Hexnode App Management – General FAQs

1. What is the difference between App Store Apps and Enterprise/In-house Apps?

App store apps are the applications exclusively available in the App Store for installation. They can either be free or paid apps. Enterprise/In-house apps, on the other hand, are custom-built applications that are designed and developed for enterprise-specific requirements and are solely owned and distributed by the enterprise.

2. How to disable App Store on the managed devices without affecting the installation of apps distributed via MDM?

App Store can be disabled on managed devices by navigating to Policies > New Policy > iOS > Advanced Restrictions and under Allow App Settings, uncheck Install app from App Store. This action would disable the App Store on the device and hide the App Store icon from the home screen. The required apps can still be installed on the device by distributing them via the MDM console.

3. What is an .apk file?

‘APK’ stands for Android Application Package and is a file format that Android operating system uses to distribute and install mobile applications. It contains every element an app needs to install correctly on the device. The Android program files are compiled and then packaged into a container that forms the .apk file. APK files are used to install apps from outside the Google Play Store (make sure they are installed from trusted sources).

4. What is the behavior of app permissions when a device is put in kiosk mode?

When a device is put in kiosk mode, no permission prompts will be generated unless explicitly enabled on the device from the MDM console. To enable the settings, go to Policies > New Policy > Kiosk Lockdown and choose the desired functionalities listed under Peripheral Settings such as disable status bar, keep screen on, disable power button, disable volume button, etc.

5. Does MDM allow iOS enterprise apps to be installed silently, without user intervention?

Only Supervised iOS devices support silent app installation of enterprise iOS apps. Add the enterprise app to the Hexnode app repository and push the same to the device to install it without user intervention.

6. Can you completely lock down an iOS device using an MDM?

Yes, activating single app kiosk mode on the device allows the admin to completely lock down the devices, enabling only the required apps, websites and settings and blocking all others.

7. Does MDM allow enterprise Android apps to be installed silently, without user intervention?

Hexnode allows enterprise apps to be installed silently on Android devices, specifically on Samsung Knox, LG GATE, Kyocera business phones, rooted Android devices, devices running Hexnode as system app, devices with Hexnode System Agent App, and in devices enrolled in Android Enterprise as Device Owner. For profile owner devices, silent app installation is possible for enterprise apps published as private in the Google Play Console.

8. Do Apple Store apps distributed through the Hexnode Portal require that the end-user have an iTunes account?

Generally, an iTunes account must be present on the device to install store apps. The end-user may or may not require an iTunes account, depending upon how the store apps are purchased and distributed.

The end-user is not required to provide his/her personal iTunes account if the apps are purchased via Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP) and assigned to supervised iOS 9.0+ devices.

Profile Owner

Apps other than the VPP apps will require the user’s Apple ID to initiate installation on the devices. Have a look at store app installation to know more.

9. How can we ensure that the user does not install/uninstall apps from Android devices?

Administrators can decide whether apps can be installed or uninstalled from the users’ Android devices using Hexnode UEM. Head on to Policies > Android > Advanced Restrictions > Allow App Settings and disable the options ‘Install apps’ or ‘Uninstall apps.’ Disabling the former option prevents users from installing any apps, whereas the latter prevents them from uninstalling any apps present on the devices. Note that the above restrictions work on Samsung Knox devices and devices enrolled as Device Owner and Profile Owner in the Android Enterprise program.

10. Can I remove user-installed apps on Android devices using Hexnode?

Yes, you can remove user-installed apps on Android devices remotely with Hexnode UEM. You can either remove apps from a single device at a time or uninstall apps from one or more devices simultaneously.
Silent app uninstallation works on Samsung Knox devices and devices with Hexnode MDM as a system app. Other generic Android devices will raise a prompt to uninstall apps. System apps cannot be removed from Android devices.

11. Why am I unable to install apps silently on Xiaomi devices?

Xiaomi devices come with an in-built feature to manage device performance and user experience called MIUI optimization. The MIUI optimization feature might interfere with Hexnode’s MDM features; it must be disabled to get all Hexnode UEM features working on a Xiaomi device.

Also, enabling or disabling MIUI optimization resets existing app permissions. So, following a change in the MIUI optimization settings, app permissions for Hexnode apps might have to be manually granted on the device-end to get all the features working.

To allow granular permissions on Xiaomi devices, go to Settings > Apps > Manage Apps > [Choose Hexnode app] > App permissions > [Allow all] .