Public App and VPP App mods

[ShawnKeiser]

Hi there,

Got a question regarding Public App listing and VPP App listing.  We have some public apps that we have made available to users.  In some cases, we pushed them to devices.  Now, management wants to use VPP, so the install does not require an Apple ID.  

My question is which trumps when installing?  If both are published, will people get the VPP version or the Public App version (and be required to input their AppleID)?  Also, if I remove the version in Public App but leave the VPP app, will the app be uninstalled and then reinstalled?

Thanks,
Shawn

[antherITguy]

Very good question.  I'm wondering the same thing...

[TristanWhitehea]

We've been working through a situation that has similarities; wanting to eliminate the need for Apple IDs but having to work to migrate the Public apps to VPP. 
Through a bit of testing, we've found that:
- You can add the app via VPP
- If this app is assigned to the same devices as the public app is, you'll see it listed twice in the catalog
- It is then possible to delete (or inactivate) the public app, without impacting users who have already installed it  (this is true as long as the assignment groups match)
- New devices/users will only see the VPP version (and the same if someone deletes their public app, then goes to reinstall)

We don't have many apps that are on auto-deployment, so I'm not sure what the ramifications would be for those apps. While we're migrating, our goal is to have only one type (VPP or public) available at a time, because otherwise users get confused. 

My guess is that the AirWatch console doesn't care about the licensing (VPP or public) of already installed apps, and that is why this can work.

[CharlesEstacion]

Tristan,
Thanks for this info! I'm not able to see the 2nd behaviour that the app appears twice in the catalog.
But everything else is working as expected.

[AlthafMashood]

Try this out
https://support.workspaceone.com/solutions/SOL-19251

[chengtmskcc]

Althaf, great find.

[melaniee24]

Be warned - I did not realize that deleting the app from public would un-install on the devices. When you publish you get a nice screen that shows you added, removed, unchanged. If you delete the app from public you just get prompted to delete the app (this was an on demand public app by the way). I assumed that with the benign message asking if I wanted to delete the app that it would not delete from devices - I was wrong. This was just a step I did BEFORE adding the app via VPP. This was for an app that has much data (downloaded by users) to the devices and caused us a huge mess. Lesson learned to test EVERY single little thing before doing anything in Airwatch. I have asked that they add more information to that prompt when deleting that lets the user know the app will be uninstalled on the devices - I would have stopped and worked through the process better.

[chengtmskcc]

Sorry to hear that Melanie. I can only imagine the horror and anger over a simple mishap such as this. We once updated and activated a compliance policy not knowing it would trigger a check all over all. As a result, our Help Desk was flooded with thousands of emails within minutes. Like you said, testing means everything.