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Problems Switching from Prepared to Supervised in Apple Configurator

Hi all,


I am at a school managing a cart of iPads. I was using Configurator just to Prepare them and push out a profile and apps. I didn't use Supervise, because I wanted to be able to plug them in to other computers to transfer video. Some update to Configurator came out and I can no longer use Prepare to install paid apps. Frustrating, but okay.


Next I turned on Supervise so I can install paid apps again. Apparently this requires erasing the iPad. Okay, fine. iPads were erased and set to Supervise, but I have no redeem codes left! I can still see that the redeem codes are in Configurator, and are matched up to the iPad serial numbers, but I can't check the box to install them. This is different from the problem of having lost the Configurator information described here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5194


Can someone explain how I can use my existing match of serial numbers and redeem codes to install apps?


OS 10.7.5

Configurator 1.2.1

Posted on Feb 27, 2013 4:14 PM

Reply
18 replies

Mar 1, 2013 10:19 AM in response to Dreyfuzz

Some more information I found on this problem:


If the iPad is unsupervised you will not be able to release the redeem codes: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5188


"Installation of apps with redemption codes requires a supervised device" since version 1.2:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5487


This change pretty much screws anyone who was using the Prepare panel to install apps previously, because you can't do that anymore, and you can't move to supervision without losing all your previously paid apps.

Mar 15, 2013 8:08 AM in response to Neil Skipper

Apple Configurator used to allow you to install paid apps at the prepare screen and not supervise, this wasn't wise. The problem with that is once the app is deployed you lose the ability to use the code again because it wasn't supervised. When you supervise a device Apple Configurator stores the code in its database so it can be used again if a device is unsupervissed. Unfortunatly there is no way to reclaim the code after they have been redeemed. With that said I know people that have had luck reaching out to iTunes support or the VPP support and explaining the issue and getting new codes.


You can still install the apps over the air with the app store or with iTunes. You just can't use Apple Configurtor without getting new codes.


When you supervise a device you can transfer videos to and from the iPads with that computer that did the supervissing.

Mar 18, 2013 11:43 AM in response to Chris Ross

It does not seem that Apple has fully thought this out.


But the issue i have with being forced into supervised mode for distribution of paid apps is that i cant easily get videos off the ipad by connecting it via a cable to either a Mac or PC? isnt there an option where this could still be available?


-- People have contacted Apple to get the redemption codes restored. Salesperson? Applecare?


-- You can upload the videos to the cloud.


-- Reportedly, you can use usb transfer from you configuration computer. [ form a line 😝 ]


-- You could try & see if a webdav server would work.


Robert

May 23, 2013 11:10 AM in response to Neil Skipper

Hey Neil,


Unfortunately, iPads that are Supervised with Apple Configurator can only transfer files/photos via USB to the computer that it was supervised by. We ran into the same thing in our school district. If you want to get videos or photos in any other way you will need to go wirelessly.


We've been using Dropbox to transfer photos and videos from iPads and its been working great. The Dropbox app has a very cool auto-upload process that will automatically upload photos and videos from the iPad Camera Roll to Dropbox. Once you log in to the Dropbox app on the iPad with your account, click on the Photos icon in the lower left corner of the screen (second one from the left). Then select "Enable Camera Upload" and "Only Wi-Fi." The upload process will begin for all existing photos and videos in the Camera Roll. From now on, all future photos and videos taken by the iPad will automatically upload to the Dropbox folder.


If each student has a Dropbox account, they can "share" their photos folder with the teacher so that when the teacher logs in to his/her account he/she will see all of the students' videos and photos.


Hope this helps!

~Joe

Dec 4, 2013 3:50 PM in response to Dreyfuzz

Hi,

I use an app called WiFi Photo. This has this ability to transfer photos, imovies and the like from the iPad to a PC/Mac using a web interface. Works well. The WiFi Photo is an app that is installed on the iPad. It must be running as an active application for the transfer to be successful. It will display an IP address, which you type into the web browser address bar, and as long as both the PC/MAC and the iPad are on the same wireless network, the transfer is straight forward and easy.

Cheers

Richard.

Dec 5, 2013 8:44 AM in response to Neil Skipper

Hi Neil,


We have numerous carts of iPads in our county as well. What we found was that pushing out a cloud storage app was the best solution in saving pics and vids from our ipads.


Dropbox and Google Drive apps both work fine and both natively see pics and vids stored on the iPads to be backed up. Teachers can use their own accounts or a shared acct if they know the credentials.


Not supervising iPad's when using paid apps is a bad idea as you can't get the paid apps codes back unless the devices are supervised.

Dec 5, 2013 9:04 AM in response to jbhnrh

jbhnrh -

You can now supervise an iPad as well as connect it to other Macs in the latest Apple Configurator and iOS7. As stated, the option is "Allow devices to connect to other Macs" when supervising. However, depending on your workflow you still might want "cloud" solutions for this. Specially if users don't have computers to hook the iPads to.

Like I said this is a very old thread and connecting supervised devices to other computers is no longer an issue.

Problems Switching from Prepared to Supervised in Apple Configurator

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