Can I update an iOS Enterprise App in the background like an App Store app can?
The answers in these questions will give you a correct answer:
- Auto-updated iOS application for enterprise distribution
- Update In-House Apps -- iOS Enterprise Developer Program
- Updating iOS apps automatically with an MDM + Enterprise license
There is a solution for this though by Stephen McMahon, but I did not test it.
http://www.techhui.com/profiles/blogs/auto-updating-enterprise-or-ad-hoc-ios-applications
EDIT: I realise now that I misread the brief, the OP was asking for background automatic updates. Not possible for enterprise apps, but (relatively) easy to do upon first open. I'll leave this here as this was the info I came looking for when I found this question.
Here's what I did for my project. I exported the app in Enterprise mode against our In House Distribution certificate and uploaded the folder to public web space. Have your app check for updates (the method to use is an exercise for the developer) and when one is detected, open a web browser to a URL like the following:
itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://www.yourcompany.com/path/to/manifest.plist
You'll see a screen not unlike the one below:
If you use Cordova/PhoneGap to develop your app, be sure to include an allow-navigation rule for these types of apps.