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Shabbir
New Member
June 20, 2024
Question

How to deploy your custom .apk files to android fully managed devices from Intune

  • June 20, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 8 views

i got stuck with one situation and need your guidance in solving it. We have our own .apk file for android devices, these are custom in-house developed applications, i want to deploy the application to Android Fully Managed devices (Since the device belongs to company). I did it before with publishing them to google play store as a private app but now the size is the problem as it exceed 200MB, so i cannot use this option. I tried with deploying them as Line of Business application but its been 2 days nothing shows on device and even in intune portal it neither failed or success.

 

Question: How to deploy your custom .apk files to android fully managed devices if the file size se more than 200MB?

    4 replies

    M
    Michel
    Level 4.0: Ice cream sandwich
    June 20, 2024

    Hi @Shabbir !

     

    If the private play store is no longer an option, the line-of-business function should be the way to go. 

     

    Just to be sure, have checked the it has been assigned to the correct group(s)? 

     

    Could it be that you have restrictions set on installing applications from untrusted sources or installation from outside the play store? I'm not sure but that might be conflicting with this install method. 

     

    Edit: I've checked it myself since its been a while that i've used this but the line of bussiness function only works when a device is enrolled as Device Administrator and not as Android enterprise. Since DA is no longer support, you might have no other option than installing it by hand on each device. 

      Moombas
      Moombas
      Level 4.4: KitKat
      June 20, 2024

      Interesting. Then Intune seem to have some limitation which (some) other MDM dont have as they provide other functionalities to deploy apk files.

       

      Will keep this in mind if someone asks me again if we want to switch to intune again.

        M
        Michel
        Level 4.0: Ice cream sandwich
        June 20, 2024

        to make it even more interesting, there is no official documentation from MS that confirms this "issue". Strange move from Microsoft if you ask me. 

         

        I found it in the configuration if a line-of-business app (the dropdown menu belongs to "Targeted platform" option):

         

          M
          mattdermody
          Level 3.0: Honeycomb
          June 20, 2024

          Hi Shabbir, this limitation of Intune is a big reason why I would never recommend it for the Fully Managed device use case. Intune only supports distribution of applications through Managed Play on Fully Managed Android Enterprise devices. I personally believe that Managed Play does not offer comprehensive version control or installation management that is suitable for managing a line-of-business or mission critical device estate.  Therefore any MDM that only supports Managed Play for app installation is in my book, not suitable for line-of-business device management. My strong recommendation would be to evaluate an alternative EMM with a custom DPC that supports both Managed Play AND direct APK installation on Fully Managed Android devices.  

            S
            ShabbirAuthor
            New Member
            June 23, 2024

            I found this article which mentions that we can host it externally and publish it in google play store, i don't know how it work but need to involve application team to get their input on this requirement, also i have open a case with Microsoft and will see what they suggest in this case.

             

            https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/6145182?hl=en&sjid=5870071348238158035-EU

             

            Thanks Matt.

              C
              chickens
              New Member
              September 11, 2024

              Having the exact same scenario. The externallyHosted json file looks to be the official way forward.
              Has anyone been able to get the externallyhosted.py to work.

              There's a few steps to get it to work and getting stuck at:
              __main__.MissingPrerequisiteError: Couldn't find the aapt binary on system's PATH. This binary is part of the Android developer's SDK. Please ensure it is available on the PATH.

              aapt2-8.6.0-11315950-windows.jar downloaded, cant import as a custom plugin. 
              Error: aapt2 failed to load plugin descriptor from file
              Tried adding a system path to a folder which contains aapt2.exe still get the same error.

              W
              williamshake112
              Level 1.5: Cupcake
              December 28, 2024

              "To deploy custom .apk files to Android fully managed devices via Intune:

              1. Upload the APK under Apps > Android > Add in the Intune portal.
              2. Configure app settings and assign it to the target device group.
              3. Monitor deployment status.

              This will install the APK on managed devices."

              M
              mattdermody
              Level 3.0: Honeycomb
              December 30, 2024

              Does that work with Fully Managed Android Enterprise devices in Intune? Last I checked Intune doesn't support direct APK installation on Android Enterprise devices. 

              R
              Rakib
              Level 2.2: Froyo
              January 3, 2025

              It does not, you can only target AOSP and Device administrator.

               

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