Feedback: retain personal Google account support for Managed Google Play

I wanted to share some feedback regarding the upcoming policy change where Google plans to stop allowing personal, non-corporate Google / Gmail accounts for Android Enterprise and Managed Google Play configurations.

While Android Enterprise is built for corporate deployment, there is a dedicated community of individual "prosumer" users who rely on basic MDM features for advanced personal restrictions and digital wellbeing.

Specifically, I use Manage Engine MDM on my personal Android phone to enforce strict productivity boundaries. For me and others, Managed Google Play is a way to distribute apps to the device such as app blockers or accountability software applications that prevent access to inappropriate content. Because an app distributed this way cannot be uninstalled from the device itself, it serves as a tamper-proof tool for personal device management that standard consumer Digital Wellbeing apps cannot duplicate. Managed Google Play can also be used to block specific applications.

Forcing a mandatory transition to a Google Workspace / G-Suite account requires individual consumer users to register custom domains and handle DNS verification just to maintain personal device safety configurations. The problem is while Manage Engine MDM is free for users who use it on a limited number of devices, with the change, personal MDM users may have to pay money for domain registration and a G-Suite account.

I’m hoping Google will consider maintaining a legacy path or an individual tier that allows standard, personal Google accounts to utilize basic Managed Google Play settings. This would allow individual power users to continue using these robust security and productivity tools without corporate overhead.

Please note: Here is the how-to article from Manage Engine that explains that personal Google accounts will not be allowed to be used in the future for Managed Google Play: https://www.manageengine.com/mobile-device-management/help/android_for_work/mdm_afw_prerequisites.html

Quote from article: “Google will eventually stop allowing non-corporate or personal Gmail accounts for Android Enterprise setup. This document will be updated once we receive official communication from Google. Please note that any existing setups will remain unchanged unless Google specifies otherwise.”