Supervision allows extra restrictions like disabling AirDrop or Apple Music, and placing the device in Single App Mode. It also provides additional device configurations and features, like silently installing apps or filtering web usage via a global proxy to ensure that users’ web traffic stays within the organization’s guidelines.
By default, all iOS devices aren't Supervised. Devices can only be Supervised during activation of a new or fully erased device. With the Device Enrollment Program an organization can wirelessly enable Supervision on devices it owns. You can also manually Supervise a device by preparing it with Apple Configurator 2.
Here's how you can tell if a device is Supervised:
- In iOS 9.3 and later, look for a message at the bottom of the lock screen saying "This [iPhone, iPad, or iPod] is managed by your organization." You can also go to Settings > General > About and look for this line of text under the name of the device: "This [iPhone, iPad, or iPod] is Supervised. [Organization name] can monitor your Internet traffic and locate this device."
- In iOS 7 or later, go to Settings > General > About and look for this line of text under the name of the device: "This [iPhone, iPad, or iPod] is Supervised by [organization name]."
- In iOS 5 and 6, go to Settings > General > Profiles and look for a Supervision Profile.
- In iOS 6 and later you can use a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution to query a device to tell if it's Supervised. For details, check your MDM service documentation.
Learn more
See the iOS Deployment Reference for more information about Supervised Devices and a list of specific settings that can be managed on Supervised devices.