Shared iPad overview
With Shared iPad, multiple students can use the iPad in the classroom. In this way learning experiences can be personal even though the devices are shared. Not only are transitions from class to class greatly simplified but time is saved. It’s easier to pick up right where students left off and automatically save student work. When used with Classroom, intelligent caching helps accelerate student sign-ins by returning students to an iPad they previously used.
Important: Shared iPad requires a mobile device management (MDM) solution and Managed Apple IDs. Devices must have at least 32 GB of storage and be supervised. Shared iPad is supported on:
iPad Pro
iPad (5th generation or later)
iPad Air 2 (or later)
iPad mini (4th generation or later)
Maximum number of users
When you set up Shared iPad using your MDM solution, you must specify the maximum number of users that can be stored on a device at one time. If no user limit is set, Shared iPad automatically sets it at 10 users. A best practice is to add two to the planned number of individuals that you expect to use a device throughout a given school week. When you enable Shared iPad with Apple Configurator 2, Shared iPad automatically sets the maximum number of users based on the device’s storage space.
Note: It’s recommended that you keep this maximum value as low as possible to maximize the amount of iPad storage for each user and to minimize communication with iCloud and provide a faster sign-in experience.
This value divides the local storage on the iPad evenly for the specified number of users. The discrete storage spaces you created can be reused as necessary. For example, if the iPad is set up for four users and a fifth user signs in to the iPad, data is removed for the user who logged in first. If the first user signs in to the same iPad again, their data must be downloaded again.
After iOS or iPadOS is installed, Shared iPad allocates storage based on the device’s capacity:
Devices with a storage capacity of 32 GB: 10 GB for the system, 8 GB for apps and media. The remaining storage is divided among the number of defined users, with 1.4 GB minimum per user.
Devices with a storage capacity 64 GB or greater: 10 GB for the system, 16 GB for apps and media. The remaining storage is divided among the number of defined users, with 3.8 GB minimum per user.
Using the above minimum values will help guarantee a good user experience, although these minimum values shouldn’t be a limiting factor for most deployments. For example, if you specify a value of five users on a 128 GB iPad, each user has approximately 20.4 GB of local storage.
Content caching
Content caching is extremely important for Shared iPad. If you configure content caching to cache iCloud data (including iCloud Photos and CloudKit-enabled apps), Shared iPad saves data to iCloud through the caching service. When a student’s data is cached by macOS 10.13 or later, Shared iPad can download the data locally instead of from iCloud.
Time Zone
To set the initial time zone on Shared iPad, you must connect the device to a Mac.