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Q: Need to resolve conflict between Guided Access and MDM app lock in Safari

At our school, we use web-based standardized testing on 1:1 iPads (currently Gen 2 w/iOS 7.1.2+, supervised using Apple Configurator 1.6).  Up to now, per the testing vendor's instructions, we've manually pre-configured Guided Access for Safari on each iPad, with certain portions of the screen blocked (rectangles drawn over top the address bar, etc., and various controls disabled). Other than flakiness introduced with iOS 8.0 - 8.0.2, where it would take various combinations of rebooting or turning off Guided Access and back on and rebooting before Guided Access would engage (most of the time) on the triple-click, this has worked fairly well for us.

 

While evaluating an MDM using a test iPad on which the same Guided Access screen-area blocks were set up in Safari, engaging an App Lock on Safari via the MDM wiped out the screen-area blocks that were put in place, so that those blocks were not there when we engaged Guided Access on the iPad itself.

 

The MDM vendor (Cellabus) indicates that it is working within the API framework provided by Apple.  Does anyone know if there's some way to preserve locally-create Guided Access settings when an MDM is used to lock the same app?  We want to allow the teachers to engage and App Lock through the MDM outside the standardized testing scenario, without the consequence of our having to reconfigure the screen-area block settings on 300 iPads before each standardized testing window. Further, is there a way optionally to apply the Guided Access screen-area block settings to the MDM App Lock?

 

Thx,

V. Mongiardo

IT Administrator

iPad 2, iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Jun 10, 2015 9:29 AM

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