Here’s what to expect
Today, Apple announced that iOS 12 will be generally available on Monday, September 17. That’s soon!
The current version of GroundControl works well with iOS 12, as long as you are aware of a few gotchas. We’ll release GroundControl 4.6, with full compatibility, on Thursday, September 20.
In the meantime, if you use iOS 12 with GroundControl 4.5.1, here’s what to expect:
- Apple’s new setup screens for iOS 12 will be shown during provisioning. You can avoid these if you use a Restore from Backup action.
- Apple’s new “Measure” app will appear on your devices.
- New backups made from iOS 12 devices will fail. Don’t make new backups. Use your current backups instead. Restores from current iOS 10 & 11 backups are expected to work well, even if you restore them to iOS 12 devices.
GroundControl 4.6 arrives next Thursday
Next Thursday, September 20, we will release GroundControl 4.6. Here are the highlights:
- Fully tested with iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave.
- Skip all new setup screens without a backup for non-DEP devices. (For DEP devices, this depends on your MDM’s support for iOS 12. But you can restore a backup to skip screens anyway.)
- Hide the new “Measure” app.
- Restore unencrypted backups of iOS 12 devices to other iOS 12 devices.
- No more SIM requirement!
- Customize the data displayed on the Launchpad!
- Much more!
In early October we will release a version of GroundControl that includes support for encrypted iOS 12 backups as well.
Delaying iOS 12
Over the Air: Your device can ignore iOS 12 for 90 days by installing this configuration profile. Use either GroundControl or MDM to install the profile. This technique works for devices running iOS 11.3 or later.
GroundControl: Check GroundControl’s “iOS Updates” settings. Set the iOS Update Delay to “LONG DELAY” to postpone iOS 12 updates for a week or longer (the time frame is up to Apple). Even better, remove the “Update iOS” action from your workflows if you don’t wish to update to iOS 12 yet.
Downgrading to iOS 11
For a period of time — the window is up to Apple — you may use GroundControl to downgrade devices that were updated to iOS 12.
Important! This will erase your device!
- Set GroundControl to use LONG iOS Update Delay
- Put the device into Recovery Mode
- Connect to GroundControl
So what’s new in iOS 12?
Besides the consumer features, here’s what’s new for Enterprise:
- OAuth support for Exchange
- Prevent users from changing Date & Time
- Force Bluetooth on or off via MDM
- Manage Critical Notifications and CarPlay notifications
- Block password autofill in both apps and Safari
- Force additional authentication before passwords and credit card autofill
- Prevent your device from sharing WiFi passwords (important!)
- Prevent your device from requesting WiFi passwords from nearby devices
- New controls for managed contacts
Next week we’ll publish a podcast about iOS 12 in enterprise. Stay tuned!