Sharing iPads Across Your Team with Apple's Shared iPad Feature

How Shared iPad works

Shared iPad gives each user their own partition on the device. A worker signs in with their work credentials and the iPad becomes theirs — their apps' data, preferences, sign-ins, and files live in their own space. When they sign out, the next person signs in to an environment that's entirely their own.

Because this happens at the operating-system level, it applies to every app on the device at once, with no per-app configuration. Each person's identity flows through to everything they use — including Knowby, where instructions viewed, forms submitted, and sign-offs completed are all attributed to the right individual automatically.

This is why device-level sharing is the recognised best practice for multi-user deployments: one sign-in, every app personalised, full individual accountability, managed centrally through the same tools you already use to manage the fleet.

How Knowby behaves on a Shared iPad

Knowby works on Shared iPad with no special configuration:

Every user gets their own independent profile, they sign in to Knowby with their own account, and their session persists in their partition between shifts. Instruction history, form submissions, and sign-offs are attributed to the correct individual.
App state is preserved between users. When a worker signs back in, their partition is exactly as they left it — they're still logged in to Knowby and can pick up a knowby they'd started mid-shift, without signing in again.
One email login, then just a PIN. A worker signs in with their work email the first time. After that, their account is cached on the device and they unlock with a PIN they set themselves.
Recent users appear on the start screen. The sign-in screen shows the cached users for that device, so a returning worker taps their name, enters their PIN, and is working in seconds.
Admins control the session rules. Auto sign-out timers, partition counts, and passcode requirements are all set centrally in your MDM — no per-device fiddling.

What you need

Shared iPad is a feature of supervised, organisation-owned iPads. The requirements:

Apple Business Manager (ABM) — your organisation's portal at business.apple.com. Your iPads must be purchased through (or added to) ABM so they can be enrolled automatically.
A Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that supports Shared iPad — for example Mosyle, Kandji, Jamf Pro, or Microsoft Intune. The MDM is what enables Shared iPad during enrolment.
Managed Apple Accounts for your users. These are work Apple Accounts created in ABM. The easiest way to provision them at scale is to federate ABM with your identity provider — Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra ID — so workers sign in to the iPad with the same credentials they already use for email.
Suitable hardware. Shared iPad requires an iPad with at least 32 GB of storage (64 GB or more is recommended — see sizing below) enrolled via Automated Device Enrollment.

Setting it up

The exact steps vary by MDM, but the shape is the same everywhere:

Federate ABM with your identity provider. In ABM, connect Google Workspace or Microsoft Entra ID under Settings → User Sync / Federation. Verify your domain. Your users' work accounts become Managed Apple Accounts automatically.
Create an Automated Device Enrollment profile in your MDM with these settings:

User affinity: none (no assigned user)
Supervision: enabled
Shared iPad: enabled

Set the user partition size or maximum number of users. Most MDMs let you choose how many users can be cached on the device, or how much storage each partition gets. Cached users sign in instantly; new users wait briefly while their partition is created.
Assign your apps — including Knowby — to the device, as required apps. On Shared iPad, apps are installed per device, not per user, so assign them to device groups in your MDM. Every user who signs in will have Knowby ready to go.
Enrol the iPads fresh. Shared iPad is enabled during enrolment, so devices already in use should be reset and allowed to enrol automatically through ABM.

When a worker picks up the iPad, they see a sign-in screen, enter their work email and PIN once, and each subsequent time they login, they simply click on their avatar from a list of recent users and enter their PIN.

Best practices from the field

Size your partitions for your shift pattern, not your headcount. An iPad shared by a pool of 40 workers doesn't need 40 partitions — it needs enough for the people who use that device regularly. A common starting point is 8–12 cached users on a 64 GB iPad. Returning users in the cache sign in within seconds.

Use temporary (guest) sessions for visitors and contractors. Shared iPad supports a guest session that requires no account and clears itself at sign-out. It's ideal for auditors, trainers, or short-term contractors who need to view a Knowby instruction once. Guest sessions are anonymous, so where attribution matters — sign-offs, form submissions — give the person a real account.

Make sure your Wi-Fi reaches the sign-in screen. First-time sign-in requires a network connection to verify the Managed Apple Account. If iPads roam into low-coverage areas (cold stores, plant rooms), have workers sign in at a docking point first.

Enforce sign-out with policy, not memory. Your MDM can sign users out automatically after a period of inactivity or when the iPad is returned to a charging cart. This keeps partitions available and devices ready for the next person.

One identity per person. Individual accounts — rather than shared role accounts like "Line 2 Operator" — are what make per-user personalisation and accountability work, in Knowby and every other app on the device.

Summary

Shared iPad is Apple's purpose-built answer to multi-user devices, and it's the approach we recommend — and use ourselves. Every worker gets a personal environment on a common device, their identity flows through to Knowby and every other app automatically, and the whole fleet is managed centrally through Apple Business Manager and your MDM. Set it up once and shared iPads become the most cost-effective way to put Knowby in everyone's hands.