IOS – Why is the approved iOS app, distributed “privately as a custom app for business,” not visible to the organization in Apple Business Manager

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Issue

When I search for my company's internal app in Apple Business Manager, there are no matches. I've tried searching by name, SKU, and App ID. Searching by name returns four results, none of which is relevant.

Why isn't the app found?

A screenshot of Apple Business Manager's "Apps and Books" page showing four results for a query; the results and query are pixelated for privacy

Background

This is an iOS app that my company developed for internal use. Before publishing to the App Store, we opted to distribute "privately as a custom app for business."

Screenshot of App Store Connect's "Pricing and Availability" page, with the "Available privately as a custom app for business" radio button checked

We copied our organization's name (1) and ID (2) from Apple Business Manager to App Store Connect (3 and 4), to grant ourselves access to the app.

Screenshot of Apple Business Manager's "Enrollment Information" page, with the number one beside the organization name field and the number two beside the organization ID field

Screenshot of App Store Connect's "Pricing and Availability" page showing the table of organization names and IDs beneath the distribution type radio buttons, with a single row whose organization name and ID has been pixelated to protect their privacy, and with the number three beside the organization's name and the number four beside its ID

The app was approved yesterday, but it doesn't show up in Apple Business Manager. What are we missing?

Best Answer

I had a similar issue. It turned out that even though I was offering my app for free, I still had to fill out the 'Paid Apps' agreement in App Store Connect.

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