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MadPC

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Automate factory reset and purchased app reinstallation - iPad

We have a School who has approx 40 ipads - All are tied to the same vol licensing and apple i.d accounts.

I'm looking for a solution whereby all ipads can be automatically put through a reset procedure, perhaps once per week at a specific time, mainly to clear photos/videos (and free up space) - Maybe factory reset isn't the right way to do this but I really think there must be a way so that this can happen on a scheduled basis rather than opening up each ipad and then manually deleting images/notes/video etc.

How do shops/stores do this?  I can't imagine someone is paid to manually reset all ipads overnight to remove the previous days offensive selfies!

I've contacted apple support and they have suggested there is no way of doing it - Can anyone point me in a helpful direction?
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Brian Pringle
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This is exactly what we do.  Your only option to remotely wipe it is a full wipe, which puts it in a state to setup as a new iPad, which means that the student can then register it on his or her account.  

We have been looking for a eCafe type application that will automatically remove all user-created content, but have not found any that work yet.  

Chromebooks have this type of support built right into them, which is why they are becoming more popular with schools.
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MadPC

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it's a bit frustrating isn't it!

We would never need the students to register the device on their own account, the curriculum apps we have purchased are really only for school use and obviously they wouldn't be available to the student if they used their own apple-id to sign in (hence why all ipads are registered to the same account).

I guess there is a market for that eCafe app - Any takers?

iCloud reset is ok, but then would will still need to manually intervene to enter apple i.d and then download all apps and enter a wifi password, all highly time consuming when there are 40 iPads to apply this to.
The problem with this is that any app that will do what we want it to do would need root access, which is not allowed without jailbreaking the iPad.  They are not designed for this.  

The closest thing is MDM:
https://www.manageengine.com/mobile-device-management/apple-ios-management.html

This is why our school is moving from iPads to Chromebooks.  Also, Google is introducing the same type of management from the Chromebooks in the next version of Android.  If they truly do that, then we can go to Android tablets for significantly cheaper AND have control of the users and settings.
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Have you tried just using the free Apple Configurator 2 from a Mac OS X system to manage and erase all of them to your default settings?  You should be able to preload exactly what you want and completely wipe all the ipads with your presets.

You'll probably want them all connected to a multi-port USB hub to charge and be recognized my Apple Configurator.

Apple Configurator: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-configurator-2/id1037126344?mt=12

Multiport Hub:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Aluminum-13-Port-Charging-VL812-B2/dp/B00GSLMTQ8/ref=pd_sim_147_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41TMRFaBZuL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=B1GNF8K4QC0SGJ283QNJ
https://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Port-USB-Hub-161718/dp/B0074024XU
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Jackie Man
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Cisco Meraki is exactly what I need, it's cloud based and also free up to 100 iPads, trialing now and all seems good so far, thank you!