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User profile for user: Wenderoo
Wenderoo Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Configurator or not configurator?

I have been using configuratior to manage our 20 school iPads for the last year, but with this latest update crashing every time I open it I again question our need for configurator. The iPads are used mostly by our teachers to document (photo and video) their students. Of course, getting the photo and video off the iPads is a nightmare, so I am now quesitoning whether Configurator is even the best way to go. Yes, I know i need it for VPP purchases, but at this point, we don't have any. For paid apps at this point I have created a unique apple ID for each of the 10 teacher iPads (the other 10 are student iPads) and purchased through iTunes (I bought Pages for the teacher iPads). I realize this is cumbersome, but with only 20 iPads it may be worth it to be able to unsupervise the iPads and use iPhoto to get the photo and video off the pads. Has anyone gone this route?

iPad 2, iOS 6.1.4, Supervised

Posted on Aug 1, 2013 6:14 AM

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User profile for user: nsdjoey
nsdjoey
User level: Level 3
961 points

Posted on Aug 1, 2013 7:45 AM

Hi Wenderoo,


The crashes with v1.3 has affected many people. Have you tried v1.3.1 which was just released earlier this week? It is a bit more stable than v1.3, and may help you.


Another option (if you want to stear away from Apple Configurator) would be to go with an MDM solution like Meraki Systems Manager http://meraki.cisco.com/products/systems-manager . You can distribute VPP codes and install configuration profiles with Meraki... and its all done wirelessly OTA! What's better than that? Meraki Systems Manager is free! 🙂 From your description I think Meraki would be a good option.


Regarding getting photos off iPads... If you're not using Photo Stream, I recommend using the automated Dropbox photo feature rather that plugging in and having iPhoto do the work.


The Dropbox app has a very cool auto-upload process that will automatically upload photos from the iPad Camera Roll to Dropbox.


  1. First sign up for a free Dropbox account from your computer.
  2. Then, download the free Dropbox app on your iPad.
  3. Log in to the Dropbox app on the iPad with your new account and click on the Photos icon in the lower left corner of the screen (second one from the left).
  4. Select "Enable Camera Upload" and "Only Wi-Fi." The upload process will begin for all existing photos in the Camera Roll.


From now on, all future photos taken by the iPad will automatically upload to the Dropbox folder. You can then download your photos from Dropbox to your computer by going tohttp://www.dropbox.com, logging in to your account, and downloading the photos.


If you use Meraki and Dropbox, I think you'll be able to accomplish what you would be doing with Apple Configurator. And best of all its all done wirelessly.


I hope this answers your question, and helps you with your iPad deployment!

~Joe

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User profile for user: nsdjoey
nsdjoey
User level: Level 3
961 points

Aug 1, 2013 7:45 AM in response to Wenderoo

Hi Wenderoo,


The crashes with v1.3 has affected many people. Have you tried v1.3.1 which was just released earlier this week? It is a bit more stable than v1.3, and may help you.


Another option (if you want to stear away from Apple Configurator) would be to go with an MDM solution like Meraki Systems Manager http://meraki.cisco.com/products/systems-manager . You can distribute VPP codes and install configuration profiles with Meraki... and its all done wirelessly OTA! What's better than that? Meraki Systems Manager is free! 🙂 From your description I think Meraki would be a good option.


Regarding getting photos off iPads... If you're not using Photo Stream, I recommend using the automated Dropbox photo feature rather that plugging in and having iPhoto do the work.


The Dropbox app has a very cool auto-upload process that will automatically upload photos from the iPad Camera Roll to Dropbox.


  1. First sign up for a free Dropbox account from your computer.
  2. Then, download the free Dropbox app on your iPad.
  3. Log in to the Dropbox app on the iPad with your new account and click on the Photos icon in the lower left corner of the screen (second one from the left).
  4. Select "Enable Camera Upload" and "Only Wi-Fi." The upload process will begin for all existing photos in the Camera Roll.


From now on, all future photos taken by the iPad will automatically upload to the Dropbox folder. You can then download your photos from Dropbox to your computer by going tohttp://www.dropbox.com, logging in to your account, and downloading the photos.


If you use Meraki and Dropbox, I think you'll be able to accomplish what you would be doing with Apple Configurator. And best of all its all done wirelessly.


I hope this answers your question, and helps you with your iPad deployment!

~Joe

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User profile for user: Wenderoo
Wenderoo Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Aug 1, 2013 8:06 AM in response to nsdjoey

I'll check out the Meraki suggestion, it sounds promising. I don't know which version of Configurator I just downloaded, but I just did it yesterday so I imagine it is the newest one. I'll check tomorrow.


As for drop box...the problem is the video (same as Photostream). Any video over a few seconds is too long to upload. I did find a nice program called Photo Transfer App which I use for my supervised iPad, that works fairly well, but it does add one more step (and isn't free). It'd be nice to just be able to plug the ipad into the computer and pull the pictures and video off. Photostream will hold 1000 pictures, but unless there is a computer to save them to (few staff have Mac's) I don't know what happens after the 1000. I don't know the limit of Dropbox.

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User profile for user: nsdjoey
nsdjoey
User level: Level 3
961 points

Aug 1, 2013 8:18 AM in response to Wenderoo

Regarding Dropbox limits… It isn't based on number of photos. Its based on data size. When you sign up, you get 2GB for free. If you refer another person, you BOTH get an extra 500MB of space (up to 16 GB).


So if you use your Dropbox account and send referral link to all 20 of your users, each of your users will get 2.5GB of space on Dropbox when they sign up, and you will have a total of 12GB. And like Meraki, its all free 🙂 !

https://www.dropbox.com/help/category/Referrals


Yes, the videos do take longer to upload. But I like that its done automatically.


Hope this helps!

~Joe

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