Monitor app installation status and track licences in Apple Business
Overview
You can check the installation status of an app and track licences to make sure all users have the apps they need. If you don’t have enough licences for an app, you can get more and assign them to those who need them.
Important: If you assign apps to users who have the role of Organisation Administrator or have a custom role with permissions to get licences for apps and books, their licence assignments may not complete if those users haven’t accepted the Terms and Conditions for Apps and Books. To accept the terms, they need to navigate to Apps, select the Store item, then select View Store.
What are the app installation states?
You can view all of the devices that have installed—or are in the middle of installing—the app. A device can be in one of the following states:
Install Pending: The app is in the process of downloading or installing on the device
Installed: The app has successfully installed on the device
Install Failed: The most recent attempt to install the app has failed
Apps can fail to install on devices for a variety of reasons including network issues, devices being offline or user intervention. When an app fails to install on a device, it continues to attempt installation periodically.
Update Pending: The app is in the process of downloading or installing an update for the app
Install Rejected by User: A user has rejected a prompt to install
Update Rejected by User: A user has rejected a prompt to update
Management Rejected by User: A user has rejected the management of an already installed app
Note: The apps listed on any individual user or device page reflect the apps that are assigned to that user or device through Blueprints. They don’t reflect which are successfully installed. To check apps for installation status, check the Install Status tab.
Check installation status
In Apple Business, sign in with a user whose role has permissions to get licences for apps and books.
To view roles and permissions, see Intro to roles and permissions.
In your browser, choose Devices > Managed Apps.
Select or search for an app in the search field. See How to search.
Select Install Status.
How assigned apps are updated
Apps assigned to users are automatically updated through the App Store, just like apps downloaded from the App Store. For updates to occur automatically, App Updates need to be turned on in Automatic Downloads, located in Settings > App Store. Also, the App Store doesn’t have to be available on the device for the app to update.
For apps assigned directly to devices, Apple Business automatically detects and applies updates.
Track app licenses
When an app is added to a Blueprint, a single licence is assigned to each user that belongs to that Blueprint and each device. It’s important to know how many licences you have for a specific app and, if necessary, how many additional licences you may need. For each app in your apps list, you can view exactly how many apps were assigned through Blueprints, how many licences are available for the app and how many additional licences are needed to fulfil all the assignments.
In Apple Business, sign in with a user whose role has permissions to get licences for apps and books.
To view roles and permissions, see Intro to roles and permissions.
In your browser, choose Devices > Managed Apps.
Select or search for an app in the search field. See How to search.
Select Licences.
Besides viewing the number of assignments made for the app and viewing Blueprints they’re assigned from, you can also view a list of specific users and devices that were not successfully licensed due to a lack of sufficient licences. After additional licences are acquired from the App Store, they automatically get applied to the users and devices listed.
Note: The apps listed on any individual user or device page reflect the apps that are assigned to that user or device through Blueprints. They don’t reflect which are successfully licensed. To check apps for licensing issues, check the Licences tab for an app.