Instagram on iOS behind a smoothwall

[Sheridan]

Has anyone managed to get the instagram app working behind a smoothwall? Our iPads have the smoothwall set as the proxy and authenticate with an AD account which works great for everything. However the Instagram ios app ignores al of this and hits the smoothwall with no authentication (always throws a 407 error)

 

Thing is - I can't just remove this authentication request as it will apply to all users - authentication exceptions can't be applied to a specific user/group/location as far as I can tell

 

Is there a way around this I haven't thought of? I didn't really want to change the way the ipads connect as it works well and filtering is the same as if they were using a desktop

Edited July 2 by Sheridan

[tom_newton]

No, you cant do an auth exception by group, because you don't know who it is until you auth! Catch 22!

Auth exception by destination address?

[Sheridan]

1 hour ago, tom_newton said:

No, you cant do an auth exception by group, because you don't know who it is until you auth! Catch 22!

Auth exception by destination address?

Yes its a nuisance the way the app works! If we except authentication by destination (i.e instagram) that will apply to all users though?

 

We can fix the IP of the ipads but that still doesn't seem to give us a way around this

[tom_newton]

Yes, for the same reason (no auth = dont know who you are) destination auth exceptions still apply to all users - so by definition all users can then access insta.

You could... fix IP range of ipads.

Dest auth except insta

Block insta for all

Unblock insta for ipad IPs as a higher priority policy

[Sheridan]

2 hours ago, tom_newton said:

Yes, for the same reason (no auth = dont know who you are) destination auth exceptions still apply to all users - so by definition all users can then access insta.

You could... fix IP range of ipads.

Dest auth except insta

Block insta for all

Unblock insta for ipad IPs as a higher priority policy

Cheers, I'll have a tinker - looks like its going be a slightly clunky way to work around their funky app!

[Joeloman]

Not really an answer to your question, but wouldn't it work to let them log in via the browser?

Normally, most apps are blocked in a school environment, as some use cert. pinning and then it's better to always let them use the browser.

 

Another option is Smoothwall Cloud Filter which then has its own browser for the iPad.

[Sheridan]

31 minutes ago, Joeloman said:

Not really an answer to your question, but wouldn't it work to let them log in via the browser?

Normally, most apps are blocked in a school environment, as some use cert. pinning and then it's better to always let them use the browser.

 

Another option is Smoothwall Cloud Filter which then has its own browser for the iPad.

Yes it works fine with a browser - it would just be handy to be able to use the ipads as well

[Joeloman]

7 minutes ago, Sheridan said:

Yes it works fine with a browser - it would just be handy to be able to use the ipads as well

Have you turned off Safari browser on your iPads?

[Sheridan]

16 hours ago, Joeloman said:

Have you turned off Safari browser on your iPads?

Nope - it does work on Safari but I was trying to use the app for simplicity reasons

[Joeloman]

24 minutes ago, Sheridan said:

Nope - it does work on Safari but I was trying to use the app for simplicity reasons

If you have an MDM solution, you can easily push out what you want.

 

Turn a website into an app in Safari on iPad
Open the Safari app on iPad.
Press the share button when viewing the website, press the more button, and then tap Add to Home Screen.
Turn on Open as Web App.
Tap Add.
The icon will only appear on the device where you add it.

 

In a school environment, they are usually used for many different educational games that then become easier for the student to find, as they recognize the icon.