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Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses
I'm getting an iPad for the great grandparents primarily to video chat.
Does anyone know the best way to remotely manage an iPad? Ideally I would be able to remotely update the software and add/remove apps. Screen sharing would be extremely helpful but I am guessing not easily possible. Anyone have any tips? I'm kind of surprised at the lack of a built-in tool. I've done some research into Apple's deployment tools but it's confusing and seems limited to K-12 and Business accounts.
Also... $249 for the current iPad Wi-Fi 32GB at Best Buy is a steal.
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So, there's two things you can do (or a combination of them):
- in iOS 11-ish and beyond, they can share their screen. If both they and you have TeamViewer, for example, you can see it live. However, I believe this is view-only; you can't actually control the screen that way. Still, that should help with support!
- you can install an MDM. This plays into your stuff like remotely managing software and apps. My understanding is Jamf Now is free for the first three devices, so that should be good for your needs. Otherwise, MDMs are typically something like ~2-3$ per month per device. Another non-subscription option is to install macOS Server; that's $20 up front. However, that requires you to run a server (e.g. to do port forwarding in your home, or something like that), so maybe a cloud/subscription thing is more practical. An MDM will then let you do things like install stuff, restrict stuff, enforce some rules (like, say, minimum password security), etc.
I recommend you get the iPad for yourself for a few days and try both of those things out — TeamViewer or some other remote monitor tool (Zoom, Skype and a few others work, too; try long-pressing on the screen recording button in Control Center to see which apps you already have support it), as well as trying an MDM or two.