Independent Android Enterprise content for everyone
I've written about DPC migration more than once over the years. Google introduced the platform APIs for wipe-free device migration between EMM vendors in Android 9.0 back in 2018. They've been sitting in the SDK ever since, and no EMM vendor I'm aware of has shipped cross-vendor migration using them. When Google publicly surfaced DPC migration within AMAPI in early 2024, I wrote : The resurfaced…
If you've ever written documentation for a living, you know the particular flavour of horror that comes from a vendor updating a page without saying a word. A deprecated flag. A changed default. A renamed permission. A URL slug that now 301s to something vaguely related but not actually the same. The kind of change that would be a one-line entry in a sensible changelog, if the changelog existed at…
After months of "coming soon", Google has published the Android Enterprise for Android XR documentation, alongside a support article detailing management capabilities for XR devices. It's been a long wait since the Galaxy XR launched late last year without enterprise support, and now we can finally see what Google has been working on. The short version: it's fully managed only at the moment, the…
MIKA started as an April 1st project, because of course it did. But as with most things I build, the goal was never just a gag - it was to make something genuinely useful and have a bit of fun doing it. If you haven't come across it yet, MIKA - M obile I ntelligence & K nowledge A ssistant - is an AI-powered assistant that sits across bayton.org and answers questions about Android Enterprise using…
Yes, this was created for April 1st But MIKA is very much real. It's a fully functional, OpenAI-backed assistant with complete access to bayton.org content via voice and text. It no longer takes over the homepage - instead it's available as a floating orb across the entire site and a dedicated full experience at /mika/ with voice support. The questions asked of it are being used to identify gaps…
I've been spending some time with TCL's Note A1 NXTPAPER lately after backing their kickstarter a few months ago. It's a tablet-notepad hybrid positioned to rival the likes of the Kindle Scribe and ReMarkable in the notes-first space. It's not an E-Ink tablet despite the marketing leaning into that category, but the matte, paper-like display does genuinely feel different to a typical glossy…
Google has released the 2026 edition of the Android Security Paper, and I've spent some time comparing it with notes from the 2023 and 2024 versions I've reviewed in the past to determine both net-new content, as well as overall direction. The short version: core architecture is largely the same over the last few years. The Linux sandbox model, SELinux enforcement, hardware-backed keystore,…
If you manage devices for a living, you've probably felt it; that creeping sense that the platforms you rely on - the ones built by teams of dozens, iterated over decades, sold on multi-year contracts - are ripe to have the ground shift beneath them. I can't predict the future, but I can share what happened when I decided to test the thesis myself. After shipping AMAPI Commander , a conversational…
If you manage or support an estate of Android devices, you already know the pain. Getting a straightforward answer about your estate typically means logging into a console, clicking through several screens, exporting a report, and wrangling it into something useful. Need to know how many devices are running an outdated security patch? That's a ticket to IT, a scheduled report, or half an afternoon…
MANAGED INFO is moving to a predominantly licence-free model for almost all core capabilities. Over the last 18 months the project has grown substantially in scope, from a simple information/support surface to a flexible and capable tool for building device experiences. On a deeper level, it has integrated new functionality that isn't even visible to end users, but the capabilities it provides now…
My DPC has been blocked by Google Play Protect For anyone landing here after searching for answers as to why you're seeing unsettling Play Protect warnings for safe, compliant apps, read this help article and submit an appeal. Read more below . Google has a habit of dropping significant changes into unassuming help centre articles, and the subject of this article regarding Device Policy Controller…
Note: This is cross-posted from the Android Enterprise Customer Community 2025 was a big year for Android Enterprise. This was the year several long-missed features finally landed, Device Trust became a thing , zero-touch got a compliance and audit boost, provisioning saw a revamp, and the Android Management API quietly kept adding the sort of controls that make admins' lives easier. So, in the…
Christmas is upon us! Deck the halls with JSON schemas and so forth. As we wrap up 2025, we’ve seen some massive wins for the Android Enterprise and the Android Management API (AMAPI) this year; APN overrides, custom apps, and Device Trust to name a few which I've covered off over on the Android Enterprise Customer Community . But let’s be honest: while Google has been busy with tightening…
Recent headlines have sparked concern and confusion about a new Android feature that supposedly "lets your boss read all your text messages". Sensational claims like “Google starts sharing all your text messages with your employer” have understandably raised privacy concerns. In reality, Android RCS Archival is a tightly scoped enterprise feature designed for regulatory compliance - not a…
Hybrid and remote work has become increasingly more prevalent over the last several years, with bring-your-own (BYOD) providing a driving force in enabling a work-from-anywhere-on-anything approach to the modern enterprise. While you'll find no end of articles for and against flexible work practices, the reality is they're here, and they're challenging IT departments the world over on how to…
Google's August 2025 announcement of developer verification has caught quite a bit of attention in the Android community. Why? From September 2026, all apps installed on certified Android devices will have to come from a verified developer across several regions, with a global rollout the following year. Google frames the change as implementing an “ID check at the airport”, it will confirm…
With the release of AMAPI SDK 1.6.0-rc01 , Google has introduced long-awaited support for direct APK installation via the Android Management API (AMAPI). This new capability allows EMM solutions leveraging Google's Android Device Policy (ADP) to install and update apps on managed devices without relying on Google Play or other third-party mechanisms. Up to now, direct APK deployment was only…
I've had a use case thrust upon me this week, something I hadn't really paid much attention to as I considered and assumed it to be basic functionality. But wouldn't you know? Nope! If you're one of an increasing number of organisations trying to get to grips with Google Play's app tracks, you'll likely already understand the perceived benefits: Multiple application versions through one app…
Mr. Cowell made me aware of a Medium article by Bastien Bobe , field CTO at Lookout, this week. His article gave me a good overview of a vulnerability discovered by Alan Zaccardelle that I'd previously not heard about. I'd encourage reading the linked article above for the overview and demo video of the vulnerability, but in a nutshell the issue is as follows: During work profile setup, there's a…
The Android App Bundle (AAB) is a modern application packaging format introduced by Google to streamline and optimise Android app distribution. Unlike the traditional APK, an AAB contains all the necessary compiled code, resources, and assets for an app only for the purpose of permitting dynamic packaging; it cannot be directly installed through Android's package manager on-device (3rd party…
A little earlier in the year, Android 16 beta 1 has just landed! With the first beta available, it's time to take a look at what's new, so far, in Android 16 "Baklava". This is, as last year, a non-definitive and unconfirmed list of changes. Like the work profile changes in Android 14 things can change at any point and without warning. Here we go! No bump to minimum SDK version for installation of…
Android 15 launched officially for Pixel on October 15th. This was about a month and a half after the release to AOSP on September 3rd. It has been a rather odd series of events this year; Pixel typically receives the latest and greatest version of Android in tandem with its release to AOSP, and the marketing and messaging goes out in unison for Android as a whole, but with Pixel's delay it caused…
Back in 2014, I discovered Miradore, an ITSM solution with a then-emerging Mobile Device Management (MDM) product that promised a robust set of features for managing Android devices. My initial review, Miradore Online: Free MDM , highlighted the platform's potential and its generous free tier, which made it stand out in a market otherwise dominated by costly alternatives. Miradore isn't defined by…
In a surprise announcement last week, Google have confirmed sideloaded applications - such as those deployed via EMM solutions - will no longer be sent to Google servers for Google Play Protect scanning on enterprise-managed devices. Why apps are sent to Google # When an application is installed from a source other than Google Play, it is not considered safe by default. Google Play Protect, as…
Mobile Pros has been a slack group since inception, way back in the late 2010s. One of the biggest bug-bears for that platform is Slack's hostile approach to non-paying communities, withholding message history and denying access to attachments; it's meant a lot of valuable information over the years has vanished into the ether and put the community on the back-foot compared to other platforms in…
In recent days, the tech community has been grappling with the aftermath of a major outage caused by CrowdStrike. This incident resulted in significant disruptions across various enterprise Windows environments, leading to downtime and operational challenges for numerous organisations, public bodies, critical infrastructure, and more. The outage has highlighted the almost impenetrable hold…
I've been supporting customers on their modern Android management journeys for several years now, and as you can imagine, the more customers you engage with, the more you notice patterns and friction points that resurface time and time again. For me, having access to system settings from within kiosk environments is one such example of those friction points, and one of the first projects for 2024…
It’s been a while since my last career update, and as interesting and diverse as the ecosystem is in opportunities to get involved with various projects*, I’m happy to be going back to FTE 😁. Over the last several months I’ve been doing a lot more with AMAPI - as you’ll no doubt see if my posting history is anything to go by - and an opportunity presented itself to join NinjaOne to help build out…
Android's Device Administrator (DA) APIs were a cornerstone of device management since their inception way back in Android 2.2. However, with their deprecation in 2017 with Android 9.0 (and obviously prior given AE was introduced in 5.0), Google and the wider ecosystem (👋) has encouraged a shift to the more robust and secure Android Enterprise as DA APIs have slowly faded away. Embracing Android…
Android 15 is live! Android 15 is now live, check out the latest article for what ultimately landed! It's that time of year again. Android 15 is available in pre-release, and combined with some of the changes I've seen committed to the developer documentation, there are a few tasty treats for organisations to come in the next dessert (Vanilla Ice-cream to don't you know). This is, as last year, a…
Google have made one of the most significant changes to permissible use of AMAPI in the last few years, imposing new limits for the number of devices permitted to enrol without validating a solution for commercial availability (that being applying for the EMM community & validating up to a minimum of Standard solution set support). The reasoning hasn't been provided, but my own experience of…
If you have set up a modern Android device, may have come across the list of apps offered by your device just before you finish setup. This is referred to as Play Auto Install and is available to OEMs building certified Android devices. The list of recommended and required applications suggests (or mandates) a selection of applications the OEM, carrier, or Google consider useful for your Android…
In the last few days a new suite of APIs have appeared on Google's AMAPI developer docs page covering DPC Migration 🎉 I've written about DPC migration sporadically since 2018 when Google brought it up at their partner summit however the ambitious and frankly substantially overdue functionality has rarely been seen referenced since. Google's DPC migration solution was intended originally to…
If you've taken a passing interest in Android as a product/platform in recent years, you may be familiar with GMS (Google Mobile Services) Certification - more recently rebranded to Play Protect Certification. If the concept is new to you, this certification is the combination of public requirements from the CDD ( Compatibility Definition Document ) - a reference that provides both requirements…
I've been using Slack a good deal more recently, and much like Teams' @everyone and Google Chat's @all , Slack's @channel and @here is a recipe for notification-geddon that's significantly overused in a lot of communities. Did you know, however, you can turn these notifications off? Unfortunately it's a channel-specific change, but here's how you can do it: Right-click on the channel Click Change…
Dear support, There is a problem with my devices, they won't load my app. Does this look familiar? How about: A customer reports their remote control connection is unstable, and performance is unreliable. It has been like this for some weeks. Unfortunately these two examples are inspired by some of the many support requests I've observed in the last few weeks alone , with many more examples like…
Damien asked, through the Mobile Pros Discord community: We have approx 5000 COPE devices with just over 4000 of them Samsung all managed using WS1 UEM. Should we use e-FOTA? If not what? What about BYOD devices? Our security team is advising us to cut access to those who don’t have a patch of 2 months old. Our minimum version is OS 12 but this would mean cutting the access to quite a few devices…
Google yesterday announced the Pixel 8 series, something I almost missed being wholly occupied with the release of Android 14 and all the new enterprise docs and features that came with it. (You can see what's new here and find my notes on articles and such shared yesterday here ). There are plenty of new features exclusive to the model, but the biggest announcement as far as I'm concerned is that…
Earlier this morning I noted the What's new for enterprise in Android 14 doc (now under a non-preview URL 🎉) has removed references to the work profile changes I wrote about in my previous docs and articles ( 1 , 2 ). Incidentally, I also had a minor beta update (5.3) pending across my Pixels. Coincidence? No. Given the timing I assumed there may be a link between the two and thought I'd compare…
Today Fairphone announced their newest smartphone, the Fairphone 5 . I've been a FP4 user for the last year, and had an FP3+ before that, the FP5 looks like a solid upgrade both in terms of spec and the headlines Fairphone are making with this new device. They're well known for their focus on sustainability and longevity with a history of devices receiving support for several years - the FP3 (2019…
Welcome to Product Files, a series of articles that touch on some of the more interesting aspects of running a product organisation for the last several years. As this series grows, additional links will show up here: Building Android devices Alternative form factors and power solutions The DoorDash T8 Google recently published a blog post and video by the DoorDash team that covered how the T8,…
This change has been reverted # Check out this article for more information. The below no longer applies to Android 14, but may be instead re-appear for Android 15 (or sooner in a QPR - quarterly patch release - if it's ready). This'll be updated at a later date. In case you missed it, my article on what's new in Android 14 covered off a subtle but significant change to the way the work profile…
Back in May Google announced a change to their account inactivity policy . If you're a Google account owner you may have received an email also: If not, it was covered quite extensively by the media: ars TECHNICA tom's guide The Verge Wired and others I'd considered adding to the noise back then with an enterprise point of view, but it occurred to me there really wasn't any clarity for enterprise…
Welcome to Product Files, a series of articles that touch on some of the more interesting aspects of running a product organisation for the last several years. As this series grows, additional links will show up here: Building Android devices Alternative form factors and power solutions The DoorDash T8 I last wrote about my job back in 2020 . I think it's about time to change that, so in this…
Not too long ago Google announced the first beta of Android 14. As these things tend to go, the likelihood now of major additions is slim, and so beta 1 marks a good opportunity to review what we're likely to see when Android 14 officially launches later this year. Given the amount of lower-level developer content, I'm not going to cover everything in the API docs targeted to Android 14, so this…
TL/DR I've published the first in a series of children's books. Jump to the announcement ⏬ A s many of your reading this will know, I've been in the Enterprise Mobility Ecosystem for a very long time. 10 years, in fact, as of January just gone. Although I started as a generalist, supporting Android, iOS, Windows Mobile (loved those CAB files), Blackberry.. it's quite clear at this p oint where I…
If you're working in a typical organisation, you're probably struggling to keep up with the ever-evolving world of mobile device management. With employees using their personal devices for work and the rapid pace of technological change, it's no wonder that many IT departments are feeling overwhelmed. That's where Android Enterprise comes in. Android Enterprise is a powerful mobile device…
I last did one of these in 2019, and very little has come to fruition from my previous list.. so although most of that still applies, it's obviously time to do one again! It's been a pretty quiet year for enterprise features in Android; not to suggest what was released wasn't welcomed (Wi-Fi features in particular were long-overdue!), but compared to years prior there were no big-hitters that…
The password complexity changes Google announced here and here with Android 12 for WPoPOD (work profile on personally owned devices) are rolling out to mostly-unsuspecting organisations as EMMs begin targeting API level 31 with their DPCs. I'll be honest, I didn't consider this to be much of a big deal. Having caught the announcement back last year I assumed it would be logically, thoughtfully…
Update 12/22 Google has since relaxed the timeline for when the November changes take place. Developers now have until 31/01/2023. Furthermore, permanently private applications, such as those made private in the Play console, as well as those uploaded via the API or managed Google Play iFrame, are exempt from this policy change. It's no secret many organisations struggle to keep pace with Google's…