14 DAY TRIAL // Apple Configurator, the iDevice-manager for IT organizations, has the power to automatically delete any software installed by the end-user. However, administrators can tweak some settings to let the apps stay in place.
According to a newly-published Support document – “Apple Configurator: Preserving user-installed apps when updating settings on an assigned device” – whenever the admin connects a supervised device to Configurator, any apps installed on that device by the end user will be deleted.
This is the default behavior of Apple’s Configurator app, according to the knowledge base article.
“By changing the setting described below, you can check out a device to a user, and if that user installs apps onto the device they will be preserved when you connect the device to Apple Configurator until you check the device back in,” Apple explains.
To tweak those settings, admins must quit Apple Configurator if it is running, then execute a simple command in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.configurator PreserveUserAppsAndData -bool YES
“Now, when you connect the device to Apple Configurator to update or apply new settings, any apps installed by the user will be preserved along with their data,” according to the Cupertino-based giant. “When you check the device back in, the user-installed apps will be deleted,” reads the tech note.
Configurator is Lion-only application. It promises to makes it effortless for anyone (not just IT administrators) to deploy iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in their organization, or group. Schools and businesses are the primary targets, going by Apple’s marketing materials.
According to the app’s description on the Mac App Store, “Apple Configurator can be used to quickly configure large numbers of iOS devices with the settings, apps and data you specify for your students, employees or customers.” The software is free of charge and only runs on Macs.