Apple Configurator is a great application and has largely answered the question of how to easily work with the Volume Purchase Program. One of the things I have noticed is that its doesn't explain how to deal with updating applications for supervised devices in a way that doesn't take forever. I found a simple way to do this I wanted to share:
- Open iTunes and download all the recent app updates.
- Under ‘Supervise’ screen, click on Apps
- Click the + button at the bottom
- Sort by date modified
- Select the apps with the modified date that matches the day you are doing this.
- Answer positively on all the forthcoming screens (just confirming the replacement of applications)
I am not sure what would happen if you did OTA updates of apps and then refreshed them using Apple Configurator, but I really don’t want to experiment since it could cause app licensing problems. I’m perfectly content with doing everything (including OS updates) through this method.