With Apple Business Manager (ABM), you get apps in bulk, free or paid, through Apple's Volume Purchase Program (VPP), now called Apps and Books. Swif syncs those app licenses, and installs the apps on your Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

No Apple ID is needed on devices. When you install a VPP app to a device group, Swif licenses it to each device's serial number. Devices don't need a Managed Apple ID, and supervised iPhones and iPads install the app silently. This suits shared devices, such as site iPads, kiosks, and classroom devices.

To install on a single device without a Managed Apple ID, add it to a device group, for example a group with just that device, and install to the group. Selected devices lists only devices whose owner has a Managed Apple ID.

Swif imports the apps you've acquired in Apple Business Manager. They appear on the VPP Applications tab.

In Apple Business Manager, get enough licenses for every device or user that needs the app. Free apps need licenses too. Each device or user uses one.

Content tokens expire after one year. Download a new one from Apple Business Manager, and upload it in Swif, to keep installing and updating apps.

Shared devices, such as site iPads, kiosks, or classroom iPads, often can't have Apple IDs. Install to a device group, so each iPad gets a device-based license, licensed to its serial number.

For example, to install Tailscale on site iPads:

On supervised iPads, Tailscale installs silently, with no Apple ID and no prompt.

Check before you start

If Swif asked for an Apple ID, the app was installed with Install > Selected devices, which licenses it to the device owner. Install it again to a device group instead.

Managed app configuration sends settings to a VPP app when Swif installs it, so users don't have to set it up. For example, you can send Tailscale an auth key, so it signs in by itself, and name each device after its serial number.

Use the type the app expects. For example, 443 as an Integer isn't the same as "443" as a String.

Add a placeholder to a text value, and Swif replaces it on each device:

Placeholders work in values only, not in setting names.

Each iPad signs in to Tailscale, appears as acme- followed by its serial number, and shows that it's managed by Acme Corp. See Tailscale's MDM keys for every setting it accepts.

Keep auth keys secret. Anyone who can see the app's configuration in Swif can see its values. Use a Tailscale key that's limited to what the devices need.

Right after an install, a change may not reach a device until Swif sees the app in the device's app list, which it reads about every 8 hours. Later changes are sent right away.

Swif can't take over VPP apps another MDM installed. They keep working on the device, but Swif doesn't manage or update them. To manage an app with Swif, install it from Swif.

iPads moved to Swif with Apple's in-place migration, on iPadOS 26 or later, lose the apps the previous MDM installed. Swif finishes setting up the iPad right away, and apps come back only as Swif installs them. Before the migration deadline, assign the apps the iPads need to their device groups in Swif. See Migrate Apple Devices to Swif Without Erasing Them.

Only needed if you install to Selected devices. Add each device owner's Managed Apple ID to their employee record in Swif:

If an owner has no Managed Apple ID, Swif asks for it when you install.

Swif syncs with Apple Business Manager regularly, to get each app's latest version. When a new version is available, Swif updates the app on the devices it's installed on, following the same rules as installing.

To sync right away, use Sync or Force sync on your VPP token in Swif.

To offer an app, without installing it for everyone, assign it to users' Managed Apple IDs in Apple Business Manager. They find it in the App Store, under Purchased, and install it when they want. Only users who install it use a license.

Apple Business Essentials works similarly: users signed in with a Managed Apple ID see your VPP apps in the App Store, even on devices Swif doesn't manage. Swif can't install or remove apps on devices it doesn't manage.

Swif can't take over VPP apps another MDM installed. Install the app from Swif to manage it. See Moving from Jamf or another MDM.

When a device's app list in Swif changes, Swif releases its licenses for every other app in the same Apple Business Manager location. Assign every app the device needs in Swif, then sync your VPP token.

If it still asks, contact Swif support, and we'll check your setup.

You chose Selected devices, which uses user-based licenses. To install without a Managed Apple ID, install to a device group instead.

Check the app's documentation for the right setting names, and that the key or token you sent is valid. For Tailscale, see Tailscale's MDM keys.

Selected devices lists only devices whose owner has a Managed Apple ID. Add one to the owner's employee record, or install to a device group.

Swif reads an iPad's app list about every 8 hours. If the app was installed recently, or by hand, the status updates at the next check.

The Mac is probably personal. Apple doesn't allow managed VPP apps on personal Macs. Check the Mac's enrollment type in Swif.

You may be out of licenses. Get more in Apple Business Manager, then sync your VPP token in Swif.

Your content token has expired. Download a new one from Apple Business Manager, and upload it in Swif.