• iPhone

    Activation Lock Status At Apple

    Thanks to Josh for pointing this out. Apple has a page that lets you look up whether your device has Activation Lock enabled. This way, even if you don’t have it, you can confirm that it’s locked after you, for example, remotely wipe it. The page is available at https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/.

  • iPhone,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security

    Hey Photos, stop opening when I plug in my devices…

    When I plug my iPad in, Photos opens. I want it to stop opening when I plug it in. To make it stop, write a disableHotPlug key into com.apple.ImageCapture as true: defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ImageCapture disableHotPlug -bool true To enable Photos opening when you plug in a device again, just delete the disableHotPlug key: defaults -currentHost delete com.apple.ImageCapture disableHotPlug

  • iPhone

    A quick list of iOS Functionality Restrictions

    There are a lot of payloads that MDM and profiles can manage in iOS. Restrictions are probably the one I get the most questions about. And most are pretty self-explanatory. Sooooo, rather than open Profile Manager every time I need to see the list, here it is: Allow use of Camera Allow FaceTime Allow screenshots and screen recording Allow AirDrop (supervised only) Allow iMessage (supervised only) Allow voice dialing while device is locked Allow Siri Allow Siri while device is locked Enable Siri profanity filter (supervised only) Allow user-generated content in Siri (supervised only) Allow iBooks Store (supervised only) Allow installing apps using Apple Configurator and iTunes Allow installing apps…

  • iPhone

    Setup A Medical ID To Be Prepared For Emergencies With Your iPhone

    I was going through Red Cross training recently, and one thing that was mentioned was whether we have Medical IDs setup on our iPhones. I do. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d set it up a long time ago. I then asked around and no one else had one setup. So I grabbed my testing iPhone and decided to write it up. To get started setting up your Medical ID on your iPhone, open the Health app. From the Health app, tap on Medical ID and then tap on Create Medical ID. At the Medical ID screen, enter allergies, medications you are on, add emergency contacts, provide your…

  • Apple Configurator,  iPhone,  Mass Deployment

    Add Profiles To Blueprints In Apple Configurator 2

    One of the tasks you’ll need to perform in Apple Configurator 2, is to assign Profiles to iOS devices in order to set them up with features or restrict the device from using certain features. I cover creating a profile here. To get started applying a profile to a device, bring up the Blueprints screen. Choose a Blueprint and right-click on it. Choose Profiles… Browse to the profile and then click on Add Profile. The profile is then applied to any devices that the Blueprint is applied to. For more on Blueprints, view this article.

  • Apple Configurator,  iPhone,  Mass Deployment

    Apple Configurator 2 Guide

    Apple Configurator 2 is a great new evolution in iOS initial and configuration management. And there are lots of great options. And to help you wrap your head around all this new fun stuff, I’ve written up a quick and dirty guide for using Apple Configurator 2. It’s not completely done, but it will be shortly. Hope this help someone. Enjoy!

  • Apple Configurator,  iPhone,  Mass Deployment

    Manage Profiles To Control Settings On iOS Devices With Apple Configurator 2

    Enter Apple Configurator 2, a free tool on the Mac App Store. This tool basically fixes most setup challenges for iOS, but does so over USB. This means that Apple Configurator is not necessarily a replacement for MDM. In fact, you can deploy Trust and Entrollment profiles for MDM and automate the MDM enrollment for a device through Apple Configurator 2. Instead, Apple Configurator 2 is a tool that can either help to manage iOS devices during a mass deployment and do so in a manner that is easy enough that you don’t need a firm background in IT to manage devices on a day-to-day basis. Here is what Apple Configurator can do: Update…

  • Apple Configurator

    Upgrade Devices And Apps Using Apple Configurator 2

    Apple Configurator has always been able to upgrade devices. But it can also now upgrade apps that are on devices. To run an upgrade, first open Apple Configurator 2. Once open, right-click on a device and click on the Update… option. You can update all assets on the device concurrently, using the default option. Here, we’re going to select to update only the items we need to in the drop-down menu. Select Only Some Apps and then you’ll see a list of each app that needs an upgrade on the device. Check the box for the apps to be updated and then click on the Update button. Apps are updated…

  • Apple Configurator,  Mac OS X,  Mass Deployment

    Using Apple Configurator 2 Blueprints to Manage iOS Devices

    Blueprints are a new option in Apple Configurator 2. Blueprints allow you setup a template of settings, options, apps, and restore data, and then apply those Blueprints on iOS devices. For example, if you have 1,000 iOS devices, you can create a Blueprint with a restore item, an enrollment profile, a default wallpaper, skip all of the activation steps, install 4 apps, and then enabling encrypted backups. The Blueprint will provide all of these features to any device that the Blueprint is applied to. But then why not call it a group? Why call it a Blueprint? Because the word template is boring. And you’re not dynamically making changes to devices over…