NinjaOne Mobile Device Management (MDM): Android Application Management

Topic

1. In NinjaOne, navigate to Administration → Policies → MDM Policies, then select an Android MDM policy from the list.

2. The Android MDM policy's configuration page opens. Click Applications. The menu expands to show three configuration page links:
   • Management Settings
   • Kiosk Settings
   • Advanced Settings

Configuring Application Settings

In the Applications drop-down menu, click Management to access application management configuration options.

Here, you can configure the following settings:

Working with Managed Applications

The Managed Applications table allows you to select specific applications to be automatically installed or blocked, or made optionally available to users on a NinjaOne-managed Android device. Apps that you add appear in this table.

Managed Applications Table Columns

The Managed Applications table shows data about each app in a series of data columns. You can add or remove columns by clicking the gear icon. You can also rearrange columns by dragging them to new positions in the stack.

App Installation Failure Activity

Three consecutive app installation failures (not specifically on the same app) trigger a failure activity, which NinjaOne reports in the Activity feed on the device's dashboard. This alerting generates automatically and requires no configuration.

Kiosk Settings

The multi-app kiosk launcher dedicates devices to run a specific set of apps so they can function as single-purpose kiosks (such as information terminals, point-of-sale pads, or digital signs). Refer to Android Kiosk Documentation (external link) to learn more about Android kiosk mode.

Activating Kiosk Options

You must activate the native multi-app kiosk launcher before configuring kiosk settings.

On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, click Applications, then select Management from the drop-down menu and activate the Native multi-app kiosk launcher toggle.

Editing Kiosk Settings

On the Android MDM policy's Applications page, click Kiosk settings, then configure the settings to your requirements. This table provides an explanation of each kiosk setting.

Advanced Settings

The Advanced tab allows you to configure persistent preferred activities, which are rules that determine which apps the managed devices will employ when users perform specific actions.

Configuring Persistent Preferred Activities

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, navigate to Applications → Advanced and click Add activity.
2. In the Add activity window, enter the following information:

Adding an Application

This section explains how to add Google Play Store, system, custom, and private applications.

Special Considerations

Remember these considerations when adding applications.

• Users without update permissions in the Android MDM policy cannot add, edit, or remove Android applications. Refer to our NinjaOne Mobile Device Management (MDM): Android Policy Management article for more information about assigning user permissions.
• The Privacy Badger browser extension and similar extensions may block cookies, which could prevent Google Play from displaying in the NinjaOne platform.

Procedure

1. In NinjaOne, navigate to Administration → Policies, then choose an Android MDM policy from the MDM policies list.

2. On the policy's configuration page, click Management → Add Apps and select whether you want to add an application from the Google Play Store, add a system app, or upload a custom app via APK file.

Add Apps from the Google Play Store

You can add any apps available on the Google Play Store.

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, click Management → Add Apps and select Play Store from the drop-down menu. The Add New Package menu opens.
2. Select the Android connection (Enterprise account) from the drop-down menu. If you are creating a new Android connection, refer to MDM: Enable the Android Enterprise Device Management.
3. Find the application by scrolling or searching, then click the application name.
4. Click Select to add the application to the device's Android MDM policy. NinjaOne displays the app, along with its details and assignment type, in the Managed Applications table's Installed applications column. The assignment defaults to Preinstalled. Follow the steps in the Configure or Edit Application Restrictions and Settings section below to change default assignment types.

Add System Apps

You may want to install additional apps as system apps on managed Android devices.

1. On the policy's configuration page, click Management → Add Apps and select System app from the drop-down menu.
2. In the Add system app window, enter the following information:

Add Private Apps

NinjaOne deploys private apps only to the devices that share the Android Connection name. We recommend using a separate Android MDM policy to segment connections from other devices that should not have access.

Private App Considerations

• The Google Play iframe has a size limitation in line with the Google Play Developer Console for Android package kit (APK) files. Avoid uploading files in excess of 100 MB. Larger apps should be uploaded as Android App Bundle (AAB) files in the Developer Console and not through the iframe as an APK.
• Organizations should leverage external resources and on-demand payloads where possible (for example, any large app or game that alerts you upon launch that it has more to download). These resources provide a better user experience and reduce network failures, as they can be stopped and started as needed.

The Android Connection column in Managed Applications updates when you add a private app.

1. Click Add Apps and select Play Store.
2. Select the Android connection (Enterprise account) from the drop-down menu. If you need to create a new Android connection, refer to MDM: Enable the Android Enterprise Device Management.
3. Move your cursor over the navigation pane and click Private Apps.
4. Click the + icon and follow the prompts to upload your private apps.

Add Custom App APKs

You can upload custom apps via Android package kit (APK) files directly to an Android MDM policy. To manage custom APK files in a centralized library and apply them across multiple policies without re-uploading, refer to the Managing the APK Library section of this article.

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, navigate to Management → Managed Applications.
2. Click Add apps, then select Upload application from the drop-down menu.

3. The Upload application window opens. Configure the following settings:

View Installed APKs

To view and manage APK files in the centralized APK library, refer to the Managing the APK Library section of this article.

Add Web Apps

Web apps are apps that are maintained online and displayed in a web browser. NinjaOne MDM points to the application website.

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, click Management → Add Apps and select Play Store from the drop-down menu. The Add New Package menu opens.
2. Select the Android connection (Enterprise account) from the drop-down menu. If you need to create a new Android connection, refer to MDM: Enable the Android Enterprise Device Management.
3. Move your cursor over the navigation pane and click Web Apps.
4. Click the + icon and follow the prompts to add your web apps. Refer to Create web apps - Android Enterprise Help and Android Management API: Google for Developers (external links) for more information about this process from Google.

Managing the APK Library

The APK library is a centralized repository for custom APK files. You can upload, edit, and override APKs from the library and apply them across multiple Android MDM policies without re-uploading files at the policy level. Changes you make in the APK library propagate automatically to all associated policies and device-level overrides.

Navigating to the APK Library

To access the APK library, navigate to Administration → Apps → Installed → NinjaOne MDM Android and click APK library.

The APK library table lists all uploaded APK files. Each row displays the app's name, package name, version, publisher, Android connection, status, and upgrade status. You can add or remove columns by clicking the Actions icon, and rearrange columns by dragging them to new positions.

APK Scanning Status

NinjaOne scans each APK you upload for security threats. The Status column in the APK library displays the current scan state for each file.

To filter the APK library table by scan status, click the filter control above the table and select the status values you want to display.

Adding an APK to the Library

Follow these steps to upload a new APK to the APK library.

1. In the APK library, click Upload.
2. In the Upload an .apk file window, click Upload file.
3. Navigate to the file on your system and click Open.
4. Enter any of the following information that NinjaOne MDM requires.

4. Click Save.

After you save, NinjaOne begins scanning the APK. The APK's status changes to Scanning until the scan is complete. NinjaOne records an activity entry when the upload succeeds or fails.

Editing an APK in the Library

You can upload a new version of an existing library APK to replace it. NinjaOne applies the updated file to all associated policies and device-level overrides automatically.

1. In the APK library, click the Actions menu next to the APK you want to update, then click Edit.

2. In the edit window, upload the replacement APK file and update any settings you want to change. When finished, click Update.

NinjaOne adds the updated APK information to all associated policies and device-level overrides and records an Activities feed entry for the edit result.

Overriding an APK

The override feature replaces one library APK with another version already in the library, across all associated policies and device-level overrides simultaneously. Use this workflow when you want to swap an APK version without uploading a new file.

1. In the APK library, click the actions menu next to the APK you want to replace, then click Override.
2. In the override window, select the replacement APK from the library, then click Confirm.

NinjaOne removes the original APK and updates all associated policies and device-level overrides to use the replacement. NinjaOne records an activity entry that lists the policies and device overrides that were updated.

Filtering the APK Library

You can filter the APK library table by upgrade status, policy, or package name to narrow the list of APKs displayed. Click the filter control above the table and select the filtering category.

You can filter APKs by:

• Scan Status
• Upgrade status
• Policy
• Package name

APK Library Activity Log

The APK library includes an activity log that records events for each APK. To view the activity log for a specific APK, click the actions menu next to the APK, then click Details. [VERIFY NAVIGATION]

The activity log records the following event types:

• Upload success and upload failure

.

• Scan complete, including results where the scan status is Suspicious.
• Edit success and edit failure.
• Policy and device override updates that result from an override or Android connection assignment change.
• APK deletion.

Deleting an APK from the Library

You can delete APKs from the library when they are no longer needed. You can only delete an APK that is not currently assigned to any policy.

1. In the APK library, click the Actions menu next to the APK you want to delete, then click Delete.
2. NinjaOne prompts you to confirm the deletion. Click Yes to complete the action.

NinjaOne removes the APK from the library and records an activity entry logging the filename that was deleted.

Configuring Application Restrictions and Settings

You can edit the applications installed at the policy level to override default settings for each application.

1. On the Android policy's configuration page, click Applications, then select one or more applications from the Managed Applications list.
2. The Edit applications policy window opens. In this tab, you can configure the following options:

Managed Configurations

In the Managed configurations tab, you can further modify the application, if available.

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, click Management, then select an app from the Managed Applications list. The Edit applications policy window opens.
2. Click the Managed configurations tab. If this tab is not present, the app does not support managed configurations. The data provided in this tab depends on the application. For example, Microsoft Teams allows you to configure which user accounts can log in and whether a password is required. In contrast, Google Chrome lets you configure the domain name system (DNS) queries and cache control.
3. In the Android Connection drop-down menu, select your enterprise account. Refer to our Enable Android Enterprise Device Management article for information about creating a new Android connection.

Supported Variables

NinjaOne supports the following variables for managed app configuration:

Removing Applications and Application Data

You can use NinjaOne to remotely remove local data for applications installed on an enrolled device, or to delete applications altogether.

Clear Application Data

You can remotely clear data from selected applications on an individual Android device by following these steps.

1. On the device's dashboard page, click the Software tab. NinjaOne displays a list of all installed applications.
2. Select the application packages to remove, then click the Clear App Data button when it appears.
3. NinjaOne prompts you to confirm the action. Enter your email address to confirm, then click Clear App Data.

Remove Applications

Follow these steps to remove applications from NinjaOne management.

1. On the Android MDM policy's configuration page, click Applications.
2. Select one or more applications from the Managed Applications list, then select the checkboxes for the apps you wish to remove and click Remove.

Additional Resources

Refer to the following resources to learn more about working with Android policies:

• Android Policy Management
• MDM: Enable the Android Enterprise Device Management
• Create web apps - Android Enterprise Help (external link)
• Android Management API: Google for Developers (external link)