Application Configurations for Android Applications

Application Configurations or Managed Configurations offer enterprises an easy way to remotely configure applications from the Scalefusion Dashboard. You can think of App Configurations like the login credentials or setup data that can be passed to an application so that it is automatically configured without/minimal user intervention.

Before we go further into App Configs, let us answer a few Frequently asked questions,

• Question: Can we use Scalefusion to push App-Configurations for any Application?
  Answer: NO. Only the applications distributed via Enterprise > My Apps > Play for Work apps are eligible for app configurations. This feature is not supported for applications/APKs distributed via Scalefusion enterprise store (Enterprise > My Apps > Enterprise Store).
• Question: Do all applications distributed from Play for Work apps support App configurations?
  Answer: NO. Supporting remote configuration via App-configs is upto the application developer and all apps may not support it.
• Question: How to identify which applications support configurations and what are the supported values?
  Answer: In most cases, the application developers have extensive documentation on how to use the App configurations with an EMM/MDM provider. On Scalefusion dashboard, clicking on any approved Play for Work application and clicking on App Configuration tab displays the information.
  
  

  Eg: CamScanner does not supports App-Configs.

  Eg: Dropbox supports App-Configs shown with Create button.

The example below demonstrates how to use App Configurations for Gmail application. The same steps can be followed for any application.

Before you Begin

1. Search and Install Gmail application from Play for Work apps as described here.

Creating the Application Configuration

The first step is to create an application configuration. Follow the steps below,

1. Navigate to Enterprise > My Apps > Play for Work Apps
2. Click on the Gmail app. (or the app that you want to configure).

1. From the wizard on the right hand side, click on App Configurations tab and click CREATE.

1. The App Configuration wizard will be shown as below, fill in the information provided by the application developer and click SAVE
   1. Name: A name for your configuration
   2. Configuration Data: Fill in the data as provided by the application developer required for this application.
   3. SAVE: To Save the configuration.

1. Once the configuration is saved, it will be listed in the configuration tab with the following actions,
   1. Publish: Used to Publish the configuration on the selected devices.
   2. Edit: Used to edit the configuration.
   3. Un-publish: Used to un-publish the configuration from previously published devices.
   4. Delete: To delete and un-publish this configuration.

Publishing the Application Configuration

The next step is to publish the newly created configuration. Follow the steps below,

1. Navigate to Enterprise > My Apps > Play for Work Apps.
2. Click on the Gmail app (or the app that you want to push configuration for).
3. Click on the App Configurations tab to see the list of configurations. Click on the Publish icon.

1. Select either Device Groups or Device Profiles or Devices and click PUBLISH

1. Once the configuration is pushed, it would take around 5 minutes for the configuration to take effect on the device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why do we see a different UI when we click on Edit the configuration that was created before 17-Sept-2019?

Answer: Scalefusion migrated and started using the Google App Configuration UI wizard starting 17th Sept 2019. Hence when a configurations that was created before this date is edited, the Old UI is shown. The flow and behaviour for new and old configuration UI remains same.

E.g:

Gmail App Configuration - New UI

Gmail App Configuration - Old UI

OEM Configurations

OEMConfig applications and OEM Configurations are developed by Original Equipment Manufacturers that are purpose built to give you fine grain control on their devices. If you happen to use any of the devices (e.g: Zebra, Honeywell) that support OEMConfigs then you can get granular control on your devices using these settings. The settings offered by OEMConfigs extend the settings offered by Scalefusion and hence are directly controlled by the OEM specific application.

Installing and configuring these applications is similar to how you would install other apps from Google PlayStore and the steps described above are sufficient for Configuring these apps.

Supported OEMConfig Applications,

• Zebra
• HoneyWell

Google Chrome Configuration

Chrome is one of the frequently used browsers across organisations devices. With App configs, you can apply a wide variety of restrictions and integrate tightly with Scalefusion. This document outlines how you can get maximum out of Google Chrome.

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