With the iOS ecosystem of apps, it’s easy to tap into the full potential of iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Off-the-shelf App Store apps can get your employees up to speed in no time and custom apps built in-house or by a 3rd-party give your users exactly what they need.
With thousands of business apps in the App Store, equip your users with great apps for just about any task. Purchase in volume and easily distribute apps throughout your organization.
@Work Apps for Business. Visit this curated selection of business apps in the App Store and start selecting the best apps for your work force. Explore @Work Apps for Business
Apps that work.
The App Store is the place you can trust for apps. Developers must register with Apple and join the iOS Developer program. The identity of each developer is verified before a certificate is issued so only legitimate developers can publish to the App Store. And, all apps are reviewed by Apple to ensure they operate as described and don't contain bugs or other problems. In a word, they just work.
Learn more
Truly great business apps.
To help you determine the right apps for your group, department or organization, explore the Apps in Business Getting Started Guide. In the guide, you’ll find discovery questions to help you formulate your app approach, broad categories of business apps with helpful descriptions, online resources, and tips on how to purchase and distribute apps in volume.
Download the Apps in Business Guide
Buy apps in volume.
The App Store Volume Purchase Program offers a simple and efficient method for businesses to find, buy, and distribute iOS apps from the App Store. Purchase the apps that meet the needs of your business whether you have 10 employees or ten thousand. Through the program you can also get custom business apps built by 3rd-party developers for your organization’s unique needs.
Learn about volume purchasing
Execs Talk iPad: NBC Universal
Brandon Edling, Director of Desktop Technologies at NBC Universal, explains the company's use of apps, including Airshare and Dropbox, in streamlining the way NBC's latest shows are brought to life.
iOS is the perfect platform for in-house app development. Leverage your internal
resources to build breakthrough apps for your employees.
Ducati. Ducati created an iPad app for their international dealer network that showcases their products in amazing detail, and enables dealers to place orders and configure custom motorcycles right from the showroom floor.
General Electric. Across the board, GE business units have invested in building in-house apps for their employees. The “Genius” app from GE Capital allows Financial Advisors to access, manage and react to internal financial transactions as fast as they happen.
Bechtel. Bechtel works on large, complex construction projects around the world. Their “Concrete Monitor” app allows them to gauge temperatures throughout layers of concrete that they've poured, enabling them to make critical decisions that affect entire building projects.
PepsiCo. Pepsi has a large fleet of delivery and merchandizing professionals in the field. They use an
in-house app on iPad to track deliveries, check stock levels, and stay up to date on the schedules
of their fleet. This ensures that the right products are always in stock and on the shelves.
Medtronic. Medtronic allows their medical device sales teams to have up-to-date product information right on their iPad when visiting doctors and hospitals. This in-house app securely accesses approved content
through a CMS system built on Oracle WebCenter.
Mayo Clinic. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic use an in-house app to access electronic medical records, reference materials and the internal staff directory. The app also offers a single, integrated view of different
EMR and imaging systems, improving navigation and efficiency for care providers.
Sunbelt Rentals. Sunbelt Rentals is a construction equipment rental company that created an app that
helps their salesforce use iPad to plan their day, look up equipment information and inventory, and
view a map of their important customers nearby.
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates. WJE enables structural engineers in the field to go paperless with their Planotate app. Engineers can add photos, fill out form fields, mark down structural issues directly onto digital blueprints, and provide customers with realtime information.
Sonic Automotive. Sonic is a network of car dealers that provide a range of automotive sales, service, and
financing. Sonic built an app for their dealers to manage their complete vehicle inventory, as
well as see the available inventory of cars across all Sonic dealerships.
Level 3 Communications. Level 3, an international communications company, built an in-house app that enables sales reps to do all their network equipment sales activities and transactions using iPad. They can
access all of their customer’s contact information, financials, service requests, and order history.
Genentech. Biotechnology company Genentech built an in-house app for their salesforce called “On the Road”. It uses Salesforce.com as a back-end system, but delivers a customized interface that is tailored to the specific business process used by their salesforce when interacting with healthcare professionals.
Deloitte. Deloitte built a suite of apps for their consultants who do extensive travel. These apps integrate multiple data sources to mash-up traditional travel data such as flight, hotel, weather, restaurant, and currency information and combines it with the user’s calendar information hosted in Exchange.
Game-changing apps.
Great apps incorporate innovative ideas and deliver experiences in ways never imagined before. These apps inspire users by making the complicated easy and by fundamentally changing the way they get things done. In-house apps can automate paper-based tasks, digitize product catalogs and inventory, collect customer data, train your workforce and much more. The only limit is your imagination.
Powerful tools.
iOS is the ideal platform for in-house app development. The iOS SDK provides advanced tools and technologies to help you create apps for your entire workforce. To get started, register for the iOS Developer Enterprise Program. You’ll gain access to the tools and technical resources you need to start developing iOS applications as well as the ability to distribute apps to your employees.
Enroll now
World-class resources.
Get started by checking out the In-house App Accelerator web site.
From the start of the planning phase, through design, development, and deployment, you’ll find resources to help your team every step of the way. You’ll also learn about best practices and tips for making mobile apps a great experience for your users.
Get started
Execs Talk iPad: Coldwell Banker
Discover more about Coldwell Banker’s app development for iPad and iPhone.
View All Execs Talk iPad episodes
With Custom B2B apps delivered privately through the Volume Purchase Program you can get apps built for your specific needs by 3rd-party developers. Outsource your development and build something that's truly one of a kind.
Branded. Custom B2B apps can incorporate the branding or look and feel of a particular company.
MicroStrategy Mobile for iPad was tailored with GUESS Inc.'s logo and color scheme.
Custom Process. Custom B2B apps can be constructed to meet the unique needs of a specific process or
workflow. PING created an app for their dealers to outfit and order custom-made golf clubs for their
customers, right from the driving range.
Specific Audience. Custom B2B apps can be targeted to a specific audience such as a partner, dealer or
franchise. Often these apps are not appropriate for distribution publicly through the App Store. Eaton
Corporation developed a custom B2B app for their electronic distribution partners to provide a full
catalog of Eaton electronic parts and components.
Configured for IT. Custom B2B apps can be tailored to connect to backend systems or be configured for
specific IT implementations. VitalHub Chart is a healthcare app for managing electronic patient records that
can connect to just about any type of hospital information system.
Security Features. Additional security can be incorporated into a custom B2B app so that it meets the particular security requirements of the business. Pervasent has built an app for board of directors
that integrates with SharePoint and provides encrypted data storage.
Tailor made for you.
Custom B2B apps made for you by 3rd-party developers present unlimited possibilities to mobilize work tasks, optimize a specific process or workflow, collaborate with partners, or fit in with your corporate branding. You can also layer custom security features and configure custom B2B apps for your unique IT environment.
Delivered privately.
Custom B2B apps are purchased privately through the Volume Purchase Program. Once you’ve signed up, developers can publish custom apps to your account so that only you can see them. The developer will set the price of the app and identify you as the recipient.
Enroll in the program
For customers and partners too.
In addition to providing a great way to get custom apps for your internal use, custom B2B distribution also provides a great way to deliver apps you’ve built in-house to external partners. They simply sign-up for the Volume Purchase Program and you can submit your app to the App Store so only they can see it.
Learn about custom B2B apps
Eaton Corporation
“The time it used to take a dealer from the opportunity to deliver a quote to the actual order would be measured in days and weeks. Now, when the app is used, we're down to hours and minutes. Based on reports from our dealer-partners about the performance of the app, every bit of our ROI is going to be achieved and exceeded.”
Justin Kershaw, CIO
Eaton Corporation
App distribution is simple and flexible. Whether you’re providing employees with links to apps from the App Store, redemption codes from the Volume Purchase Program, or in-house apps directly, there’s a range of options for distributing apps to your employees.
Simple self-service. Built on a simple URL-based delivery model, you can create a self-service app
destination for employees to download and install App Store and in-house apps.
Managed deployment. With MDM you can prompt users to install apps from the App Store as well as in-house apps right on their device. Apps that are flagged as “managed” in MDM allows administrators to remove them from the device anytime without impacting other apps installed on the device.
Supervised distribution. Devices that are centrally controlled and under your direct supervision can be setup using Apple Configurator. Apps from the App Store purchased through the Volume Purchase Program as well as apps built in-house can be installed across multiple devices simultaneously, making setup quick and easy.
Simple self-service.
An internal app portal gives employees a single destination for business apps. Establishing an internal app portal can be as simple as setting up a web server that lists available apps. Users simply tap a URL directly from their device. The link can prompt the user to install an App Store app, redeem a Volume Purchase Program code, or directly install an in-house app.
Learn about wireless distribution
Managed deployment.
Many third-party Mobile Device Management solutions (MDM) provide app distribution capabilities right out of the box. Managing apps with MDM allows IT to push notification messages to users, directly prompting them to install apps purchased on their behalf or install approved free apps from the App Store.
Learn more about MDM
Supervised distribution.
Apple Configurator, a free app for OS X makes it easy to mass configure and deploy devices that are centrally controlled. Upload a spreadsheet of redemption codes acquired through the Volume Purchase Program, or even an in-house app, and Apple Configurator automatically installs them on connected devices.
Learn about Apple Configurator
Execs Talk iPad: Boston Scientific
Rich Adduci, CIO, discusses how Boston Scientific employees can securely access and download corporate apps from an internal site, based on their particular departments and responsibilities within the company.
Get the Apple Store app to shop, make appointments, and more. 