Level 1

48 points

apple configurator 2 does not save changes of home screen to iPad or iPhone

I use Catalina 10.15 with the first rolled out patch and Apple Configurator 2 to change the homescreens. If I have prepared the apps order and want to transfer to iPad Pro 12.9" or iPhone 6s the changes are not made on them. Both clients have the newest IOS.

Also the layout of the Configurator does not show correctly the surface of the iPad Pro, the window is too small to show the correct order.

Do you have the same problems?

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 18, 2019 12:47 AM

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hazpheare

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Jun 19, 2020 3:20 AM

So it seems that as of iOS 13, the device has to be supervised by the macOS device to take Home Screen management instructions.

I wiped my device and found that in Supervision, the Home Screen modifications work perfectly.

But in order to keep my iPhone data, I want to be enter Supervision AND have my iPhone's data in place.

But (!), in order to switch Supervision on without starting afresh on your iOS device, you not only need to backup/restore your device, you need a temporary second physical device too!!! Yes, you read that correctly.

Why? Because Configurator will only enrol the device into supervision while it's having data restored if the backup comes from a different physical device than the one you're restoring to.

So the temporary device is used to basically clone your backup but with a different hardware identifier. Then, that backup can be restored to your actual phone with Supervision in play too.

https://help.mobilock.in/article/w830ax76x0-supervise-i-os-devices-without-data-loss-backup-supervise

I spent 6 hours on this so far. Quite an extraordinary situation.

So, next experiment will be to get a temporary iPhone (with enough space) to run this process on and will report back.

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86 replies

Gallo65

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2020 12:54 PM in response to appletvbob2020

Still not working as of April 13, 2020. Not sure why they did away with this feature in iTunes in the first place. So much easier, especially when you have phones with bigger storage and more useful apps being downloaded.

Apr 15, 2020 3:21 PM in response to hwarter

I have this same issue with the changes not appling to my IPAD.

Devices: IPAD Pro 2020 12.9 IOS 13.4.1 / Macbook Pro (15 inch/late 2016) macOS Catalina 10.15.4

I wish Apple would just state one way or the other if this issue will be fixed or if another product can be used.

Extremely frustrating!

Blah49

Level 1

4 points

Apr 19, 2020 11:55 AM in response to appletvbob2020

Same here! It not working and I spent hours updating the Macios app. Then I lost all my data on my phone because I accidentally hit erase. Thankfully the cloud worked to back up the phone but now I have a lot of old apps I had to redownload the new apps. I wish they would fix this crap

lo33

Level 1

8 points

Apr 24, 2020 4:23 AM in response to hwarter

Apple you just make this App a joke.

It is not working as it should be.

Not only for a month, but more than a year. Even the update doesn't mix the problem.

Not fixing problems but making more phones with different size screen and new camera.

Service is not found at all.

May 14, 2020 4:33 AM in response to hwarter

I am on Mojave 10.14.6, iPhone 13.3 trying to reorganise my homescreen app layout after foolishly choosing the 'Reset Home Screen Layout' option on the iPhone. Then discovering the iTunes app layout option was stripped away a long time ago, my hopes and dreams of not having to manually organise the apps manually came with the discovery of Apple Configurator 2.......it does exactly what I WANT it to do, but doesn't apply it.

This issue has been a problem for awhile it would seem from the posts here.

Apple please fix this!!!!

Jun 3, 2020 6:35 PM in response to hwarter

I have the same problem. Its really disappointing that Apple can ignore this considering that managing iPads for school must be a priority with homeschooling requirements for COVID-19. Not what one expects from Apple.

hwarter Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2020 7:58 AM in response to hazpheare

Hi, thank you for contacting support and your trials. I 3 times contacted support and sent information to apple support including the link of our discussion. No answer!

To your questions:

Too many apps and folders - I don't think so, I don't have so many

Web shortcuts? I don't have.

My troubles started with upgrading to first productive version of Catalina. I use the same hardware components, no changes. iPhone 6s, iPad Pro 12'9", iMac Late 2014. I also tried iPhone 11 and iPad Air 2 from my partner. Also not working. All devices have newest IOS and MacOs.

ZH_W

Level 1

4 points

Jun 23, 2020 1:29 PM in response to hazpheare

Thank you for sharing this info.

I feel we are like the “windows users” back in the win95-winXP era. In order to make it work properly you have to be a voluntary tester. That was the exact reason why I switched to Mac-iPhone environment the first place.

Jul 19, 2020 12:53 PM in response to rurimaja

Thank you for this information. I will hold off my congrats until the General Release.

Once they come out with the General Release of iOS 14, they'll probably disable it. This will confirm it is not a bug, just a feature Apple thinks is not appropriate for general users. Apple certainly, in the past, has disabled functions before when the General Release Version was delivered.

Aug 14, 2020 10:13 AM in response to hwarter

AS ONE WITH MILD TO MODERATE VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, THIS ABILITY TO REARRANGE, DELETE, ADD, GROUP APPS ON IOS USING ITUNES IN THE PAST AND / OR APPLE CONFIGURATOR WAS A TREMENDOUS HELP. NOW, ARRANGING APPS ETC ARE NOT SAVED ON IOS BY DOING THIS. THIS IS SOMETHING APPLE NEEDS TO RE-INSTATE FOR 'ACCESSIBILITY' AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. THANK YOU.

Sep 17, 2020 7:41 AM in response to hwarter

That’s good. Although, with the other changes in iOS 14 like the App Library, I don’t think I need to use it. All is good.

It is nice for once to see a long thread like this end with a real resolution.

Oct 22, 2019 9:40 AM in response to hwarter

I have the same problem

Kelso04

Level 1

8 points

Nov 2, 2019 12:22 PM in response to hwarter

Ditto

Nov 7, 2019 10:28 AM in response to hwarter

Bei mir geht es auch nicht! So kann man mit den Tablets in der Schule nicht arbeiten!

Nov 9, 2019 4:39 PM in response to hwarter

Same here. Updated iOS for iPhone 8 Plus & updated Authenticator 2 - It pulls my home screen, but does not save it.

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apple configurator 2 does not save changes of home screen to iPad or iPhone