Block distracting apps on AndroidSolved

Wish I had teachers like them!!  Any specific apps on your mind?

Facebook, Twitter, Insta, Snapchat, WhatsApp are all I can think of. Any other suggestions?

Candy Crush and PUBG. Try blacklisting.

Hi Leon,

Thank you for reaching out to us. It would be really helpful if you could give us the following details:
1.Device model
2 OS version
3. Method used to enroll the devices.

Cheers!!
Deborah Timothy
Hexnode UEM

All the devices are lenovo tabs. Lenovo Tab M10 to be specific. Running Android 9.  enrolled all devices by scanning the QR from the setup screen of Android. All now enrolled in Android enterprise as device owner.

Hi Leon,

Here are a few things that you can do:

1. Block all network connections to the apps. This will ensure that the apps are not able to access the internet.
   • Open a New Policy or a policy already configured on the devices/device group.
   • Go to Android > Network Data Usage Management > App-wise Restrictions.
   • Select the required apps and click Next. Then choose Block all network connections and click Done.
   • Apply the policy to the devices/device groups if not done already.
   • Make sure that Hexnode VPN is activated on the device. The apps can be blocked only if the user activates the VPN.
2. You can blacklist the apps. On Android Enterprise devices, if the blacklisted apps are already installed on them, then they will be hidden and the user will not be able to access them. On Samsung Knox devices, the user will be able to see and access the apps. But the device will be marked “non-compliant” and the admin will be notified. However, the user will also be blocked from installing or updating blacklisted apps on all kinds of devices.
   • Open a New Policy or a policy already configured on the device group.
   • Go to Android > App Management > Blacklisting/Whitelisting.
   • Select the required apps > click Done.
   • Apply the policy to the devices/device groups if not done already.
3. If you want to remove any specific apps from the device, you can uninstall them. However, this will not prevent the users from installing these apps again. To remove the apps:
   • From the Manage tab, select the devices/device group.
   • Click Actions > Uninstall Applications. Select the apps and click Done.

Tip: Since you have a lot of devices that need to be managed in the same way, it will be better to create a group of these devices and then apply the policy/perform the action on the group as a whole. As all your devices are of the same type, you can easily group them based on Platform or Model, or Manufacturer. Once you select how you want to group your devices, all the enrolled devices that match your set condition will be automatically added to the group. Read our documentation on creating dynamic group to group devices easily.
Feel free to post your queries here if you get stuck.

Cheers!!
Deborah Timothy
Hexnode UEM