How to configure Android Enterprise devices with OEMConfig

OEMConfig is a standard used to configure OEM-specific settings on devices enrolled in the Android Enterprise program. It is an application built by the OEM and published on the Managed Google Play Store. OEMConfig apps use managed configurations to configure various device features provided by the OEM. Hexnode UEM allows you to access these OEM-specific features from the portal.

Many OEMs support custom, OEM-specific settings for their devices. With Hexnode UEM, you can customize these settings of any managed Android 5.0+ device that has its corresponding OEMConfig app installed.

How does it work?

OEMConfig apps developed by the OEMs are hosted on Google Play. These apps are approved from the store and added to the Hexnode UEM app inventory. Such apps utilize managed configurations to provide built-in support for app configurations. Hexnode allows configuring only those settings included by the OEM on its OEMConfig app. When this app installs on the device, it uses the settings configured in the portal to manage the device.

Configure Android Enterprise devices with OEMConfig

Before you start, make sure that:

• Your organization is enrolled in Android Enterprise program.
• The devices are enrolled in Android Enterprise (Device Owner or Profile Owner).

To configure your devices with the corresponding OEMConfig app, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Approve and Add OEMConfig apps to the inventory
• Set up OEM-specific configurations

Approve and Add OEMConfig apps to the inventory

To approve and add OEMConfig apps from Google Play to the app inventory, go through the steps explained below:

1. Navigate to the Apps tab.
2. Click on the +Add apps button and select Managed Google Apps from the drop-down list.
3. Select the OEMConfig app to be approved from the OEMConfig section. (Optional) You can also search for the required OEMConfig app by making use of the search button.
4. Click on Approve.
5. Another pop-up arises showing the permissions required by the app. Go through it and click Approve to finalize.
6. You will be taken to the Approval Settings page. Here you have to choose the method by which you would like to handle new app permission requests. You can choose from:
   • Keep approved when app requests new permissions – Select this to enable automatic reapproval. This ensures that the app is reapproved regardless of the new permissions being requested.
   • Revoke app approval when this app requests new permissions – Remove app from the store until it is reapproved when the app requests new permissions.
7. Go to the Notifications tab. Here you can add email addresses to subscribe for email notifications when the apps you have approved request new permissions. Enter the email address and click on Add. You can add as many subscribers as you need. Click Save.

This will add the approved OEMConfig apps to the app inventory. Distribute the app(s) to the target device(s) and make sure that the app(s) is/are installed on the device(s).

Set up OEM-specific configurations

The next step is to enable OEM-specific configurations for your Android Enterprise devices. For that,

1. Go to the Policies tab on your Hexnode portal.
2. Create a new policy with the New Policy button or select an existing policy.
3. From Android → App Management, select App Configurations.
4. Click on Configure and + Add new configuration button.
5. Select the OEMConfig app you need to configure from the list of approved apps.
6. The app configuration screen is displayed. Configure the settings available for that app provided by the OEM.
7. Click on Done after applying the required configurations.
8. Next, associate the policy with target devices by navigating to the Policy Targets tab.
9. Select the required Devices/Device Groups/Users/User Groups/Domains to which the policy is to be associated.
10. Click on Save.

The applied configurations will then be pushed to the device(s).

Supported OEMConfig Apps

Currently, Hexnode UEM supports the following OEMConfig apps: