Why does an app reinstall itself?Solved

@Ava, that must be a mandatory app configuration. The apps added as mandatory here will be force installed on the device and will be added back even on uninstallation. You’ll find this under app management section for android in the policy. What you want sounds like the whitelisting feature, that will ensure only the apps added on the whitelist collection is allowed on the device and other apps are blacklisted (I think it’s hidden).
I too have a question… we have already deployed a policy payload with mandatory apps configuration. The apps will be installed and will be mandated on the device but will the app be updated when an update comes. We are using Play Store apps only and we have not had any app update coming for our apps recently so not sure if that’ll apply.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.

Hi @Ava, Mandatory apps will get installed back on the device even when uninstalled.
On Android Enterprise devices, whitelisting a set of apps blocks the use of any other apps and similarly, blacklisting restricts the use of the selected apps. For devices enrolled with the generic method, blacklisting/whitelisting won’t hide or disable the apps. Instead, the device will be marked as ‘non-compliant’ and the admin is notified via email if notification is enabled from Admin > Notifications. You might find our help documentation on the same useful.

Note: If you are blacklisting/whitelisting apps, you might want to whitelist the Google Play Store app.

You could use Hexnode’s App catalog for Android instead. App Catalog allows you to create and deploy a customized app store on the end users’ devices. Learn More.

@Wang, Yes, the apps configured as Mandatory Apps will be automatically updated when an update comes for Play Store apps. For Enterprise app, a similar case applies (Refer an earlier thread on the same).
However, for enterprise/in-house apps, if you select the Enforce app downgrade option while configuring the policy, the app version will remain unchanged and any advance version of the same app directly installed by the user will get downgraded. Applies to Samsung Knox, LG Gate, Kyocera business phones, rooted Android devices, and Android Enterprise Device Owner devices. Learn more. (Also refer – How to downgrade apps on your Android devices? )

Cheers!
Zach Goodman
Hexnode UEM

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.

I’ve used mandatory app policy to deploy some apps. Now we’ve been trying to upload the new version of an app on hexnode so that the old one can be updated automatically but some errors show up – “You cannot upload an app with the version details that you have already used for the previous version.”. The old app was from Play Store but is no longer available there, so got the updated apk file from another site.

@darcy, I had the same problem once. We were downloading apps from an external website and trying to add it on hexnode. Seems like a problem with the third-party app store as most of the apps from the same site had similar problem.
Edit:
Recently we were just exploring these apps and found out that these apps had the same app identifiers corresponding to the third-party store; so basically, we were trying to add the same app (the third-party app store) which was already added on Hexnode.

yup @wang I think our issue is similiar. We got in touch with the developer of the app and requested a good copy.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.

Mandatory app is not installing!!

We added enterprise app successfully on Hexnode and created a mandatory app policy to deploy the app to the device. The app is fetched on the end-device but when clicked on Install, shows the error ‘Action not allowed’. When user clicks on Learn More about the error, they are taken to a page where they are given the option to remove the work profile!
Why is the app not installing even though it was added successfully on Hexnode?
We are using Android Enterprise on Android 10 and the devices are running work profile separately. Have attached screenshots of the issue below.

Hi @Maud, sorry you had to face that.
Could you check if install from unknown source permission is granted for the Hexnode for Work app. You can find the option on the device by opening Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Special app access > Install unknown apps > Hexnode For Work.

Cheers!
Zach Goodman
Hexnode UEM

@Zach
we had checked the install from unknown source permission and found it was blocked for Hexnode for Work app. Says “Disabled by admin” even though I didn’t make any such change.

@Maud, we are on the right track. Now, please create a policy from Policies > New Policy and configure the following payload Android > Advanced Restrictions > [Scroll down to find the section] Allow App settings > [Enable] Install apps from unknown sources. Associate the policy with the concerned devices and deploy it. The only thing left now is the grant ‘Allow installation from this source’ permission for Hexnode for Work app. This should fix your issue.
However, this will enable the permission for all the work apps, if you would like to disable the permission again, please open the same policy and uncheck ‘Allow installation from this source’ option before deploying it back.

Note: You can also silently install/uninstall enterprise apps if you publish the apps as Private apps in the Managed Google Play console.

Cheers!
Zach Goodman
Hexnode UEM

@Zach
We deployed the policy with the necessary payload and the option was again active. Now the apps install fine. Appreciate your help on this matter.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by  Zach.