Apple Overhauling iPad for Education Program to Simplify Sharing Devices and Apps

Apple will be making significant changes to iPad deployment for education during the upcoming school year that should eliminate some of the hurdles that school districts face when adopting iPads for use in the classroom. In an email obtained by MacRumors, the company outlines plans to make app distribution easier by eliminating the need for an Apple ID to load apps, tweaking the Apple ID for Students program and unifying several deployment programs into one.

Apple plans to simplify app distribution by allowing schools to assign and distribute apps to a device without an Apple ID this fall, reducing the number of steps needed to set up an iPad. Schools will no longer be required to create generic Apple IDs solely to load content on the tablet, and teachers and administrators will have the option to block students from making personal purchases without approval.

“To simplify large deployments, including one-to-one and shared use, we want to make app distribution even easier. Today, Apple IDs are required in order to deliver apps and books to students. We are working to change this in the fall by allowing schools to assign and distribute apps to a device without an Apple ID. As currently planned, this will greatly reduce the number of steps needed to setup a device. This change should eliminate the need to create generic Apple IDs solely for the purposes of getting content onto iPad. Schools will also have the option to prevent students from making personal purchases without approval.”

The email also outlines changes to the Apple ID for Students program to roll out during 2016, including schools gaining the ability to create and manage Apple IDs for students that can be used to access iCloud. System administrators will also be able to reset student passwords. The new approach will continue to meet COPPA requirements for children’s online privacy in the United States.

Apple will also be improving its Apple Deployment Programs by unifying several programs into one for a simplified administrative experience, making it easier for school districts to enroll, manage, and support large iPad deployments. Apple hopes the changes will continue to result in increased student engagement, better attendance and higher test results at all grades and levels of education.

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Pad & Quill Messenger Bag [Mac Blog]

For our second giveaway here at MacRumors, we’ve partnered with Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases along with other accessories. Pad & Quill is graciously offering The Messenger Bag as our prize for this giveaway.

The Messenger Bag is made of leather and waxed canvas and features a padded laptop pocket that will fit a 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina and a 25-year leather warranty. The Messenger Bag retails for $369.

To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You can also earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, following MacRumors on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. You must be age 18 or older and located in the United States to enter.

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This contest will run from today (March 6) at 12:00 pm Pacific time through 12:00 pm Pacific time on March 13. The winner will be chosen randomly on March 13 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address. The Messenger Bag will be shipped to the winner for free.

Pad & Quill is also offering a coupon code to MacRumors readers that will take 10% off all orders through Pad & Quill’s site for a limited time. MacRumors readers should enter coupon code MRM15 at checkout to get the discount.

Upcoming Revamped Apple Music Streaming Service Won’t Offer Free Ad-Supported Tier [iOS Blog]

As rumors gear up surrounding the revamped Apple iTunes/Beats music service, a new report claims that the company will opt out of offering a free advertising-supported base tier for its upcoming streaming service (via Re/code).

The company will allow customers an initial trial period of some kind, but following that users will have to pay to continue listening to music, the cost of which most recent rumors agree will be around $7.99.

With the slow decline of digital downloads and the steady rise of streaming services, sources close to Apple media head Eddy Cue and Beats Music founder Jimmy Iovine state that the two agree the music industry, and streaming specifically, “needs to get behind a paywall.”

Apple executives have been telling the music industry it can help them roll back the tide of free digital music by relaunching its own subscription streaming service this year. Unlike Spotify and YouTube, Apple’s service won’t offer a free “tier” of music interspersed with ads — after an initial trial period, you’ll need to pay to play.

Now Apple is negotiating with the music labels for licenses for a revamped version of Beats. Sources say Apple would like to make a splash by getting high-profile artists to distribute their music with Apple before it makes its way to other services.

If made official by Apple, the move would be a direct contrast to a service like Spotify, which allows its 60 million worldwide users (15 million of which are paid subscribers) to listen to anything they want for free, with ads interspersed within the music.

Jonathan Prince, head of communications and public policy for Spotify, said that the company’s research found that 12 percent of iTunes users have migrated to Spotify, with 40 percent of that group paying for the premium Spotify service. Prince uses this statistic to claim that, despite the service’s immense popularity, they aren’t single-highhandedly the culprit behind the declining digital download sales of recent years.

Despite these new reports, similar sources say that the company plans to keep the iTunes Radio service intact, claiming web-based radio won’t directly impede music sales. The most recent news regarding the long-rumored Apple music service suggests an official unveiling by the company at WWDC this year, with Apple tweaking aspects of the current state of iTunes all the way up to the launch of the revamped service.