open attachments in enterprise configured appsSolved

Participant
Discussion
3 years ago

Hey, some of our employees are using personal devices for work. so, we have enrolled the devices in profile owner. And, they have installed adobe reader on the devices. However, pdf attachments with emails are not opening on the work container. The second issue is that, since these are confidential data, can we set default apps for opening each type of file (pdf, xml, spreadsheets etc.) so that employees can only open the attachments in those apps?
For example,
pdf – adobe reader
spread sheet – excel

Replies (3)

Marked SolutionPending Review
Hexnode Expert
3 years ago
Marked SolutionPending Review

Hi @stijn,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

If your employees’ devices have PDF reader apps on the personal profile, it won’t open files from the work profile. Instead, you must also install any PDF reader apps on the work profile to open the PDF attachments on the employee’s devices.

Regarding your second query, currently, there is no option in Hexnode to set default apps to open specific file types. However, you can achieve this by installing only those company-approved apps in the work profile. You can use the Install Application remote action or Mandatory Apps policy to remotely install the required apps in the work profile.

You may also opt for app whitelisting/blacklisting. This will restrict the users from accessing these files using apps other than the ones you specify in the work profile.

Hope this helps. Do reach out if you have any further queries.

Evin Lee
Hexnode UEM

Marked SolutionPending Review
Participant
3 years ago
Marked SolutionPending Review

Thank you very much, @Evin. But I don’t want to install/restrict every app (adobe reader, spreadsheet, etc.) on each device where necessities change over time. Now I must select each device individually in order to install the necessary apps on them. Anything can be done to make the process go more smoothly. No issues if the users install them manually. But, I’m also wondering if they’ll be able to download apps from third-party websites. If yes, can I prevent it?

Marked SolutionPending Review
Hexnode Expert
3 years ago
Marked SolutionPending Review

Hi @stijn, we’ve got you!

You can use the App Catalog feature on Hexnode to create a customized Play Store on the work profile. It lets employees install required apps on their own from the Play Store, which will ultimately help them access files using corresponding apps. Here’s what you’d need to do:

  1. Go to Apps > App Catalogs > +New.
  2. Add the required apps for opening the attachments and click on Save Catalog.
  3. Then, head on to Policies > Android > App Management > App Catalog > +Add Catalog, search and add the previously created app catalog.
  4. Associate the policy with the required devices.

N.B Users won’t be able to able to install any apps on the work profile other than the ones specified in the catalog because no other apps will be available on the Play Store.

As for your final query, employees can download apps from third-party websites unless restricted. But, you can block the installation of third-party apps on the work profile by unchecking the option ‘Install apps from unknown sources’ (Policies > Android > Advanced Restrictions > Allow App Settings), and scoping the policy to employees’ devices.

Hope this suits your requirements.

Cheers!
Evin Lee
Hexnode UEM