How do I streamline Canvas app login for iOS devices at my institution?

You can simplify the Canvas app login process by configuring your Mobile Device Management (MDM) provider. Students may be directed to your institution's Canvas login page, or you can configure direct login access for students.

Canvas supports authentication with a variety Mobile Device Management (MDM). Authentication must be configured in your MDM interface.

Note: The information in this lesson only affects iOS devices. Users using Android devices will not notice any changes to their login screen.

Specify Host for Login

You can configure your institution MDM to display a direct link to your institution's Canvas login page in the Canvas  app.

To specify a host in your institution's MDM profile configuration, enter the following in your MDM configuration field.

<dict>

<key>enableLogin</key>

<true/>

<key>host</key>

<string>institution URL</string>

</dict>

Institution Specific Data

You must enter your institution URL in the authentication string. For example, if your institution url is https://canvas.instructure.com, enter canvas.instructure.com.

View Login

View Student Login

When users open the Canvas app on their iOS device, a Log In button displays.

When users tap the Log In button, they are directed to the specified host configuration login page.

Specify Direct Login

Alternatively, you can configure your institution MDM to automatically log in users from the Canvas app login page.

To enable direct login for student users in your institution's MDM profile configuration, enter the following:

<dict>

<key>enableLogin</key>

<true/>

<key>users</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>host</key>

<string>institution URL</string>

<key>username</key>

<string>student username</key>

<key>password</key>

<string>student password</string>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

Institution Specific Data

To correctly configure Direct Login for students at your institution, you must specify the following data for each MDM profile.

  • Institution URL: enter your institution URL. For example, if your institution url is https://canvas.instructure.com, enter canvas.instructure.com.
  • Student Username: enter student usernames for whom you wish to set up direct login.
  • Student Password: enter student passwords for whom you wish to set up direct login.

Configuring Direct Login for Multiple Students

To configure Direct Login for multiple MDM profiles, the above string must be configured in each profile.

To configure Direct Login for multiple students in one MDM profile, add a host, username, password string for each student in the profile. This configuration might look like this:

<dict>

<key>enableLogin</key>

<true/>

<key>users</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>host</key>

<string>institution URL</string>

<key>username</key>

<string>student username1</key>

<key>password</key>

<string>student password1</string>

</dict>

<dict>

<key>host</key>

<string>institution URL</string>

<key>username</key>

<string>student username2</key>

<key>password</key>

<string>student password2</string>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

View Direct Login

View Direct Login

When MDM direct login is configured, the Canvas app displays a Previous Logins section.

When a student taps their name, they are directly logged in to the Canvas app, where they can access their Canvas courses.