App Catalog for Android Devices

Unlike all apps installed silently on devices, an App Catalog gives control to the users where Enterprise IT admins publish the apps and the employees can install the apps on their devices when they want to.

Be it the application published from Play for Work Apps or Enterprise Store, an App Catalog is a container of all such published apps being available for the end users to be installed when they want.

Basically it is a repository of all the apps published by admin through Scalefusion Dashboard which are available on devices to be installed by users whenever they want to.

Before You Begin

1. Android Device Profile created on Scalefusion Dashboard

How does it work

The Application Catalog has to be enabled from Device Profile settings. The devices having apps published to such device profiles, will have app catalog enabled. The App Catalog is shown as a Web-clip on the device home screen that lets users see the applications published which they can install on the device. The details are described below.

Step 1: Configure settings on Scalefusion Dashboard

1. Navigate to Device Profiles & Policies > Device Profiles
2. Create an Android device profile or edit an existing profile.
3. Under Restrictions > Device Management, go to App Management Settings
4. Toggle on the setting Enable Application Catalog. This enables rest of the settings needed to be configured to let users control the installation of apps published on their managed devices and also shows the catalog as a Web-clip on the device home screen.

   

5. Configure following settings after enabling Application Catalog

Setting	Description
Enter a name for App Catalog	Enter a Name with which the Web-clip is shown on the managed device's home screen. The name should be maximum 32 characters long.
Configure a Title for App Catalog	Enter a title which would be shown as header in App catalog. The title can be maximum 64 characters long.
Upload a Logo for App Catalog	Upload a logo which would be used as Web-clip logo
Configure Application Installation Behavior	Configure the default installation behavior for Enterprise apps and Play for Work Apps. These can be overridden at the time of publishing the application. Choose one from the following options: Silently Install: This silently installs applications on devices, pushed from Dashboard to this profile. This option is selected by default. Add to Catalog: With this option selected, all apps published to this profile will be added to app catalog and end users can install them. There are exceptions at per-app level with which these settings can be overridden.

1. After configuring all settings, click on Update Profile.

Step 2: Publish Apps

Now that settings are configured, publish apps from Application Management (For an example showing apps published from Enterprise Store) by selecting the app, click on Publish button, select the Android device profile(s) on which settings should be published.

Step 3: End user experience

1. The catalog will be shown on the home screen of your managed device, as shown below

   

1. Tapping on the catalog's icon will show a Web-clip listing all the apps published from Dashboard onto the Device Profile (mentioned in Step #2 above) on which app management settings have been enabled.

   

2. Based on Application Installation mode selected in App Management Settings, following would be the behavior:

When apps are Silently Installed

App Management Settings > the Application Installation mode is selected as Silently Install

Shows as Installing initially and changes to Installed when the app gets installed on device.

When apps are added to catalog

App Management Settings > the Application Installation mode is selected as Add to Catalog

Install button would be enabled in front of app name. Users can click on Install and the app will get installed on the device.

When apps are updated

a. App updated from Play for Work Apps

If admin has chosen to update app published from Play for Work Apps, following would be the behavior:

Installation Mode in App Management Settings	Status in App Catalog
Silently Install	Shows as Installing initially and changes to Installed when the app gets installed on device
Add to Catalog	Update button next to app name. User can install update of the app by clicking on Update.

b. App updated from Enterprise Store

As versions are maintained, the behavior would be according to the installation mode selected at the time of publishing newer version of the app.

Additional actions on App Catalog

Following additional features are available on an app catalog (the screen that opens when you click on App Catalog icon showing the list of apps):

• Search: Search for a particular app by typing in the name on the search bar. Click on the search icon to enter the app name to search.
• Sort: Sort the apps in ascending or descending order. Click on the horizontal lines on the top right and choose the order.
• Branding: The color of the top bar of an app catalog can be changed and applied as per branding.