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Remote Management of an iPad?
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Brave Ulysses
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I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2020-05-06, 11:30

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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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-05-06, 11:51

Indeed, that's a great price. I need to pass that on to 2-3 folks I know.

Yeah, you'd think there would be an easy-to-administer function like this, out of the gate. iPads are great "grandparent" devices for the very thing you mention (FaceTime video, photo album, etc.), but it's nice to be able to keep them updated and running smooth from your end. I, naively, assumed something like this was already embedded in the Settings. Sure seems like there would be (or at least an app one can download to get it set up/going).

Years ago, on my Mac, I could help/troubleshoot my Mom's friend in Port Angeles, Washington (and relatives around the Southeast, 30+ minutes from where I live) this way (via iChat?). Somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost that feature/ability.

Apple should have some sort of app/feature like this built into every Mac and iOS device. No better source of help/answers than experienced relatives or friends you already know. Being able to see/take over someone's screen makes troubleshooting/support 20x easier. I've spent 15-20 minutes trying to talk someone through navigating to a certain place, clicking a certain tab, etc. If I could just do it myself, these "help" sessions would be about two minutes long.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2020-05-06 at 12:03.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-05-06, 12:36

Yeah, the RDM solution is quite difficult and requires expensive 3rd party software to administer. No need for that to admin one iPad.

Do the grandparents have a Mac or PC? If they do, you could shovel TeamViewer onto their computer and admin the iPad through iTunes (it would need to be plugged into the computer). I'm not sure of another option.

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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: near Bremen, Germany
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2020-05-06, 13:07

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses View Post
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... $249 for the current iPad Wi-Fi 32GB at Best Buy is a steal.
So, there's two things you can do (or a combination of them):
  • in iOS 11-ish and beyond, they can share their screen. If both they and you have TeamViewer, for example, you can see it live. However, I believe this is view-only; you can't actually control the screen that way. Still, that should help with support!
  • you can install an MDM. This plays into your stuff like remotely managing software and apps. My understanding is Jamf Now is free for the first three devices, so that should be good for your needs. Otherwise, MDMs are typically something like ~2-3$ 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.
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: near Bremen, Germany
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2020-05-06, 13:12

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Apple should have some sort of app/feature like this built into every Mac and iOS device.
Yup. They already took weirdly long to do their screen recording stuff (that only happened in… iOS 11? 12?). And that doesn't even seem to be interactive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
Yeah, the RDM solution is quite difficult and requires expensive 3rd party software to administer. No need for that to admin one iPad.
It does require software (not necessarily 3rd-party), but I don't know about difficult, really.
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