iOS Deployment Updates by Matt Wynne

With the arrival of iOS 6, several new management options have arrived to give greater granularity and control of management options within iOS.
Some of these ‘under-the-hood’ features can be enabled by the most recent updates to Mobile Device Management (MDM) software from the likes of AirWatch, MobileIron, Casper Suite and more besides. They can also be accessed by using Apple Configurator, Apple’s tool for locally preparing, supervising and assigning iOS devices.

Below is a breakdown of the new features and what they do:

- disableMailRecentsSyncing -- iOS 6 mail leverages iCloud to synchronise not only your address book, but also the email addresses you recently wrote. In iOS 6, this feature may be disabled for a particular account.

- allow DiagnosticSubmission -- When false, this prevents the device from automatically
submitting diagnostic reports to Apple. Defaults to true.

- allowPassbookWhileLocked -- If set to false, Passbook notifications will not be shown on the
lock screen. Defaults to true.

- allow SharedStream -- If set to false, Shared Photo Stream will be disabled. Defaults to true.

- allowGameCenter -- When false, Game Center is disabled and its icon is removed from the
Home screen. Defaults to true.

- allowBookstore -- If set to false, iBookstore will be disabled. This will default to true.

- allowBookstoreErotica -- If set to false, the user will not be able to download media from the
iBookstore that has been tagged as erotica. Defaults to true.

- allow UI Configuration Profile Installation -- If set to false, the user is prohibited from
installing configuration profiles and certificates interactively. Defaults to true.

- App Lock Payload -- The home button is disabled, and the device returns to the specified
application automatically upon wake or reboot. Only one app can be locked at any time. When the
payload is removed the behavior reverts to normal. It is in essence, the much requested ‘Kiosk
Mode’ that people have been asking for for a long time!

- Global HTTP Proxy -- This payload allows you to specify global HTTP proxy settings, so all HTTP
traffic passes through the proxy.

Many of these are available directly from an MDM profile (an XML file the ends
with .mobileconfig that can be used in iOS and OS X Lion/Mountain Lion) but currently you
would need to add them to the XML file yourself if you want to use Apple Configurator, as
Apple has yet to update it. Watch this space for an update soon.

/Matt Wynne,
one of the Leading Certified Apple Trainers in Europe