Open App

Deploy with Mosyle Manager

Install the iPad app on supervised school iPads and lock a device into it.

Written by Jim Tyler, MS Co-Founder

Before you start

Before you start, get free licenses in Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager. It takes two minutes and is the same for every MDM: see Get free licenses.

  • iPads enrolled in Mosyle Manager, running iPadOS 17.0 or later. Supervision is needed only for locking a device into the app.
  • Apps and Books connected to Mosyle. If you have ever pushed an App Store app from Mosyle, it already is.

Good to know: Menu names below follow the vendor's documentation as of September 2026. Consoles are redesigned often, so a label may differ slightly in yours. The order of the steps does not change.

Install the app

  1. In Mosyle Manager, click Management in the bottom bar.
  2. In the left sidebar, under the iOS profiles, click Install App.
  3. Open the profile that already targets these iPads, or click Add new profile and name it, for example AAC: Model Communicator.
  4. Click Add Application, choose Apps and Books as the source and select Model Communicator. If it is not listed, the licenses have not synced yet. You can also search the store from this screen and claim licenses without leaving Mosyle.
  5. Choose automatic installation. Self-Service is there if you would rather let staff install it on demand.
  6. Under the profile's assignment, pick the devices, device groups, classes or users who need the app.
  7. Click Save. The app installs the next time each iPad checks in, with no prompt and no Apple Account.

Tip: Assign by device or device group for a student's dedicated communication iPad. The app then follows the iPad, whoever is signed in.

Put it where the student can find it

If you manage the Home Screen, add Model Communicator to the Dock in your Home Screen Layout profile. For a student who uses the iPad to talk, it should be reachable from every Home Screen page.

Keep it updated

Turn on automatic app updates for the app in the same Install App profile. New vocabulary and fixes ship through App Store updates. Devices in Single App Mode do not update until you lift the lock.

Lock an iPad into the app

An AAC device should stay in the AAC app. On a supervised iPad, Single App Mode does that from the MDM, with nothing for staff to remember. The alternatives are compared in the overview. In Mosyle Manager:

  1. Under Management, open Single App Mode and add a profile.
  2. Choose Model Communicator as the app.
  3. Assign the profile to the dedicated device only, and save. Removing the assignment releases the iPad.

Heads up: Test the lock on one iPad first, and make sure someone on site knows how to reach you. A student should never be stuck without a way to talk because a profile misfired.

Check that it worked

  • The app shows as installed on the device's record in Mosyle.
  • On the iPad, open the app. The board appears straight away, with no sign-in and no download.
  • With Single App Mode assigned, the Home gesture stops working and the iPad returns to the app after a restart.