Supervise and provision an iPhone
Use Titan's guided setup when a workflow requires a supervised phone.
Supervision prepares an iPhone for managed device workflows. Use the wizard only on a phone you are authorized to manage and when your workflow requires this setup.
Initial supervision can erase the phone. Back up anything you need before continuing. The wizard's erase confirmation is a real device action.
Before opening the wizard
- Ensure the PC Agent is connected and the phone is attached by USB.
- Keep the phone where you can respond to its setup screens.
- Save any needed data.
- Follow the wizard's preparation steps to sign out of the Apple Account/iCloud and turn off Find My iPhone.
- Prepare the intended fleet WiFi profile, if required.
- Turn on Developer Mode and wait until Runtime Readiness shows the phone as ready.
The wizard's Erase step runs only on a phone that is ready. If Developer Mode is off, the agent cannot start its automation service on the phone, and the erase is refused as busy.
Erase only through the wizard.
Do not use Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings on the phone.
The wizard records that it erased the phone, and the Supervise step requires that record.
A phone erased from Settings fails the Supervise step with supervision_stage_failed.
If that has already happened, contact support before erasing again.
An erased phone may remain Activation Locked if Find My is still enabled. Apple documents how Activation Lock works. Keep the account owner's access available during preparation.
Follow the wizard in order
Open the device in Devices, go to Provisioning Readiness, and choose Open wizard.
- Prepare: complete and confirm the preparation items shown.
- Erase: check the target phone, then type ERASE exactly if you intend to wipe it. Wait for the phone's Hello screen.
- Supervise: while the phone is still at Hello / Setup Assistant, choose Supervise. Wait for staging to complete before finishing setup on the phone.
- Complete Setup Assistant: complete the phone's setup and keep USB connected.
- Validate: return to Titan and validate the latest provisioning checks.
- Configure: follow any remaining Developer Mode, passcode, profile, or trust instructions and validate again.
What to expect after Supervise
- A brief Trust prompt or trust check. Supervising re-pairs the phone with the computer, and trust can read as pending for a few seconds. If Install profiles fails during that moment, wait until the phone shows as trusted and run Install profiles again.
- "This iPhone is partly set up." Supervision skips some setup screens, so iOS offers to continue the partial setup or to erase. Choose to continue the setup. Do not choose erase: it removes supervision, and you would have to start the wizard again.
- The Apple Account screen. You can skip it with Set Up Later in Settings. Automation does not need iCloud. See Apple ID and App Store apps for app downloads.
- Developer Mode is off again. Erasing resets it. Turn it on again after setup, as described in Prepare your iPhone. The agent then mounts its developer tools and starts its automation service by itself.
The supervised workflow checks that the passcode is off. Make that change on the dedicated phone only when you intend to use this workflow; Titan cannot change the passcode remotely.
Apple ID and App Store apps
The App Store needs a signed-in Apple ID before it downloads any app, including the apps your automations open. iCloud itself is not required.
- Finish setup without signing in.
- Open the App Store, tap the profile icon, and sign in. This signs in to the App Store only, without iCloud sync, backup, or Find My.
- Install the apps your automations use, for example your VPN app and the social apps your strategies post to.
- Open each app once and sign in to its own account where your automation expects that, for example your VPN account.
Use a dedicated Apple ID for automation phones rather than a personal one. If you sign in through Settings instead, Find My may turn on, and you must turn it off again before the next erase.
Which identity is used where
Three separate identities are involved, and none of them replaces another:
| Identity | Used for | Visible to apps |
|---|---|---|
| Supervision identity on the computer | Managing the phone from the agent: profiles, trust, fleet WiFi | No |
| Automation service signing certificate | Signing the service the agent installs to tap and read the screen | No |
| Apple ID in the App Store | Downloading and licensing apps | No |
Apps never receive the Apple ID. They use their own accounts, such as a social account or a VPN login, and the device identifiers iOS gives them. When an app asks to track you, choose Ask App Not to Track to withhold the advertising identifier.
Repair an already supervised phone
The provisioning section can offer:
- Re-check to obtain a new result.
- Re-pair (fix trust) to restore trust with the current host.
- Install profiles to apply the required setup profiles.
If the supervision identity is missing on the host, ask the person managing that computer to restore the intended setup. Repeated trust repair cannot replace a missing identity.
An action is unconfirmed
Keep the phone connected and inspect its screen. Use the wizard's status/validation action before retrying. In particular, do not issue another erase merely because its response was lost.
After successful setup, repeat the relevant iPhone display and text settings and check runtime readiness before running work.