Apple recently implemented a change in the way that apps are purchased for download onto multiple devices. Unfortunately, there is one significant problem that many school boards, including our own, have brought to Apple's attention. Let me explain first the change that has been made.
Until a short time ago there was no way in Canada to pay for multiple copies of an app, book, song, etc. if they were going to be loaded onto multiple devices sharing the same iTunes account/Apple ID. We have several sets of iPods and iPads that were purchased for classroom use and set up on the same iTunes account, using an Apple ID created in the name of the school. If someone purchased an app, that app could then be downloaded onto every device registered with the school account. If someone tried to download it a second time with the same account, a message would pop up saying that the app had already been purchased and would the user like to download it again anyway. This meant that we were downloading multiple copies of an app, but only paying for it once, perhaps for as little as $0.99, which is not fair, of course, to the person who developed the app.
The only way to do this in compliance with the iTunes user agreement would have been to set up each device with its own Apple ID, which would have meant creating a distinct email address as well for each device. This was too cumbersome (even Apple acknowledged this) and so most school districts did not do so, with the understanding, however, that we were not in full compliance with the user agreement.
Many IT administrators, myself included, lobbied Apple to provide us with a volume purchase agreement so that we could legally buy multiple copies of apps without having a distinct Apple ID associated with each device.
This fall Apple has provided Canadian customers with a volume purchase program. We can now order multiple copies of an app from the iTunes Store and we will be sent a download code for each device on which we want to install the app, book, song, etc. As an added incentive, most apps drop in price by 50% if more than 20 copies are purchased.
It sounds like a great solution and I hope that shortly it will be. The problem right now is that the only way to make volume purchases of apps is with a credit card, not with an iTunes Card or a purchase order. This presents a huge problem for most school boards: for good reason we don't want to use credit cards for regular purchasing, something our auditors would really frown on.
Many school boards have lobbied Apple to make other purchasing arrangements possible and I expect that this will happen soon, but we are not there yet. So in the meantime, we may have to stick with the thousands of free apps that we are permitted to download onto as many devices as we want.
I will let schools know as soon as this process changes. With any luck, it will be fairly soon.