The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) offers undeniable flexibility, letting employees use personal smartphones for work applications and email. However, this convenience introduces a significant challenge: how do we prevent accidental data leaks when we back up and restore work data?

The answer lies in containerization, a security strategy designed to draw a clear digital boundary between your professional and personal lives on a single device.

What is Containerization and How Does it Work?

Imagine a digital fence created on your phone. Containerization technology is the mechanism that builds and maintains this fence. It ensures that company rules govern sensitive corporate data and completely isolate it from your personal archives. If you were to bundle everything into a single backup, you’d risk mixing sensitive corporate files with your personal photos and messages. It might sound strict, but this separation is important, and protects both you and your employer, especially when you lose, steal, or replace a device.

The implementation differs slightly depending on your device’s operating system:

• Android Work Profile: This creates a fully encrypted “work” user profile on your phone. It’s essentially a separate, sealed-off environment.
• iOS Managed Apps: On iOS, your company’s Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution wraps individual work apps in special controls, creating secure “app silos.”

Protecting Data Ownership with Backups

A core, non-negotiable benefit of containerization is its strong influence on data backup and recovery, removing a frequent risk for corporate information in BYOD environments. The design keeps work files under corporate control and separates them from personal backups.

For Android

When your IT team enrolls a personal Android device with a UEM via Android Enterprise Profile Owner, they do more than install apps. Enrollment creates a secondary, fully separated user environment. This environment is securely provisioned for corporate applications and data. It is designated as the Work Profile.

• Secure Isolation: The Work Profile is an encrypted container with separate keys from your personal profile. Approved work apps, documents, and credentials reside inside it. They are isolated so other apps cannot access them. They also cannot be mixed into personal files.
• IT Control: Administrators retain control of the Work Profile and can manage its settings remotely. They can remotely wipe only work data if a device is lost, stolen, or an employee leaves. This thereby preserves personal photos, messages, and other personal content and personal accounts on the device.

For iOS

On iOS, BYOD deployments use iOS User Enrollment to create a separate logical partition called Business Container. Management does not target the full device; instead, it focuses on protecting and managing individual corporate applications.

• Logical Separation: User Enrollment creates a segregated APFS (Apple File System) volume on the device that has the Managed App Data. The Business Container keeps corporate content within managed apps, preventing its movement to personal apps like Photos or Contacts.
• Backup Dictated by Policy: When you back up a personal device using iCloud or Finder, your organization’s MDM settings and corporate policy strictly govern the inclusion of Managed App Data. In higher-security deployments, MDM can prevent the inclusion of managed app data in personal backups. In such configurations, the company often backs up corporate data to its own servers. It restores this data only via the MDM infrastructure. This ensures the corporate data lifecycle remains under organizational control while minimizing unauthorized restoration paths and improving auditability where required.

The Short Answer

No, you cannot directly back up or restore work-container data in the same manner you handle your personal photos or text messages. For more security and strict compliance with data regulations, the system locks down BYOD containers. Only your company’s specialized management tools can handle that data.

IT manages your work data backups as a necessary security protocol, not a user restriction. This directly safeguards corporate property and sensitive data. For you, it ensures protection from the administrative burden and liability associated with separating personal and work files during device changes or wipes. Containerization is the standard, secure foundation for effective BYOD programs.

The post Is It Possible to Back up and Restore Data from the Work Container in the Case of iOS and Android BYODs? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

As enterprises increasingly rely on Android devices, IT teams must secure data, enforce compliance, and deploy apps and policies across a mobile fleet without compromising user privacy or productivity. Mobile Device Management (MDM) solves this by defining how devices are enrolled, which directly determines the level of control available. The legacy Device Administrator API has been replaced by the more capable Device Owner mode in Android Enterprise. So understanding the difference between device owner vs device admin is essential for a secure, future-ready mobile strategy.

What is Device Administrator (Device Admin)?

The Device Administrator API was the original method for Android device management, introduced in Android 2.2. It enabled specific applications to gain administrative privileges after being manually activated by the device user.

Features

Device Admin offers a basic set of security features, including:

• Enforcement of screen lock password policies (complexity, length).
• Remote device lock.
• Remote initiation of a factory data reset (wipe).
• Ability to disable the camera.

How to Set Up

The user must first download the management application, then navigate to the device’s Settings > Security > Device Admin Apps and manually grant the app administrator privileges.

How it Helps

Device Admin allowed organizations to apply a baseline security posture on personal (BYOD) devices. This was especially useful for enforcing simple mandatory measures, such as password requirements, needed to access corporate resources like email.

Key Characteristics

• Legacy: It’s an outdated system, deprecated by Google for companies since Android 9 and mostly phased out in Android 10 and newer versions.
• User-Enabled: Users had to manually turn on its permissions for it to work.
• Limited Scope: It offered only a few basic policy options that applied across the entire device.

Use cases

• Legacy BYOD: Used by older MDM deployments for basic security on personal devices.
• Consumer Apps: A few consumer apps, such as “Find My Device,” continue to use the Consumer Apps for basic functions like screen locking and remote wiping.

What is Device Owner?

The Device Owner mode (introduced in Android 5.0 Lollipop) is the current industry standard for managing corporate-owned devices, providing total and full lifecycle control over the device.

Features

Device Owner grants the MDM solution complete, system-level mastery, enabling:

• Kiosk Mode Lockdown: Restricting the device to a single application or a select set of apps (dedicated devices).
• Hardware Control: Locking down hardware features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or cellular data roaming.
• Silent Management: Remotely installing, uninstalling, and updating apps without user interaction.
• Full Provisioning: Customizing system settings and applying network configurations (VPN, Wi-Fi) on the device.

How to Set Up

Device Owner must be provisioned during the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), meaning the device must be in a factory-reset state. Enrollment methods are highly scalable and automated, such as Zero-Touch Enrollment (ZTE), QR Code provisioning, or NFC-based enrollment. Once set up, the end-user cannot remove the Device Owner app.

How it Helps

Device Owner allows the organization to convert any Android device into a dedicated corporate tool. This is crucial for environments requiring high security and granular control, ensuring the device’s exclusive use for work and highly protecting corporate data.

Key Characteristics

• Modern Standard: It is the official, recommended system for managing corporate devices under the Android Enterprise program.
• Full Control: It manages the entire device and offers powerful system-level controls that the older system (Device Admin) could not.
• Secure Provisioning: The setup process is highly secure and prevents users from easily removing or bypassing the management controls.

Use Cases

• Fully Managed Fleet: Corporate phone fleets used by employees where the company controls everything on the device.
• Dedicated Devices: Tablets used for digital signage, point-of-sale (POS) systems, or inventory scanners (Kiosk mode).
• High-Security Environments: Where data protection and compliance regulations require absolute control over device functionality.

Comparison: Device Admin vs. Device Owner

For organizations today, adopting the Device Owner mode—part of the Android Enterprise framework—is not optional; it is the definitive strategy for managing corporate assets. By enabling system-level controls and preventing user bypass, Device Owner makes sure that your mobile fleet operates with maximum security, compliance, and dedicated functionality, thereby transforming your devices from potential risks into fully managed, reliable tools.

The post What Is the Difference Between Device Owner and Device Admin? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

The Android Enterprise program offers two management modes – Device Owner for fully managed corporate devices, and Profile Owner for devices with a separate work container. Choosing the right mode depends on ownership, use case, and security needs. Read on to understand the difference between Device Owner vs Profile Owner.

What is a Device Owner?

The Device Owner mode in Android Enterprise is where the organization has end-to-end control and ownership of an Android device. The device is considered corporate property and is provisioned for business use only. It is provisioned as a Corporate-Owned, Business-Only (COBO) asset where the device is dedicated solely to work.

Key Features –

• Ability to schedule OS updates
• Bypassing factory reset protection
• Full control over hardware functionalities (e.g., camera, Bluetooth)
• Enforcing global settings and deep-level policies
• Lock the device into a single-app or multi-app kiosk mode

Use Cases –

• Corporate-owned, Single-use Devices
  When a company owns a device for a single purpose, such as a tablet for customer check-ins or a screen for digital signage, Device Owner mode is a handy way to ensure it stays focused. It allows the IT team to lock the device into kiosk mode, where only a single app or a group of apps can be used. This way, the device remains on the task.

• Dedicated Devices for Specific Roles
  For specific job roles, like a warehouse team or delivery drivers, Device Owner mode is the ideal setup. In this mode, a tablet can be configured with only the apps it needs, such as an inventory management system or a scanning app. The IT team can disable features like social media, games, or web browsing that may tend to cause distractions. This way, the device is always ready and optimized to help them complete the task quickly and efficiently.

What is a Profile Owner?

The Profile Owner mode gives a “work-only” space in the employee’s personal device. This is ideal for companies with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. In this setup, the company will be able to manage work data without ever accessing personal information.

The work profile is like a secure and separate space, where all the company apps and data will be locked down and protected. This way, companies can have their data managed and protected, and at the same time, employees can use their devices personally.

Key Features –

• Enforce a separate work profile passcode
• Restrict data sharing (copy-paste) between the work and personal profiles
• Manage and distribute work apps through a separate, managed Google Play store
• Remotely wipe the work profile data, leaving the personal apps, media, or files
• Restrict or allow screen capture within the work profile

Use Cases –

• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Programs
  Lots of companies today are choosing to let employees use their own phones for work. The BYOD program is a great way for businesses to save money and avoid the hassle of managing a fleet of company phones. The key to making BYOD work is Profile Owner mode. It lets employees use their own smartphones for work tasks while giving the IT team a simple way to protect company data. All the work stuff stays secure in a separate work profile. If an employee ever leaves, the company can just wipe out the work data, without ever touching the employee’s personal photos or messages. It’s a clean and secure way to handle things.

Device Owner Vs. Profile Owner – A Comparison

Choosing between these modes is about ownership and security. Here’s a quick look at the differences between Profile Owner vs Device Owner.

The post What is the difference between a Device Owner and a Profile Owner in Android Enterprise? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

Corporate-owned devices in Android Enterprise can be managed in two primary management modes – Device Owner mode or Work Profile mode. A clear understanding of Device Owner vs Work Profile is vital for making the correct mobile deployment choice for your organization.

The Device Owner Mode

The Device Owner mode in corporate-owned devices gives the highest level of control for Android devices. It is designed for phones and tablets that are strictly for business use. This is also known as COBO (Corporate-Owned, Business-Only) and provides the maximum security.

Purpose

The sole purpose of the Device Owner mode is to serve a specific business function. These devices are provisioned directly from the factory or after a full factory reset.

• Level of Control: An organization has complete control over the device, from the operating system to the hardware functionality. The company can manage every setting, install or remove any app, enforce OS updates, and even bypass factory reset protection.
• Data Separation: There is no separation between work and personal data because the device is intended to have no personal data at all. The entire device is considered corporate property, and all apps and data are under IT management.
• Best For: Single-use devices such as tablets in a restaurant kiosk or barcode scanners in a warehouse. These devices are used for a specific job and are not meant for personal calls, social media, or private photos.

The Work Profile on Corporate-Owned Devices Mode

The Work Profile on Corporate-Owned Devices mode is a flexible hybrid approach. The device is still owned by the company, but it is given to an employee for both work and personal use. This is referred to as COPE (Corporate-Owned, Personally Enabled).

Purpose

This model is advantageous to employees who prefer to carry a single device for both work and personal life. The company provides the device as a corporate asset and benefit, while still ensuring its data remains secure.

• Level of Control: The company has high-level control over the entire device, similar to a Device Owner, but with a crucial distinction – a separate, secure work profile is created to contain all corporate apps and data. The personal space on the device is still under the employee’s control.
• Data Separation: This marks the key difference. The work profile is a fully segregated container. The company manages everything inside this profile, including apps, data, and security policies. However, it has zero visibility into the employee’s personal space on the device, meaning they cannot see personal apps, photos, or messages.
• Best For: Knowledge workers, executives, or sales teams who need a professional device for work-related tasks (email, CRM) but also want to use it for personal activities.

Device Owner vs Work Profile – Key Differences at a Glance

Let’s understand Device Owner vs Work Profile better with the comparison table here.

The post What is the difference between Device Owner and Work Profile on corporate-owned devices in Android Enterprise? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

MDM solutions offer a set of policies and restrictions that you can implement to secure your Android TV box. Using an MDM, you can configure passwords, restrict unwanted apps and websites, track location, or lock your Android TV into a digital kiosk. Here’s how you can secure your Android TV box with an MDM solution:

Implement policies

Deploy policies to enforce password restrictions, prevent unauthorized access, and configure network settings, among other things.

Track location

Review the whereabouts of the Android TV box using the real-time location tracking functionality available in most MDM software. This helps in recovering the device in the unfortunate incident of it being lost or stolen.

Enable geofencing

Define virtual geographical boundaries called geofences using this feature. Impose restrictions within or outside these specified locations to secure them.

Manage apps

Whitelist or blacklist apps to ensure that only trusted and necessary apps are used, minimizing the risk of malicious software getting installed.

Lock devices into digital kiosks

Transform Android TVs into secure kiosks by showcasing only pre-approved applications. Restrict access to unauthorized apps and system settings, ensuring a controlled and tamper-proof user experience.

Monitor devices remotely

Supervise the Android TV screen in real-time to ensure compliance. This helps you oversee device usage without physical presence, making it easier to spot potential security threats.

Manage data

Set limits for data or Wi-Fi thereby reducing the risk of data breaches by regulating exposure to untrusted networks.

Analyze reports

Evaluate reports on devices, users, compliance, location, and data management to get detailed insights on device activity and behavior. This helps in identifying potential vulnerabilities.

Implementing an MDM solution for your Android TV box provides robust protection against potential threats, streamlines device management, and ensures only authorized access to apps and settings. Furthermore, this step enhances security and control, offering peace of mind, whether for personal entertainment or professional use. 

The post How to secure your Android TV box with MDM? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

An XAPK file format, which assists in installing apps on Android devices, contains an APK file and an OBB (Opaque Binary Blobs) file with additional data. Users should always download XAPK files from a trusted website to avoid being an open target.

The number of steps that are necessary to install an XAPK file includes:

1. Download and locate the XAPK file on your system.
2. Rename the file extension from XAPK to ZIP. E.g., if the file is “app. xapk”, change it to “app.zip”.
3. Unzip this file in any folder in the system.
4. An APK file, an Android folder and a PNG file will be in the extracted folder.
5. There should be another folder inside the Android folder when you open it. Copy this folder to Internal storage > Android > OBB.
6. After that, return to the extracted folder and tap the APK file to install it normally. Allow the file manager to install applications from untrusted sources if prompted.

Google has made it very challenging for third-party file managers to make modifications inside the Data and OBB folders for devices running Android 11 and higher.

If the user can’t copy the OBB folder using the file manager on an Android phone, there are two other alternatives possible. It includes using the Files by Google app or the stock file manager. If everything fails, users may attach their phones to a computer and transfer the files using Finder on a Mac or File Explorer on Windows.

The main advantage of using the XAPK file is that there is no need to download the OBB file repeatedly. Instead, users can copy the identical OBB file to different devices and function similarly.

Separate installer applications are also available for installing XAPK files, but these third-party applications are unreliable. In addition, they may compromise privacy and deliver unwanted adware. To avoid malware, only download apps from the built-in app store.

Hexnode UEM also simplifies the distribution of enterprise apps using an XAPK file format on Android devices. The IT admins can push the enterprise apps to the devices remotely by uploading them either in APK or XAPK file format.

The post How to install an XAPK file? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

I’m sure it has happened to you, where you open some app and see an update icon pop-up. You might wonder what is the need for an update if the app is working fine. Well, that’s where you are mistaken because updates have much more meaning than the occasional UI change you see. For example, each new release might include new features or bug fixes from previous versions.  

So, updating your apps keeps you safe from the breaches that a previous unpatched app might cause. By default, if an app has an update, android auto-updates it. The problem with this is that sometimes updating apps is not desirable.   

In the cases where there is a limit on data usage, the auto-update of an app at the wrong time may lead to undesirable data usage costs. Auto-updates can also cause irregularities in the corporates, as sometimes different devices receive updates at different times. Some new updates may themselves be faulty, in such cases, auto-updating to such version can hamper security and productivity. So, google offers you an option to disable auto-updates altogether. However, this can sometimes be counterproductive, as some apps you might want to be auto-updated.  

Allow auto-update of selected applications  

Step 1: Disable Auto-updates for all apps  

• Open Google Play Store App on your device.  
• Tap on the Menu option on the top left corner of the screen.  
• Click on Settings.  
• Under Network preferences, tap on ‘Auto-update’ apps and select the Do not auto-update apps option to disable apps installed on your device from auto-updating.  

Step 2: Auto-update Settings for Individual Apps  

• Open Google Play Store App on your device.  
• Tap on Menu option on the top left corner of the screen.  
• Tap on My Apps and Games.  
• Under Installed tab, select the app you wish to change the auto-update option.  
• Click on More option on the top right corner of the App Home Screen.  
• Check the ‘Auto-update ‘option on the prompt. 

The post How to allow auto-update of selected applications on Android appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

Well, if you are here looking for what a Device Policy Controller is, you must know what a UEM is. Now for a UEM to communicate with the device, there needs to be an intermediary, and this is exactly what a DPC is. Policies are instructions received by the DPC in the associated device. The Device Policy Controller then acts accordingly to manage the device.

On an Android device, the DPC app is used for both BYOD devices and also fully-managed, corporate-owned devices. In BYOD devices, the DPC encrypts all work-related data by creating a work profile and keeps it isolated from the user’s personal data.

A UEM develops this DPC app alongside with the UEM console. The app communicates with the console, implements policies and verifies device compliance with the policies.

Google provides support libraries to develop the DPC app for a UEM. These libraries contain Utility and Helper classes that help in the management of Android devices. Hexnode UEM has built a competent app using google’s framework which covers all the important aspects of device management.

The post What is a Device Policy Controller? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

Setting up apps manually is frustrating, especially if you are an enterprise and you need to deploy multiple apps and configurations on multiple devices in your company. Those unending user agreements and the infinite credentials the user has to type in before setting up the required apps is a pain worth looking into. 

Managed app configuration is a feature that helps IT admins to remotely configure settings on work apps. Managed app configuration is best when used along with a UEM like Hexnode. 

Built-in support for managed app configuration must be provided during app development. App developers specify, what all options can be configured by an admin. With the help of UEMs, custom configurations can be set and remotely applied to apps for different users, devices or groups.
Features such as the passing of data and credentials to particular apps, setting up of application permissions, tunneling of apps using an organizational firewall and so much more is possible with Managed app configurations. 

OEMConfig is a relatively new but powerful feature that makes use of Managed app configurations. OEMConfig is an app that allows admins to manage device functionalities using Managed app configuration. With the introduction of the app feedback channel, it is now possible for IT admins to check the status of deployed configurations by requesting feedback. 

The post What is managed app configuration? appeared first on Hexnode Blogs.

OEMConfig apps are applications developed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to help IT admins manage device functionalities using Android Enterprise Managed app configurations. When using Managed App Configuration with OEMConfig apps, determining whether or not the configurations have been correctly deployed to the device is quite challenging. In 2019, Android announced the App feedback channel as a way for apps to communicate the configuration status to the end-user. 

The working of the feedback channel goes like this: 

• First, a configuration is deployed to the device through an EMM or UEM. 
• The app attempts to apply the configurations. For each configuration, the app sends a keyed app state indicating its status 
• To view these keyed app states, you retrieve a device report.
• Using information from the keyed app states, your EMM console displays the status of the managed configurations

Feedbacks from OEMConfig apps are also similar to this; the only difference is that each configuration sent corresponds to a device functionality, and the feedback helps the admins know whether or not a device functionality is properly configured. 

Hexnode can help you retrieve app feedback very easily. Just select the device for which the app feedback is required, select the app and request feedback. 

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