTunes and click on the Store option in the menu.

If you are using your personal computer it might already be tied to your personal Apple ID account. If it is, you will need to log out of the account. You won’t loose anything. It’s like logging out of your online back account.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Get Apple Configurator

Apple Configurator is a free application from Apple. To run Apple Configurator, you will need the latest version of OS X. The current version is Yosemite. If you don’t have the current version, the App store will not permit you to download and install Apple Configurator. Luckily Apple’s operating systems are free as long as you have a computer with OS 10.6 or later installed. That’s the Snow Leopard OS X.

To begin the installation, click the Get button.

You will be prompted to enter your iTunes account information. Type in your information and click the sign in button.

The App Store will download and install Apple Configurator onto the computer.

Go to the App Store.

Click once in the search box and type Apple Configurator. Press enter to search the App Store.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

When the installation is done, you will see the installation button change to read Open. Click on the open button to start Apple Configurator.

When Apple configurator starts for the first time you will see this welcome screen.

In the future when opening Apple Configurator, you can find it in your Applications folder.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Reset Your iPads

The first step is to prepare your devices. This may involve two steps on your part. If you’ve been using the iOS devices and they currently have Apps and accounts setup, you will need to wipe these devices before you can use Apple Configurator to prepare them.

You will need to wipe them because we are going to use Apple Configurator to manage the devices and they cannot have other account or Apps installed that may conflict with the way Apple Configurator will manage the devices.

I’ve worked with teachers that have spent hours or days setting up their iPads with the settings and Apps for their students and frown when I tell them it all has to be erased. I let them know that it will be alright because this will make their job much easier in the future. In the future they won’t have to spend hours or days setting up Apps or resetting iPads that have been changed by students.

If you have brand new iOS devices out of the box you won’t need to wipe them. Leave them as they are, don’t bother going through the setup process on each device. That’s Apple Configurator’s job.

If you have new devices in the box, I encourage you to read this part, because it might come in hand in the future.

Grab a device and tap on the settings icon.

In the General settings area scroll down to the bottom.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

At the bottom of the General settings you will see a button named “Reset”. Tap on the “Reset” button

On the reset page you will see several reset options. Tap on the “Erase All Content and Settings” button.

If the devices is protected with a passcode, you will be prompted to enter the passcode.

You will see a message letting you know that this will delete all media and data from the device. It will also reset all settings. Tap the Erase button.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Reset Your iPads

You get one more warning to make sure you want to erase the device. Tap the erase button.

You’ll be prompted to provide the password for the iTunes account that is currently associated with the device. This might be different from the iTunes account we created earlier. Type in the password for the account and tap erase.

The device will now restart and reset itself to the original factory settings. The process could take a few minutes. You’ll need to do this to all your devices.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Preparing Devices

The first step in the process is to prepare you device for supervision. This means that Apple Configurator will modify the iOS on the device so that it has increased security and can be managed by Apple Configurator.

On the welcome page we see there are three sections. The prepare section prepares the device for supervision. Once the device is supervised it can be assigned to students, if that is your intention.

You don’t have to assign a device to a student but the option is there if you need to do so. In most situations you will prepare the device for supervision and determine the components of the device you want to supervise. This option is best when you plan to use a group of devices and don’t want to keep track of which student will use a specific device. Assigning a device to students takes us to another level of supervision and I won’t be covering that process in this issue.

From now on you will see this screen when preparing or supervising devices. The welcome screen only appears the first time you start Apple Configurator.

Next to the prepare icon you’ll see a number 1.

This number represents the number of devices you will be preparing. If we had ten devices connected through a USB hub, then this number would appear as 10 next to the icon.

This number is very useful. I’ve used it often when helping teachers prepare several devices. These devices are usually in a cart that holds about thirty. The number sometimes doesn’t match what we have connected.

This number will not match because of a couple of reasons. The cable to the device is loose or not connected. The device battery might be completely drained and doesn’t have a charge. In which case it can’t send a signal to your computer to let it know it’s available.

If the number doesn’t match what you think should be connected, check he connections first. If the connections are good, then one of the devices might not have enough of a charge to be recognized by the computer. If the device doesn’t have enough charge, you might need to wait about five to fifteen minutes for the device to have a sufficient charge.

Click on the prepare button and connect one iPad to your computer. Start with one iPad because it will make the learning process easier. What you learn to do with one iPad you can use on a dozen to a hundred devices if needed.

If the device isn’t connected to a charging cart or powered USB hub, then you will need to plug it into a charger. Make sure all devices are fully charged if they are not connected to a charging cart or powered USB hub. If a device runs out of power during a preparation or supervision, it will not complete the process and you’ll need to do that one by itself later. I recommend that all your devices are charged at 100% or connected to a power source.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Preparing Devices

The first option you see in the Prepare section is the option to name each device and add a sequential number to each. This is very useful if you want to provide a name and number to each device.

I’ve worked with several teachers that want the devices to be numbered according to the number on the physical device. For example if they have devices numbered from 1 to 30, they want Apple Configurator to give them the same number.

Apple Configurator is software and is not smart like we are. It can’t see the number on the device and give it the same number internally. Teachers get frustrated because the numbers don’t match.

If you plan to give each a name and number with Apple Configurator, keep in mind that the internal name and numbering won’t match the external name and numbering. If you want to give them the number that matches outside, you will need to do that one at a time.

The supervision switch is automatically set to off.

This is because you don’t have to supervise a device. Apple Configurator can be used to prepare devices for distribution only. This could be distribution to teachers. The purpose in this case would be to make sure each has the most current iOS installed and to setup some basic configurations on each device. The most basic configura-

tion would be to setup access to the campus or district wireless network.

Typically we would turn the supervision switch to ON and then click the prepare button. If you are preparing devices that have been used before and you had to reset them, we won’t supervise them right away. If you have several devices connected to a USB hub or cart we won’t supervise them right away either.

Why not supervise them right away? I’ve done this training several times and without fail we forget one device or more. There is often some issue with one of the devices. During the supervise process, Apple Configurator downloads and installs the latest version of the iOS. It will do this even if the latest version is already installed. With one device we will know if there is an issue right away.

With a dozen or more devices, we won’t know if there is an issue for a while. This could typically be a few minutes into the the supervise process or at the end of the process. If a device encounters an error during the supervise process we can’t stop the process to take care of that one device. We would have to pull that one device, or others if it’s more than one and supervise it separately once the others are complete. This will add some more time to our process. One device could take us a half hour or more. Several devices could take a few more hours.

This is why I want to recommend that you hold off on the supervision process for a few seconds because it could pay off in lost time later. We are going to click the prepare button without supervising the device or updating the system. The point here is to get Apple Configurator to communicate with each device and give us instant feedback on any issues we might encounter during the supervision process. The process will take us less than a minute and save us hours later.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Supervising Devices

In this lesson our goal is to prepare devices so they can be supervised for distribution to students. If you plan to simply prepare devices for teacher distribution without supervision I’m planning on covering that in a separate issue.

Leave the supervision option off and click on the update iOS pull down menu and select never update device. Leave the other options as you see them in this example. Click the prepare button at the bottom.

Apple Configurator will begin to prepare the device. This will only take a few seconds with one device. With several devices it could take a minute or less. I’ve done this with about 35 devices at once and had results in less than a minute.

If everything wen’t well then you will see a screen like this with a checkmark next to each device.

This means that Apple Configurator did not encounter any issues with the device.

Turn the Supervision switch on.

Click on the Organization Info.

Apple Configurator will prompt you to enter this information when supervising devices so let’s do it now. This information is embedded onto the device and can be very useful when trying to recover a lost or stolen device. Police can use this information to verify the device belongs to your campus or district.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Supervising Devices

I recommend providing your campus name, phone number and address. Don’t provide the specific name of an individual because we all know that personnel at the campus can change over time. Don’t provide the email for yourself or anyone at the campus because you or that person might not be there in the future.

I’ve placed a check mark next to all the options. I plan to control all of these later with a profile.

Click back on the Setting section.

Click Done.

Click on the Setup section.

We reset the devices and in doing so the devices return to their factory settings. This means they are like they came out of a fresh box. You will need to go through the typical setup process.

That’s several steps. In the Setup section we can instruct the devices to skip some of the questions and save us some time. This is also useful if you plan to distribute the devices to teachers during a professional development. It can save you some time in walking them through the process.

I mentioned a Profile. A Profile is a set of instructions and settings that can be set on each device.

In this example we will create a simple Profile for the devices. I won’t go into detail on all the possible settings in this issue. I plan to cover this in a separate lesson. Most of the settings are self explanatory but others require some background information.

Place a check mark next to each of the steps you want to skip during the setup process on each device.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

Click on the plus button at the bottom of the Profiles box. Select Create New Profile from the menu options.

At the bottom we see a security option. The automatic setting is set to always. This is a good setting but I like to change it. Why? Good question. The always option is good but it displays a remove option button on the device. This means that anyone with the correct password can remove the Profile. We don’t want to provide the option for anyone to remove the Profile. The ultimate aim is to provide secure devices that can be used by all students and where students cannot have the opportunity to bypass any of our settings.

The first section we see is the General section. In this section we need to provide a name for our profile. I recommend naming the profile for your campus or district, but you can give it any name you want. In future issues I will discuss the use of multiple profile options.

This is the only required field. For this example well leave the other fields empty. Scroll down in the General section area to the bottom.

Click on the pull down menu and select never.

The never option provides the same security but does not present a remove button on the device.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Supervising Devices

Click on the Wi-Fi section and click on the Configure button.

In the first box provide the name of your wireless network.

Select the security type from the security type pull down menu. You will need to get this from your campus or district network person.

Type in the password for the secure wireless network type. That’s all we’ll do with this Profile for now. Click the Save button.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

computer. In the future it will simply install the latest update. Updating each device could take between ten to fifteen minutes. The more devices you have connected the longer it will take.

The Profile will appear in the Profiles box. It isn’t automatically selected for installation onto our devices. This is because we can create multiple profiles to deal with multiple devices or groups of devices. Place a check mark on the profile.

When the process is complete, the device will no longer appear in the Prepare section. It will be placed in the Supervision section. Next to the icon in the Supervision section, you will see a number representing the devices that are supervised.

Click on the Supervise section.

We are now ready to supervise our device. Click the Prepare button at the bottom. You will be prompted to apply the settings to the device.

Click the Apply button.

We skipped the Apps section for now. I’ll cover that later.

Apple Configurator will download the latest version of the iOS for your devices and install it onto each device. Apple configurator will only download the latest iOS once and save it on your

You’ll see the supervised devices listed on the left.

Each device that is currently connected will have a green dot next to its name. On the right side you’ll see similar options to the ones we saw in the Prepare section.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Managing Apps

One of the advantages of using Apple Configurator is that we can install Apps onto the device quickly. This is much faster and less tedious than installing each app on each device. In this lesson we’ll learn how to install Apps onto devices. There are two class of Apps we can install onto devices.

Free Apps can be easily installed and this is what we will focus on in this lesson. Paid apps are a little more difficult to work with because they require that you have a Volume Purchase Program Account. I’ll go over the differences in the lesson.

Before we can use Apple Configurator to install Apps onto devices, we need to download them with iTunes first.

Open iTunes Find some free apps and download them with iTunes. Free apps have the Get button.

Enter the password to your classroom or campus Apple ID when prompted. You will only be prompted to provide the password once per session. This means that the next time you start iTunes and wish to download free Apps, you will be prompted for the password again. Download as many free apps as you like and would like to install onto the devices.

Switch over to Apple Configurator and click on the Supervision icon.

Click on the Apps section.

This is where we manage the Apps we plan to install onto devices.

The first thing we need to do is import the Apps from iTunes. Click on the plus icon at the bottom of the section.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

Apple Configurator will find the current active iTunes library and take you to the mobile Apps section. This is a list of all the Apps you downloaded through the iTunes App store. You will need to select the apps to import into Apple Configurator. If you are using this library for the device Apps only, then you can select all of them.

I’ll select all my Apps and click the Select button.

You can select all of them by clicking on one app then using the short cut key Command A.

You will be prompted to provide the Apple ID and password for these Apps. This has to be the same ID used when downloading the Apps. This is where you could encouter an error if you are mixing your personal apps with classroom apps.

Your personal apps are under one account and classroom apps are under another account. You can only use one account to install apps through Apple Configurator.

In this example I’ve downloaded and imported some paid Apps to demonstrate the difference between them when it comes to installing them onto devices. You shouldn’t see this message if all you did was download free Apps.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Managing Apps

The Apps are listed in alphabetical order automatically. There is a check box to the left of each App. This is so you can select the Apps you want to install onto devices. Why not just install all of them? Great question! Your devices might not have enough space to install all the Apps available under your account. You might also have devices that are designated for different grade levels. In this case you can install Apps that are specific to those grade levels. You might have one App that is to be used by a special needs student and in that case you can make sure it is installed onto one device only. This is important when dealing with apps purchased through the Volumen Purchase Program. If only one app is purchased it can only be installed onto one device.

I can select the Apps I want to install by placing a check mark next to each App.

To install all the Apps, I can click on the select all button at the bottom of the section. This button selects or unselects all the Apps.

In my example I want you to notice that not all the Apps are selected. The check mark for these Apps is whited out. That’s because these Apps were purchased. Purchased Apps cannot be distributed with Apple Configurator without the proper redemption codes.

Notice that there is an exclamation mark and a number box to the right of the paid apps.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics

If I click on the number box, I will get an option to import redemption codes. These codes are provided through the Volume Purchase Program. The codes are downloaded in a spreadsheet file. This file is imported by clicking the Import Redemption Codes button. Without a redemption code, these apps will not be installed onto any device.

To install the fee Apps onto the devices, click the Apply button.

One of the drawbacks with managing Apps through Apple Configurator is that you need to keep importing apps from iTunes. Another drawback is that Apple Configurator does not automatically retrieve the latest version of the Apps.

Before you drop your head in disappointment, keep in mind that this could be a good thing.

Children and adults don’t always like change.

Apps can change drastically and children might have difficulty with the change. As a teacher you don’t want to pause your lesson because an app was recently updated and students aren’t familiar with the changes. This recently happened with a tool called Penultimate. The new version is great but it was very different in many ways from the previous version.

If you like having the latest version of any app then there is an option for you. I will demonstrate how to keep your apps updated at the end of the lesson.

The process for installing apps onto the devices will depend on the number of apps you will install and the size of the apps. When the process is complete we can take a look at what we’ve done.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics Managing Apps

When the process is complete, click the stop button at the bottom. Disconnect the device from the computer. It doesn’t have to be ejected. Go through the setup process. During this process you will select the language and country as usual.

When you get to some other steps in the process the will either not appear or already include the information. In our case the WiFi network should already be set and all you need to do is click the next button. In my example I placed a check mark on all the options to bypass, so I won’t be asked about the license agreement, Apple ID setup and some other usual setup settings.

Once the setup is complete check the installed apps on the iPad. You have just prepared and supervised your first device. I recommend you go through the process with one or two more devices before you jump into prepareing dozens or more. The practice will be worth the price of frustration if you forget a step in the process.

Digital Maestro

Apple Configurator Basics App Updates

Devices can be set to automatically download and install App updates. This setting is usually turned on automatically. To verify follow the steps below. Use these same steps to turn off automatic updates.

On the device tap on the Settings icon.

The option to automatically update the apps is turned on. This means that apps will automatically be updated on the device as they become available. This doesn’t mean that the update will be installed as soon as it is available. The iOS device will wait until there is not activity for a while, usually overnight, and then download the updates. If you plan to rely on updates through this function, I recommed you plug in the devices to power source every evening and make sure they have access to a WiFi network.

In the settings look for the iTunes & App Store section. Tap on this section.

Digital Maestro