Configure applications with Microsoft Intune

With Intune, school IT administrators have access to diverse applications to help students unlock their learning potential. This section discusses tools and resources for adding apps to Intune.

Applications can be assigned to groups:

  • If you target apps to a group of users, the apps will be installed on any managed devices that the users sign into.
  • If you target apps to a group of devices, the apps will be installed on those devices and available to any user who signs in.

Add apps

✅ Add applications to your inventory

Intune supports the deployment several application types including desktop apps (msi, exe), Microsoft Store apps, web apps, appxbundle and MSIX.

Enterprise Application Management

Enterprise App Management enables you to easily discover and deploy applications and keep them up to date from the Enterprise App Catalog. The Enterprise App Catalog is a collection of prepared Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications. These apps are Win32 apps that are prepared as Win32 apps and hosted by Microsoft.

Important

Enterprise App Management is an Intune add-on as part of the Intune suite that is available for trial and purchase. For more information, see Use Intune Suite add-on capabilities.

For more information, see Enterprise Application Management.

Win32 apps (MSI, exe)

The addition of desktop applications to Intune should be carried out by repackaging the apps, and defining the commands to silently install them. The process is described in the article Add, assign, and monitor a Win32 app in Microsoft Intune.

Microsoft Store app (new)

To create Microsoft Store apps in Intune:

  1. In the Microsoft Intune admin center, select Apps > All apps > Add.
  2. In Select app type pane, select Microsoft Store app (new) under the Store app section.
  3. Choose Select at the bottom of the page to begin creating an app from the Microsoft Store. The app creation experience has three steps:
    • App information
    • Assignments
    • Review + create
  4. Select Search the Microsoft Store app to search for and select the app.
  5. Review and change settings as required.

    Note

    Most administrators choose to deploy store apps in the system context on education devices for the fastest installation to all users of a device.

  6. Select Save.

For more information, see Add Microsoft Store apps.

Web apps

To create web applications in Intune:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Apps > All apps > Add.
  3. In the Select app type pane, under the Other types, select Windows web link.
  4. Click Select. The Add app steps are displayed.
  5. Provide a URL for the web app, a name, and optionally an icon and description.
  6. Select Save

For more information, see Add web apps.

Tip

The best user experience for receiving apps on a device is for apps to be assigned using Apple School Manager and the Volume Purchase Program (VPP) with device licensing. When device-licensed VPP apps are assigned to devices or users, the app can be installed without user interaction. For iOS apps without VPP, the user is prompted to sign in to the App Store with an Apple ID.

Volume purchase program (VPP) apps

To add apps from VPP, set up a connection to Apple School Manager and add your apps in Apple School Manager.

For more information, see Configure VPP tokens.

iOS App

To add apps to iOS devices without using VPP in Intune for Education:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Apps > All apps > Add.
  3. In the Select app type pane, select iOS store app.
  4. Click Select. The Add app steps are displayed.
  5. Select Search the App Store.
  6. In the Search the App Store pane, select the App Store country/region locale.
  7. In the Search box, type the name (or part of the name) of the app. Intune searches the store and returns a list of relevant results.
  8. In the results list, select the app you want, and then select Select.
  9. Follow the steps remaining steps and select Create.

Note

Apps installed with this method will require the user of the device to sign in using an Apple ID to install the application. To avoid prompting the user for an Apple ID, use VPP apps.

Web apps

To create web applications:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Apps > All apps > Add.
  3. In the Select app type pane, under the Other types, select iOS/iPadOS web clip.
  4. Click Select. The Add app steps are displayed.
  5. Follow the steps remaining steps and select Create.

For more information, see Add web apps.

Other apps

Intune also supports deploying iOS/iPadOS LOB apps from the Intune admin center. A line-of-business (LOB) app is an app that you add to Intune from an IPA app installation file.

Assign apps

✅ Assign apps from your inventory to groups

To assign applications to a group of users or devices:

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. Select Apps > All apps.
  3. In the Apps pane, select the app you want to assign.
  4. In the Manage section of the menu, select Properties.
  5. Next to assignments, select Edit.
  6. Select one or more groups to for the app assignment and select Select.
  7. Review your selections and select Save.

To assign applications to a group of users or devices:

    1. Sign in to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  1. Select Apps > All apps.
  2. In the Apps pane, select the app you want to assign.
  3. In the Manage section of the menu, select Properties.
  4. Next to assignments, select Edit.
  5. Select one or more groups to for the app assignment and select Select.
  6. Review your selections and select Save.

Next steps

With the applications configured, you can now deploy students' and teachers' devices.