The installation of an application depends on the version of the MDM used and also on the type of application — whether it is an APK uploaded manually or an app available on the Play Store. Below are step-by-step instructions for each scenario:
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- Play Store app:
To install an app directly from the Play Store on the AFW version (which uses Android policies), the process is quite simple.
Access the desired policy via the menu "Management > Policies > Android", edit it, and go to the "Play Store" tab. At this point, the integration with the Play Store will open, allowing the user to search for and select the desired app, as shown in the image below:
On the displayed screen, simply search for the desired application and click on its icon. Then, a screen with the app details will open.
On this screen, select the desired installation type and finally click "Select" to confirm adding the app to the policy, as illustrated in the image below:
The "Installation Type" can take one of the following values:
- Forced Installation: The app is installed automatically on the device and the user cannot remove it.
- Pre-installed: The app is installed automatically, but the user can remove it.
- Blocked: The app cannot be installed or accessed by the user (this option should be used when the Play Store mode is set to BLACKLIST).
- Available: The app is available in the device’s Play Store for the user to install if they wish.
- Mandatory for Setup: The app is installed during setup and the user cannot remove it.
After selecting the installation type, you must click "Save" at the bottom of the policy page. The app will be installed according to the selected type.
2) Installation via APK through the Play Store
When the app installation is done via an APK file, there are two ways to proceed, depending on the MDM version installed on the devices.
For the AFW version, the recommended way is to use Private Apps on the Play Store. To do this, access the device policy through the menu "Management > Policies > Android" and open the "Play Store" tab.
In the Play Store integration, on the right side of the screen, there is a button called "Private Apps", which should be selected, as shown in the image below:
On the screen that opens, click the "+" button to add a new APK, as shown in the image below:
On the next screen, enter a name for the APK and select the file by clicking "Upload APK". After choosing the file, click "Create", as shown in the image below:
At this stage, the Play Store will request an email address to send notifications in case there are changes to the app (any email can be used) and will then analyze the package. In many cases, the Play Store may reject the APK. The most common reasons are:
- “Upload a new APK file with a different package name”: This message indicates that the package name of the selected app already exists on the Play Store, or that the developer tried to register this app on the public Play Store even if the process was not completed. The package name is registered with Google because it must be unique. Therefore, the private Play Store will only accept your app if the package name is changed.
- “The APK is marked as ‘debuggable’”: This means the developer did not compile the app for production; the APK is a test version. You should ask the developer to compile the APK in “release” mode so that the private Play Store accepts the file.
- “The APK was not zipaligned”: In this case, the developer did not use the zipalign tool after creating the APK. Creating the APK directly using Android Studio usually solves this problem. For more information, visit:
https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/zipalign?hl=en
If the Play Store accepts your APK, it will be available in the private Play Store and can be installed just like any other Play Store app (see item 1 of this article). If the private Play Store rejects the APK and it is not possible to change it so it is accepted, the installation must be done directly via Urmobo, as explained below (item 3).
3) Installation via APK through Urmobo
To install an APK via Urmobo, you first need to register it on the portal via the menu "Applications > Software Catalog". Upon accessing this menu, the user will see all the APKs already registered and can add a new one by clicking "Add", as shown in the image below:
After clicking "Add", select the APK by clicking "Choose File", and then click "Save", as illustrated in the image below. Filling out the other fields is optional.
After adding the APK, go to the menu "Applications > Deliver Application" and follow the three steps to install the app (as shown in the image below).
- In the first step, choose the devices, entities, or groups where the app will be installed.
- In the second step, select the apps that will be sent for installation.
- In the final step, review the information and click "Send"
At the end of the process, all selected devices will receive the chosen applications for installation, and the installation will be performed on the devices.