How to Add Company-Owned iOS Devices to Google Workspace

Quick and easy-to-follow guide for Google Workspace administrators

Requirements to add company-owned iOS devices in Google Workspace

This feature is only available if you use Google Workspace Enterprise, Education Standard or Plus, or Cloud Identity Premium.
This setup is only supported for devices with iOS 11.0 and up.
Before you proceed further, you must enable Advanced iOS Mobile Management as shown here and then set up your Apple Push Certificate as shown here.

When to add company-owned (supervised) iOS devices

You can add supervised company-owned devices to your inventory to gain greater control over them, unlocking additional settings.

Settings you can apply to company-owned iOS devices

Before adding company-owned iOS devices, you should go through the admin settings you can apply to devices and make any adjustments you see fit.

The following types of settings are only available for company-owned devices:

Device features settings;
Networks settings;
Apps and services settings;
Apple apps settings;
Authentication settings;
Connection settings;
Keyboard and dictionary settings.

Before you add company-owned (supervised) iOS devices

Before you add company-owned iOS devices, make sure to check the Device enrollment setting covered here, which determines how users set up their devices on their first sign-in. These settings apply to all users in your account.

With all the above out of the way, you’re ready to add company-owned devices.

How to add company-owned iOS devices step-by-step

Assign your devices in Apple Business Manager

Buying iOS devices through an authorized Apple retailer will make things easier for you because, in this case, your devices will be linked automatically to your Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.
After adding devices to your Mobile Device Management server in Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager, iOS devices also get added to your company-owned devices inventory in Google Workspace.

1. First, open Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager and sign in with your business Apple ID.

2. Assign the devices to the Mobile Device Management Server you connected to Google endpoint management.
The serial numbers of the devices you want to manage through Google endpoint management must already be in the system (entered by your authorized Apple retailer).

To assign all devices to the server by default, set the default assignment.
To bulk enroll devices, download a CSV file of their serial numbers, then upload the CSV file.
To assign devices individually, enter the serial number.

For details, see the Apple Device Enrollment documentation.

It can take up to 24 hours for a device to be ready to use after assigning it to the MDM server.

Distribute and set up the devices

Finally, you’re ready to distribute the company-owned devices to your users.

When users first sign in, they will go through a quick setup flow:

Turn on the device.
Follow the prompts to set your preferred language, connect to a Wi-Fi network, and create a passcode for the device.
On the Remote Management screen, tap Next.
When prompted, sign in with your Apple ID and set up Apple security settings.

Apple ID details

If you start setup and it doesn’t finish, you need to factory reset your device and then restart the setup with the new ID.
If you’re using a new Apple ID, finish setting up the new ID in the App Store. Open the App Store and install one app to make sure your ID is ready to use.
If you use an Apple ID you already used with a different mobile-management solution, the Google Device Policy app might not install. You need to use another Apple ID.
If you get an error about using your Apple ID for the first time in the App Store, review your billing address and payment method for your Apple ID. Factory reset the device and use the same Apple ID to set up the device again. The Google Device Policy app should auto-install this time.
If you try to restore from an iCloud backup during setup, you might not be able to use apps on your device. We recommend skipping the restore option. Your personal apps won’t automatically set up on your device. However, when you add the account for personal apps, your personal data will sync when the setup is complete.

Set up device policy

Wait for the Google Device Policy app to install.
Open Google Device Policy and sign in using your Google Workspace account – that’s the account that you use for work or school.
Tap Accept to agree to the Terms of Service.
Follow the prompts to finish setting up your device.