Jamf makes sharing Apple devices easier

Jamf has introduced a feature that prepares a shared iPad or iPhone for the next person after an employee signs off.

The Apple-focused endpoint management company announced this week Single Login. It lets employees sign onto an Apple device using their Microsoft Azure Active Directory credentials. As a result, employees won't have to sign in to every app on the device. Also, Jamf software will wipe the hardware when a person signs off to prepare it for the next user.

Single Login will make it easier for healthcare providers, flight attendants, sales teams and other workers to share hardware across multiple shifts, Jamf said.

For now, Microsoft is the only identity provider that supports Single Login. According to Jamf, other providers will join it, but the company did not identify them. Oracle and IBM compete with Microsoft in this space, as do pure-play vendors like Okta.

Single Login builds on Jamf Setup and Reset apps, which the company offers through its Pro license. Setup lets employees configure their devices without the help of IT. Reset allows employees to wipe their devices. 

Jamf has bolstered security as the use of Apple devices grows worldwide. According to IDC, Apple accounted for 32% of the tablet market in the first quarter of 2021, a 64% increase year over year. As of the last quarter of 2020, Apple had 23% of the smartphone market, a 22% increase year over year.

Last month, Jamf announced the $400 million acquisition of cloud-based zero-trust security provider Wandera. Jamf expects to close the deal by the end of the year.

Maxim Tamarov is a news writer covering mobile and end-user computing. He previously wrote for The Daily News in Jacksonville, N.C., and the Sun Transcript in Winthrop, Mass. He graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in journalism. He can be found on Twitter at @MaximTamarov.