How to track app usage on Android devices?

About app usage tracking

In today’s fast-paced work environments, apps play a crucial role in boosting productivity and help in driving most of the day-to-day operations. What if organizations could gain insights into how these apps are used on Android devices and make informed decisions on that data? App usage information fetched through Hexnode UEM empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions and optimize application management across their Android devices.

Why track app usage?

Tracking the usage of applications provides insights into how employees interact with the apps on their device, such as:

• Monitoring productivity and identifying if any apps on the device are acting as a distraction for the employees and eating up a chunk of their work hours.
• Detect any potential security threats by spotting any abnormal patterns of app usage.
• Track usage of any paid apps that may not be used as much, thereby aiding in cost-reduction for organizations.

What exactly can you track?

Hexnode collects the following data regarding the usage of applications on Android devices,

• Total duration of time spent on each app.
• Number of times an app was opened.
• The last time an app was opened and closed.
• Number of notifications received from an app.

How to track app usage?

In Hexnode UEM, the App Usage Management feature in Policies is used to track and monitor app usage for specific apps on the an Android device . Here’s how you can do this:

1. Log in to Hexnode UEM.
2. Navigate to Policies > New Policy.
3. Click on New Policy and choose Android as the platform. Then, click Next.
4. Choose the policy type and hit Next.
5. Select App Usage Management and click Configure.
6. Click on +Add App and select the apps you want to track. Then, hit Next.
7. Under the App Usage Notifications settings, you can configure notification settings to notify IT admins, users, or both users and admins via email on a Monthly or Daily basis when app usage for the selected apps exceeds a set time limit. Users can choose to set multiple usage limits for the apps and notify admins/users by clicking on the ‘+’ sign.

   

8. Click Ok.

The following settings are used to configure how the selected apps are tracked on each device,

• App usage tracking: Enable this option to track the total duration of time spent on the selected apps.
• Track app launch frequency: Enable this option to track how many times the app has been opened.

Associating Policy with target entities

If the policy has not yet been saved,

1. Navigate to Policy Targets.
2. Click on +Add Devices.
3. Select the devices and click OK.
4. Click on Save to apply the policies to devices.

Apart from devices, you can also associate the policies to device groups, user and user groups from Policy Targets.

If the policy has been saved, you can associate it with another method.

1. From “Policies”, check the policies to be associated.
2. Click on Manage → Associate Targets and select the device.
3. Click on Associate to apply the policy to the devices.

View App Usage Data

You can view app usage information for Android devices either from the Device Details page of a specific device or from the Reports tab for organization-wide insights.

View app usage for a specific device

1. Go to Manage > Devices in the Hexnode portal.
2. Select the required Android device from the list.
3. Go to the Usage Insights sub-tab and then select App Usage.
4. Click on Export to download the usage report as a .pdf or .csv file, if needed.

The report displays app usage details allowing IT admins to analyze app activity on the selected device.

View app usage through Reports tab

For a comprehensive view of the app usage data in Android devices enrolled in Hexnode,

1. Navigate to Reports > Built-in Reports > Usage Insights > Device Usage.
2. Click on Application Usage.

The Application Usage report lists all applications with their usage information on each Android device which is associated with the App Usage Management policy. You can export the report as a .pdf or .csv file, or schedule it to be generated automatically at specified intervals.

Frequently Asked Questions—FAQ

1. What details are the admins and users notified of when the app usage time exceeds the set limit?

   When an app exceeds the usage limit, technicians (admins) and users receive an email notification detailing:

   • The list of devices where the time limit was exceeded.
   • The enforced app usage limit that was set in the App Usage Management policy.
   • The app(s) whose usage time surpassed the defined time limit.

2. Can I configure different app usage notification settings for individual apps?

   Yes. While configuring the App Usage Management policy, you can set different notification preferences for each app. After selecting the apps to track, click the edit icon next to the required app and modify its App Usage Notification settings as needed.

3. Which app usage data are displayed on the Device Details page?

   Under Usage Insights > App Usage in the Device Details page for a specific device, you can view the following app usage data:

   • Usage Time: The total time an app was used on the device.
   • Last Closed time: The last time an app was closed.
   • Last Opened time: The last time an app was opened on the device.
   • Number Of Times Opened: The number of times an app has been launched on the device.
   • Number of Notifications Received: The total number of notifications received from an app in the selected time range.

   Note that the data will be displayed based on the time zone settings configured under Admin > General Settings > Timezone settings for the Reports.

4. How can I update or refresh the app usage information shown on the Device Details page?

   In the Usage Insights sub-tab in the Device Details page, you can click the Sync icon to refresh the app usage data.

5. How is app usage duration calculated for Daily and Monthly notifications?

   When configuring App Usage Notifications in the App Usage Management policy, the parties involved are notified based on the app usage on the selected notification frequency.

   • If Daily is selected, usage is tracked from 12:00 AM to 11:50 PM each day.
   • If Monthly is selected, usage is tracked from the 1st day of the month to the last day of the month.

   Notifications are triggered when the configured usage limit is exceeded.

6. What permission must be granted on the device to enable App Usage Management with Hexnode UEM?

   To enable App Usage Management on devices enrolled using Hexnode UEM and Hexnode For Work, the Usage Access permission is required and must be granted. For devices enrolled in Android Enterprise Device Owner mode, the Usage Access permission is automatically enabled when the app usage policy is applied, provided it hasn’t been granted already.