Apple @ Work: Should businesses adopt third-party iOS app stores when they are available?

Apple@Work is brought to you exclusively by Mosyleis the only Apple integrated platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates everything you need to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage and secure Apple devices in the workplace into a single, professional-grade platform. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to enable millions of Apple devices for work hassle-free and affordable.Request an extended trialFind out why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple today.

One of the stories dominating the 2024 news cycle has been about Apple, the EU, and third-party app stores. Setapp Mobile in actionand I see this trend spreading across the globe over the next few years. How will companies respond?

About Apple @ Work:Bradley Chambers managed corporate IT networks from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, mobile device management systems, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, thousands of Macs, and thousands of iPads, Bradley will cover how Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build the networks that support them, train users, stories from the field of IT management, and ways Apple can improve its products for IT departments.

Why the App Store Model Makes Sense for Business Customers

The App Store is great for businesses using iPhones and iPads. Many app developers complain that the in-app purchase and update model is not applicable to the enterprise. Most businesses purchase app licenses as a SaaS model. The Volume Purchase Program does not support in-app purchases, so it does not take this into account either. When a business wants to purchase app licenses, they contact the developer directly, pay them directly, and associate them with an identity provider or create login information manually.

Even if in-app purchasing were introduced into a volume purchasing program, it would be a nightmare to deploy and manage, it doesn’t scale for enterprise deployments, and it’s not the way businesses should purchase software.

From a security perspective, this is another layer of security for organizations deploying apps. It allows for self-service loading of iOS apps that your organization has vetted, but other than that, the App Store is a trusted experience for the enterprise. Yes, bad apps do get through App Review, but for the most part, I trust the App Store as the place to find apps.

It also provides a seamless deployment experience, with volume licensing and assignment of apps to devices all tied into your device management vendor and Apple Business Manager.

Security Concerns About Third-Party App Stores

My biggest concern about third-party app stores is that companies will have another attack vector for malicious apps on devices. App Review isn’t perfect, but I know Apple is focused on making the App Store the safest place to get apps because it helps sell devices.

If I were an IT manager at Apple, I would look at a third-party app store and see high risk and low return on investment. Will app updates be faster? Possibly, but at what risk? Who reviewed the code? Will a bad update crash the device? Why do we need a third-party app store? How do we deploy it to all our devices? These are just some of the questions I’ve encountered so far. Apple hasn’t detailed how enterprises will interact with third-party app stores on managed iPads and iPhones, but I suspect they’ll eventually provide a path for deployment. I also suspect they’ll have policy options to disable them so employees can’t sideload their own apps.

summary

To sum up my thoughts, third-party app stores are an interesting model for consumers, who don’t have the option to choose how they pay for apps, but for business customers, until something changes, Apple’s App Store is the safest way to deploy apps to iPhones and iPads. Even if Apple built a mechanism for managed/supervised devices to use third-party app stores, I see little reason for enterprises to consider it.

Apple@Work is brought to you exclusively by Mosyleis the only Apple integrated platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates everything you need to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage and secure Apple devices in the workplace into a single, professional-grade platform. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to enable millions of Apple devices for work hassle-free and affordable.Request an extended trialFind out why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple today.

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