[Day 3] Dedicated to Dedicated: Non-negotiables for EMM/MDM in Rugged Android Deployments
Disclaimer: The following article captures the opinion of Matt Dermody, Senior Director of Enterprise Mobility at Manhattan Associates. The stances contained within are a reflection of Manhattan's specific focus on line-of-business Android devices, built on years of being "Dedicated to Dedicated." Background Manhattan Associates is a B2B software company specifically focused on best-in-class, line-of-business enterprise deployments of enterprise software such as Warehouse Management (WMS), Transportation Management (TMS), and Point-of-Sale (POS). These software deployments command high expectations of uptime and availability, and that ultimately encompasses the complete solution, including the mobile computers that the software runs on. Manhattan is dedicated to ensuring that our end customers have the best possible experience, and that involves ensuring that the dedicated devices running our software are also properly maintained and supported. Google defines a "dedicated device" as a company-owned device that is fully managed and locked down for a specific work purpose, often using a single app or a small set of apps. These devices are restricted from personal use and are used for business functions like point-of-sale systems, inventory scanners, or digital signage. Or in other words, all of the device types that Manhattan sells, deploys, and supports alongside our software solutions. In that sense, I guess it can be said that we are… Dedicated to Dedicated. Managing rugged, line-of-business Android devices is not the same as managing BYOD phones and laptops. These are mission-critical endpoints running specialized apps in warehouses, stores, yards, and DCs—downtime costs money and local IT is increasingly rare. Your EMM/MDM must control versions, files, firmware, and field support with precision. Anything less adds risk and operational drag. Situation Imagine having to explain to a CIO that a business-critical mobile app has automatically upgraded to a new version that breaks functionality, and there is no easy rollback available. Here is a preview of how that might look. That situation is all too common but can be prevented with the right EMM/MDM strategies. The mere thought of that possible situation keeps the Manhattan team up at night. We have spent years developing strategies to add predictability and stability into enterprise device deployments to prevent bad situations from ever happening. Philosophies & Strategies Here is a preview of some of the core philosophies surrounding Manhattan’s tailored approach to managing mission-critical device deployments. Some of these might be controversial, but these are the strategies that work for us. 1. App Distribution and Version Discipline Rigorous version control of enterprise apps—stage, canary, bulk rollout, and rollback—is a must. Rugged ops cannot afford “surprise” app updates or version creep. If you can’t downgrade quickly, you don’t control your risk surface. An EMM/MDM should offer direct installation of private APKs on fully managed devices. Auto-upgrades to the “latest only” through Managed Google Play can lead to instability and version drift. Look for a console that can deploy specific app builds to specific groups on your schedule. If your tool can’t install an APK directly onto devices, it’s the wrong tool for rugged. Period. You must target different versions/configs by environment—Stage, QA, Prod—often per site group. That includes app versions, config files, etc. 2. File Management for App and Scanner Configuration LoB apps often externalize key settings via JSON and similar external config files. For example, Zebra DataWedge uses .db files placed in a specific auto-import directory to control mission-critical scanner settings. Your EMM must place, update, and replace these files on demand and at scale—ideally without anyone touching a device. Emergency changes (host cutover, DNS rename, scanner tweak) should be a file push away, not an onsite scramble. 3. Remote Control and Log Retrieval Treat full-fidelity Remote Control as table stakes. Support must see what the user sees, drive the screen, and pull logs and files in one session. Anything “view only” or bolt-on only erodes speed to resolution. Relying on reports from the floor or grainy pictures of an error taken from another device are not sufficient tactics for troubleshooting mission-critical device deployments. When issues hit, you don’t want an insurance policy like Remote Control that can be used to quickly diagnose and test solutions; you want a tool. An EMM admin without Remote Control is effectively blind with their hands tied behind their back. 4. OEM-level Controls (Zebra/Honeywell) There are numerous configuration settings that enterprise-grade OEMs extend beyond the baseline Android Enterprise configuration APIs. These OEMs are generally years ahead of what is available in base Android from a configurability standpoint and often introduce configuration settings that may otherwise never arrive to the base OS. These granular configuration layers ultimately are what set enterprise-class devices apart from consumer-grade technology. It is therefore imperative that an EMM managing these devices has the capability to manage OEM configuration extension features directly. For Zebra, this involves execution of their MX XML, DataWedge behavior, button mapping, radios, and other rugged-specific controls—through native profiles or integrated mechanisms. OEMConfig is useful, especially for parity across EMMs, but you will hit practical limits in closed networks and with Play-dependent timing/visibility. OEMConfig is a lowest-common-denominator functionality that was designed as a bridge to enable limited AMAPI-aligned EMMs to manage OEM-level settings with the limited tools at their disposal. Your EMM should support both OEMConfig (at a bare minimum) and offer the flexibility of direct MX/file workflows so you’re not boxed in by the limitations of distributing device settings through a complex web of Google Play server infrastructure. Your EMM should offer the ability to manage settings directly on the devices it manages, without the added layers and black boxes of complexity. 5. Firmware and Security Patching Over-the-Air (OTA) upgrades are great, but only when the EMM admin is in complete control. Auto-upgrades from the OEM pushed out over the air can bring production to a halt when critical business functions break. At a bare minimum, they can bring a network to a standstill as large upgrades are forced through the ISP connection into the building or site. An EMM should therefore offer integrations with the OEM-specific OTA and/or firmware upgrade protocols to put the controls in the admins' hands. 6. Lockdown and Kiosk Modes Rugged devices should boot into the work, not into Android. Enforce kiosk/lockdown, strict app allow-lists, settings restrictions, and consistent UX across every DC and store. The EMM should offer configurability over what is displayed on the lockdown, including personalization and customization to offer links to additional items such as launching apps, toolbars, or script executions. 7. Enrollment that Fits the Reality of Rugged Use Android Enterprise Device Owner (AEDO) with a barcode-driven process (e.g., Zebra StageNow). It’s fast, repeatable, and minimizes user taps and mis-taps on the floor. Wi-Fi credentials can be encrypted in the barcode rather than shared haphazardly and manually entered by end users into the Setup Wizard. More granular control over initial network connectivity is also afforded as compared with the limited options available through DPC extras if using the designated AEDO QR method. Avoid Zero Touch Enrollment (ZTE) for rugged Wi-Fi-only devices. ZTE is not "Zero Touch" as it realistically pushes many touches (and possible errors) to end users. There is overhead and maintenance to unenroll and re-enroll devices into the portal as they go in and out of repair. Enterprise-grade devices are often covered under repair contracts due to the nature of the environments they’re used in. This means they are going in and out of repair relatively frequently, and ZTE portal management ends up causing more bottlenecks than the steps it’s otherwise designed to free up. StageNow barcode flows are fewer steps and far more reliable for DCs and stores. 8. Closed Networks and Offline Constraints Many rugged sites have limited or no access to Google services. Your EMM must support managed app configuration and device policies in ways that don’t depend on real-time Managed Play orchestration. If your only path is Play-mediated, you’ll struggle with timing, visibility, and outcomes. Look for an EMM that offers “offline” or standalone Managed Configuration support by reading and exposing the configuration schema of an uploaded Enterprise app. 9. Health Analytics, Drift Detection, and Scripting Device health analytics (compliance, connectivity, install status) are critical for early detection and fleet stability. Pair that with a scripting engine and policy-driven rules (e.g., automatic relocation, auto-heal) to keep devices in line without manual human intervention. 10. What to Deprioritize (and Why) BYOD-centric EMMs that can’t directly install private APKs, can’t push files, and don’t include Remote Control as a first-class capability will drag deployments and support. Many EMMs specifically lack the granular APK/file control, versioning/rollback discipline, and integrated Remote Control required for rugged Android in DCs and stores; workarounds add fragility and cost without closing the gaps. Bonus – Identity and SSO Newer EMMs are offering advanced capabilities around Identity Management and SSO across business apps. As enterprise-grade devices become more multi-purpose, more mobile apps are being installed, each often with its own separate login requirements. Over time, there will be increasing needs to supply SSO workflows on-device across these business apps and to offer a clean pathway to script and automate the cleanup of a prior user’s session across all apps as they log off and make way for the next user to log in. If in the EMM selection process today, look for an EMM that offers these capabilities. Even if those features are not needed today, it is almost certainly the next set of features enterprises will look for and need to adopt. The Quick Scorecard If you can’t answer “yes” to these with your selected EMM/MDM, you’re taking unnecessary risk: Can your EMM install a specific APK build directly to AEDO devices? Can you canary a new version to one site, schedule a 2 a.m. cutover, and roll back instantly if needed? Can you push a JSON config change and a DataWedge .db to 500 devices in under 10 minutes—no manual touches? Can support remotely control the screen and pull logs/files from the same session? Can you execute Zebra MX XML, enforce kiosk/lockdown, and set scanner behavior centrally across models? Can you deploy LifeGuard/.ZIP OS updates by group, with maintenance windows and rollback? Can you enroll with StageNow barcodes (AEDO) instead of relying on ZTE flows designed for non-rugged scenarios? Can you operate cleanly in sites with limited/blocked Google services, including offline managed config workflows? Bottom Line A capable rugged EMM/MDM gives you deterministic control over versions, files, firmware, and front-line support—at fleet scale and on your schedule. Prioritize direct APK delivery, file distribution, OEM-level controls, Remote Control, AEDO barcode enrollment, and firmware orchestration. Deprioritize BYOD-first tools and any workflow that forces you through black box Play timing or pushes enrollment burden to associates on the floor. I’d love to hear what the comments have to say. Am I way off base? Do you fundamentally disagree? Or were you nodding along as you read through this. Let me know below! Oh and "AI", forgot to mention the buzzword. Matt
Samsung Devices: Can't call from a personal app
Hi everyone we received some reports from our users in the last couple of month that suddently the phone app on COPE devices (Samsung A-series) starts to show "Can't call from a personal app" - Your organisation only allows you to make calls from work apps. Workaround: Reboot the device. For most of the reports this workaround has to take place once and the message is gone forever. A very small amount of devices starts to show this message again after a couple of weeks. Rebooting is resolving the issue again. Any idea of how to prevent this? Even emergency calls are not possible if this error is appearing! Does anyone else have seen this behavior? Raised a case with Samsung today. Thanks! DanielDefault browser app not resettable
Hey! We are currently testing a few apps in Work Profile, for which we need 2FA. The second factor is a FIDO2 token that can be used via NFC or USB. If you have a FIDO2 token with USB-C, everything is fine. But we also have some with USB-A. If you don't have an adapter, you're more likely to resort to NFC. Chrome supports FIDO2/NFC directly, which makes logging in quite easy. However, most web views cannot do this, and a passcode must be entered manually. The pure FIDO2 NFC tag basically contains a URL with the passcode. You open the webpage via NFC, copy the passcode, and enter it when logging in. So far, so good. However, we encountered a problem that prevents us from using the FIDO2 token via NFC in the Work Profile properly. There are default apps for different categories such as browser, wallet, caller ID, etc. If you need to launch one of the app categories and there are several apps available, you will be asked which app you want to use and just for once or always. The app preferences can be reset via the settings so that the query will reappear the next time. This works without any problems with “Home app,” for example. But the Default Browser? No. The Browser app default remains after the reset. Even if a browser was set as the default and was deleted, it will just switch to another app and won't ask. The problem with a permanently set default browser is that links from NFC tags are immediately opened in the personal space. If there is a copy & paste lock on the work profile, you cannot use the code. (Unless you type >40 characters) If you are asked for an app to open the URL, you can also select the browser in Work Profile. Can anyone reproduce this behavior? Or does anyone know if something has changed for the Browser-Default in Android 15/16? On a device running Android 13, resetting the app defaults works reliably. It doesn't seem right that the browser default cannot be reset properly with Android 15/16.
Need understand some point of this feature - 3.6. Managed configuration management
I have implemented this following feature - 3.6. Managed configuration management. Everything understand but got stuck in point - 3.6.3. The EMM's console must allow IT admins to set wildcards (such as $username$ or %emailAddress%) so that a single configuration for an app such as Gmail can be applied to multiple users. Not understand how to implement this wildcards in one policy for different devices and also let me know for gmail it is supported or not? Thanks in advance.
Common identifier between AMAPI & Require for setup app for validation
We are enrolling devices using AMAPI by generating a QR code with an assigned policy either for work profile or fully managed enrollment. During enrollment, the device prompts for a require for setup app, which, after configuration, returns RESULT_OK, marking the setup as complete and finalizing the device enrollment. Before returning RESULT_OK, To identify the enrolling device, the backend gets the device ID and enterprise ID from the Pub/Sub provisioning notification. The device ID (which matches the GSF ID) is then sent by the require for setup app to the backend for validation. This identifier is also used to enforce enrollment limits based on the enterprise license count. The Issue: Up to Android 14, retrieving the GSF ID was possible. However, in Android 15, it now returns null. Question: Is there an alternative identifier that can be used to identify the enrolling device—one that the backend can retrieve and that the setup app can also access during enrollment? Below is the information we receive from Pub/Sub when a device is enrolled: { "name": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] "managementMode": "PROFILE_OWNER", "state": "PROVISIONING", "enrollmentTime": "2025-04-04T06:17:02.751Z", "lastPolicySyncTime": "2025-04-04T06:17:02.817Z", "softwareInfo": { "androidVersion": "15", "androidDevicePolicyVersionCode": 10323580, "androidDevicePolicyVersionName": "128.32.3 (10323580)", "androidBuildNumber": "AP3A.240905.015.A2", "deviceKernelVersion": "5.15.149-android13-8-00010-gc2e0ba41ba85-ab12040008", "bootloaderVersion": "unknown", "androidBuildTime": "2025-03-11T13:26:50Z", "securityPatchLevel": "2025-03-01", "primaryLanguageCode": "en-IN", "deviceBuildSignature": "c9009d01ebf9f5d0302bc71b2fe9aa9a47a432bba17308a3111b75d7b2143456", "systemUpdateInfo": { "updateStatus": "UP_TO_DATE" } }, "hardwareInfo": { "brand": "Redmi", "hardware": "mt6835", "deviceBasebandVersion": "MOLY.NR17.R1.TC8.PR2.SP.V1.P51,MOLY.NR17.R1.TC8.PR2.SP.V1.P51", "manufacturer": "Xiaomi", "serialNumber": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] "model": "23124RN87I", "enterpriseSpecificId": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] }, "policyName": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] "memoryInfo": { "totalRam": "5865836544", "totalInternalStorage": "806965248" }, "userName": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] "enrollmentTokenName": [*Hidden for privacy reasons] "securityPosture": { }, "ownership": "PERSONALLY_OWNED" } *Updated by Community admin - removed due to privacy reasons 4 April
GSF ID not generated after device enrollment on Android 15
Hi everyone, We’re facing an issue with devices running Android 15 — after successfully enrolling them in our Android Enterprise setup (Device Owner / Fully Managed mode), the Google Services Framework (GSF) ID is not being generated. This issue did not occur on Android 13 or 14; the GSF ID was available immediately after enrollment. However, on Android 15, the GSF ID remains empty even after waiting and rebooting. We’ve already tried: Factory reset and re-enrollment Checking Google Play Services version Ensuring the device is connected to the internet Waiting for Play Store sync Despite that, the GSF ID is still missing. Could anyone confirm if there’s a known change in Android 15 related to GSF ID generation, or if additional permissions/configuration are required for enterprise-enrolled devices to obtain it? Any guidance or workaround would be greatly appreciated.
Google Play Console : delete an application, ID transaction
Hi everyone, I noticed that it is now possible to delete an application that has been unpublished for a long time, for example. When you click on delete application, you are asked for the transaction ID of the developer account and the package name. I have my transaction ID (which can be found on payments.google.com), but it is not in the same format as the examples given and is not recognised. Have you ever tried to delete an application? Have you also encountered a problem with this ID? Best regards, NB : The ID I have is in the format xxx.registration-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Bug? G-board removes additional languages post BYOD Enrollment?
We noticed a strange behaviour, If G-board has additional languages added apart from English like Polish or German, post enrolling into a work profile, the additional languages disappear from the keyboard. I was able to reproduce with Intune, WorkspaceOne and even TestDPC app. This is true even if no Device Restrictions are applied. It seems like a bug. Has anyone else seen this issue?
