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How to distribute custom apps developed for businesses privately via VPP?

Custom apps are tailor-made apps explicitly designed to meet the business functionalities with at most security to protect the business data. The admin can privately distribute custom apps developed for iOS, macOS or tvOS devices through the Apple Business Manager portal.

To publish an app privately in your Apple Business Manager console, you must first upload the app in Apple Store Connect. Once the app gets approved, it will be available for distribution in your organization’s ABM or ASM console.

Follow the steps below to distribute the custom-developed apps for businesses privately:

Publish a custom-made app in Apple Store Connect with set pricing and availability.
Avail the apps from the ABM console.
Deploy the VPP apps via Hexnode.

Note:

This feature is offered on all pricing plans except Express plan.

Publish an app in Apple Store Connect with set pricing and availability

Create a new app record and configure its build on Apple Store Connect to publish an app. To make the app available for the specified organizations,

Go to the Apple Store Connect homepage.
Click on My Apps and select your app from the list.
Under Pricing and Availability, go to App Distribution Methods section.
Select Private.
Choose Organization ID or Apple ID as the Type and enter the required information.

To find your Organization ID:

Sign in to Apple Business Manager/Apple School Manager.
Click on the account name at the bottom of the left side panel and navigate to Preferences > Enrolment Information. The Organization ID will be displayed under Organization Info.

On the other hand, if you still use the legacy Volume Purchase Program, you can assign the app to your volume purchasing Apple ID.

Click Save.

Note:

If you have already submitted a custom app for review but haven’t got it approved yet, you can follow the same procedure to make it private. However, this option will no longer be available once the app gets approved by Apple.

After setting the pricing and availability, submit the app for review. Once the app gets approved, it will be available for distribution in your ABM console.