Continue reading »]]> Quite a bit of the work we have undertaken recently involves the MDM Protocol used to managed iOS devices. It’s a fairly simple protocol to use, but there is not a great deal of information on the internet so we’ve put together a few hints that might help you with your MDM implementation.

This document expects you to have a copy of the ’Mobile Device Management Protocol Reference’ document from Apple (from this point, called the MDM Reference). As this document is covered by NDA, this page will not detail elements contained within the MDM document from Apple.

Description of the fields in the iPhone Config Util:

If you use the development APNS server, you will have to configure your server send the APNS push messages to the ‘sandbox’ APNS URL.

The process flow is as follows:

The user obtains the configuration profile from somewhere (website/email) and installs it, the device then talks to the server (to the check-in URL if configured) and upload XML; the ‘Authenticate’ and ‘TokenUpdate’ documents detailed in the ‘Mobile Device Management Protocol Reference’ document.

The PushMagic and UnlockToken from the TokenUpdate document should be retained and associated with the UUID for later use. The contents of PushMagic is required to send an APNS message to the device to instigate the MDM process. Once you have the PushMagic, you create a JSON string as per the MDM Reference, this should be signed as per a normal APNS request. There are a number of APNS libraries available to assist with this and the MDM Reference details the steps you will need to take to export your MDM certificate.

Once the device has received the APNS message, it will send an XML document to the URL defined in ‘Server URL’ in your configuration profile. This document is detailed on page 12 of the MDM Reference. From this point, you can send back a single MDM command if there is one for the device. If the command was correctly formatted and accepted by the device, then it will send back a command response. The response is dependent on the command and these are detailed in the MDM Reference.

If there are no more MDM commands for the device, then the server should respond with an empty response.

Some more points

You should be using a HTTPS server for your MDM communication. If you are, life will be considerably easier for you and your users if you use a signed certificate from a Verisign or other signatory. iOS requires a few more steps to use a self-signed SSL certificate or a certificate signed by a private CA.

Keep the iOS console open while you are testing your server, it will help immensely. Use the iPhone Config Util or Xcode to view the console.

MDM configuration cannot be installed within a profile that limits removal. If you have the ‘General/Security’ setting configured to anything other than ‘Always’ then iOS will reject your profile.

Now, unfortunately we cannot be more specific on the details on a blog, however our team are available for MDM consultancy where we can go into more details. Feel free to get in touch using the comments or our contact us form.

Continue reading »]]> It’s probably going to be a while off, but we are thinking of things we would like to see in iOS 6 that would be cool or make our lives a little easier as app developers.

Download Manager

We see this working as an iOS level background service. Your app gives the manager a URL, asks that it is downloaded and the manager takes care of this and sends a local notification to the app when the download is complete. The user will be able to set preferences for the download manager in ‘Settings’ to set whether they want to download via 3G (disabled by default), whether they want multiple downloads to take place at once, whether to send a notification in completion and so on.

Apple TV Apps

This would be a game changer. Being apple to run apps on the TV would make the Apple TV an absolute must-have device.

UI Themes

Having a style sheet type scenario for apps would cut down on a bunch of boilerplate code to set colours and text styles. It would also mean that white label apps would be quicker to turn around for subsequent releases.

So, just three for now but what do you think?

Continue reading »]]> Do you need to deploy apps to your users without having to tether every device to iTunes or put your app out there in the App Store for general availability? If so, then the Abstractec Enterprise App Store is for you! We offer a secure solution that allows you to administer your corporate devices from one, central location.

From here you can lock or wipe the device as well as erasing the passcode

Features

• Simple management interface
• Cloud or internally hosted
• Upload and manage apps and app versions
• User and User Group management
• Device Management including
• Erase passcode
• Lock device
• Wipe device
• Partial device wipe
• Volume Purchase Management (October 2011)
• iOS 5 device management (September 2011)

‘Bring your own’ devices are supported as are corporate owned devices, allowing you to manage all possible scenarios. Devices are enrolled using a web link so this can be performed in the field rather than having to have all your devices returned to base for configuration.

The enrolment process installs a ‘WebClip’ onto the device for access to the Enterprise App Store. This means that the user does not have to install an app, but can access your corporate applications as soon as they are enrolled.

Continue reading »]]> It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally ready with the updated Abstractec site featuring a bunch of updates and also an improved backend that will, hopefully, allow us to publish updates much more frequently.

We have some really cool apps in the work currently and, along with our Enterprise App Store, we’re going to be announcing some big updates really soon.

Continue reading »]]> Coming soon for the iPhone OS 3.0 powered devices, Mapex Drum Masterclass aims to teach drum rudiments to the amateur musician. Combining smooth scrolling stave graphics, MP3 lesson examples, a choice of snare drums with tuning and damping options along with a drill mode to hone the user’s drumming skills, Mapex Drum Masterclass is the must have application for any serious drummer.