If clients do not want their Apple apps to be publicly available in the Apple App Store, they can choose to manage their apps/users via Apple Business Manager.


1) Create an Apple Developer Account and follow the steps to invite StorySlab's account as an admin.

  1. StorySlab will build and test your app in your account.


2) Create an Apple Business Manager Account.

  1. This requires using a different email as the primary Apple ID. You can't use the same one as the Account Holder for Apple Developer; in fact, the email that is used as the Apple ID for this account can never have been used as an Apple ID before.
  2. When your account is approved, provide StorySlab with the account id and account name (note - must be exactly as the account is named in Apple Business Manager - copy-and-paste recommended).


3) StorySlab will submit your app to review in your App Store Connect account, with the distribution set as private for your Apple Business Manager account only.


4) When your app is approved by Apple, prep for app distribution.

  1. Log back in to your Apple Business Manager account. 
  2. Locate your app under the "Custom Apps" area.
  3. Choose "Redemption Codes" from the License Type menu.
  4. Enter your required number of codes (the number of users you need to support for the app) in the Quantity box.
  5. Press "Get."
  6. It will take a few minutes for Apple to generate the codes. You will receive an email at the Apple Business Manager Apple ID email when they are ready.
  7. Download the spreadsheet of IDs and links.


5) Distribute the app to your users

  1. Add a column to the right of the links for "Assigned User."
  2. Enter each user's name in a separate row in that column, so that each user has an associated code and link.
  3. Copy-and-paste the code and link into an email to each user, one at a time, so that they each receive their own link, along with any additional installation instructions. 
  4. Note: you can perform the above step via the StorySlab CMS by editing each user, choosing the "Reset Password" button, and pasting their code/link at the top of the installation instructions field. Please let your StorySlab admin know if you plan to do this so the generic Apple install instructions can be entered appropriately for you.