VPP POS app crashing on managed iPads after policy assignmentSolved

Participant
Discussion
3 weeks ago Jun 24, 2026

We have several identical managed iPads on iOS 26.4.2 running a POS app deployed as a VPP app. The app either crashes immediately after opening or crashes when using a customer search field.

The same app works fine on identical unmanaged iPads when installed directly from the App Store. Storage is not an issue, with around 40 GB free on the affected devices.

The odd part is that when I remove the assigned iPad policy from a test device, the app stops crashing. Reapplying the policy or using a cloned version seems to change the behavior, but I’m trying to understand what could cause this. I also noticed that an iOS update action showed as successful in Hexnode, but the iPad did not reboot or update.

Replies (2)

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Hexnode Expert
3 weeks ago Jun 24, 2026
Marked SolutionPending Review

Hi @vance_j,

For the app crash, the behavior points to the assigned policy being involved rather than the app package or iOS version alone, especially since the app works on the same iPad model outside management and stabilizes when the policy is removed.

In this case, the useful checks are:

  1. Remove the assigned iPad policy from one affected test device and confirm whether the app opens and the customer search works normally.
  2. Clone or recreate the same policy and deploy it first to a single test device instead of the full fleet.
  3. Monitor the app after redeployment before applying it broadly.

Enabling the “Send diagnostic data to Apple” restriction may be worth testing in some app crash scenarios, but if the app continues to crash after enabling it, that setting is not the cause.

For the iOS update issue, if the update command is sent as “Download and Install” but the device does not reboot or complete installation, enable the “Clear passcode to force update installation” option when depoying the OS update. This allows the device to reboot automatically and proceed with the installation without waiting for manual user intervention.

Regards,
Sienna Carter
Hexnode UEM

Marked SolutionPending Review
Participant
3 weeks ago Jun 26, 2026
Marked SolutionPending Review

After removing the policy, cloning it, and applying the cloned policy again, the POS app started behaving normally. I am still monitoring it across devices.

That explanation for the OS update matches what I saw. The update showed as successful in the action history, but the iPad stayed on the same iOS version and never restarted because I had left the force install option unchecked. I will use the force install option moving forward.

Thanks!

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