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Set up OEM Configurations for Social Mobile devices with Rhino Config app

OEM configuration is a standard consisting of a set of tools used by Google to let mobility management vendors customize OEM-specific settings for devices enrolled in the Android Enterprise program. With the help of Social Mobile’s OEM configuration application, called the Rhino Config, specialized OEM features exclusively present in the app can be configured and deployed in Social Mobile devices.

To make use of these settings, an organization must first integrate with a mobility solution that offers OEM configuration support. Hexnode’s endpoint management solution provides simple tools by which this can be effortlessly achieved. You can configure various settings by adding the Rhino Config app in an App Configurations policy. This is a specialized App Management feature in the Hexnode UEM portal, that offers the admin to set up various configurations and settings present in the app. Once the settings are configured from the console, the apps can be deployed to the respective devices.

Note:


The features configured via this app work only on Social Mobile (Rhino) devices running Android 6 and later.

Configure Social Mobile devices with OEM

Prerequisites:


The device should be enrolled as Android Enterprise Device Owner or Profile Owner.

Mentioned below are the main steps to be followed while configuring Social Mobile devices with the Rhino Config app:

  1. Add the Rhino Config application to the Hexnode app inventory.
  2. Configure OEM-specific features.
  3. Deploy the app to the respective device(s).

Add the Rhino Config app to the Hexnode app inventory

To add the Rhino Config app to the Hexnode inventory, go through the following steps:

  1. In the Hexnode portal, navigate to the Apps tab.
  2. From the +Add Apps dropdown, select Managed Google Apps.
  3. Search for Rhino Config, and select the app.
  4. Click Select to add the app to the list of managed apps.

The Rhino Config app will now be added to the Hexnode app inventory. Now, you can deploy the app to the target Social Mobile Rhino devices.

Configure OEM specific settings

To set up OEM configurations on the Android Enterprise enabled Rhino devices,

  1. Navigate to Policies in Hexnode portal.
  2. Either choose an existing policy or click on the New Policy button and create a new policy with a custom policy name.
  3. Go to Android > App Management > App Configurations.
  4. Select Configure and click on the +Add new configuration button.
  5. From the list of applications, choose the Rhino Config app.
  6. In the app configuration screen displayed, choose and configure the required settings.

The settings that can be configured are given below:

Notification panel & status bar management
Settings Description
Enable quicksettings icons Quick settings icons are the ones displayed when the notification bar is swiped down. This configuration gives the option to freeze the icons so that they cannot be toggled. It also provides an option to hide the panel completely.
Enable notification panel settings icon This option lets the user enable or disable the settings icon displayed in the notification panel. This can prove useful to organizations who want to provide users the option to view notifications, but at the same time restrict access to settings.
Enable notification panel The notification panel is the one that is pulled down to view all notifications, quick settings, settings icon, etc. When this setting is configured as disabled, the system will disable the notification panel, and prevent notification icons from being shown in the status bar.
Enable status bar Status bar is the field displayed on the top of the screen, that includes time, battery, network indicators, notification icons, etc. If this configuration is disabled, the system will disable the status bar entirely, effectively hiding it from view. The notification panel can still be invoked with a swipe down.

Software buttons
Settings Description
Enable navbar (whole bottom nav & background bar) This feature allows the navbar to be configured such that it is completely hidden from view. This configuration is only suitable for a navigation bar with three buttons.
Enable home long press (Google assistant) The home button long-press feature can be configured to enable or disable Google Assistant. This won’t impact its invocation through other means.
Enable recents soft key Allows the user to configure the visibility of the recents key.
Enable home soft key Allows the user to configure the visibility of the home soft key.
Enable back soft key Allows the user to configure the visibility of the back soft key.

Hardware buttons
Settings Description
Enable power button (long press) Configure the user’s ability to long-press the power button and bring up the power menu.
Enable power button (short press) Configure the user’s ability to short-press the power button, disabling the ability to sleep/wake the screen with a power press.
Enable volume buttons Configure the user’s ability to toggle volume through the volume buttons. This will not prevent access to volume via Settings.
Enable PTT button (long press/short press) Controls the ability to long-press/short-press the Push-to-talk (PTT) button. Basically, a PTT button is one which can be pressed to enable communication. This feature is only applicable to devices with PTT buttons.
Enable scanner button (long press/short press) Controls the ability to long-press/short-press the scanner button. This feature is only applicable to devices with PTT buttons.
Enable wake device on scan button press This feature allows the admin to control the ability to wake the device by pressing the scan button. The feature is enabled by default, and only applicable to devices with scan buttons.

Sound & Vibration management
Settings Description
Mute all system sounds This feature allows admins to disable all sounds and mute the device irrespective of the user-defined settings and cannot be overridden.
Soft key press sound volume This feature allows admins to set the soft key press sound volume on the device.
Enable vibration This feature allows admins to control whether or not vibration should be enabled system-wide.
Vibration intensity (%) Allows admins to set a specific vibration intensity.

Custom button launch management
Settings Description
Package name to launch on multifunction button double press Enter the names of the packages required to be launched automatically on double-pressing the multifunction button. This feature will not function if the short press of the multifunction button is disabled.
Package name to launch on multifunction button single press Enter the names of the packages required to be launched automatically on pressing the multifunction button. This feature will not function if the short press of the multifunction button is disabled.
Package name to launch on power button double press Enter the names of the packages required to be launched automatically on double-pressing the power button. This feature will not function if the short press of the power button is disabled.

Display settings
Settings Description
Enable automatic brightness This configuration will be enabled by default since for Rhino devices, automatic brightness is set by default. If the option remains enabled while the configuration is pushed, it will prevent automatic brightness from being disabled. If manual brightness is to be set, the configuration must be set to false.
Force brightness level (0 to 100) The admin can configure the brightness displayed on the device. When configured, this cannot be modified by the user. Automatic brightness should be disabled if this feature is configured. If the value is set outside the 0 – 100 range, the user will gain control over screen brightness.
Allow brightness user override If enabled, this feature allows users to override the brightness set by admins.
Screen state This configuration allows the device screen to be set to always on or always off. It must be noted that keeping the device in always on mode will cause significant battery drainage. The option can also be set to manual.
Force orientation This configuration allows admins to fix the screen orientation and does not allow apps to individually force an orientation unless set to automatic. This configuration cannot be overridden and may cause “letterboxing” on some apps.

App management
Settings Description
Enable all system apps Allows admins to enable/disable system apps.
Suspend the following apps across all profiles Allows admins to suspend apps by their package names. Suspending an app allows admins to disable an app without clearing its data.
Disable app by package name Allows admins to disable apps by their package names.
Enable app by package name Allows admins to enable apps by their package names.
Set default virtual keyboard Allows admins to provide the name of the keyboard app that must be used on the parent or the work profile.

Device name settings
Settings Description
Device name Allows the admin to enter the device name in the field provided.
Allow changing device name Disabling this option allows admins to prevent the device name from being changed. The option will be greyed out for users at the device end.

Cellular radio settings
Settings Description
Enable roaming Allows admins to enable/disable roaming on devices.
Enable 4G Allows admins to permit/restrict using 4G/LTE on devices.
Enable 3G Allows admins to permit/restrict using 3G/HSDPA+ on devices.
Enable cellular radio Allows admins to enable/disable cellular radio on devices.
Enable “no SIM” warning for cellular radio Allows admins to prevent the display of the “no SIM” message on devices that do not have a SIM inserted.

Bluetooth settings
Settings Description
Enable bluetooth discovery Allows admins to make the device discoverable/undiscoverable to other Bluetooth enabled devices.
Enable bluetooth configuration Allows admins to enable/disable Bluetooth configuration.
Enable bluetooth radio Allows admins to enable/disable Bluetooth altogether. Native APIs will be overridden.
Enable bluetooth tethering Allows admins to enable/disable tethering over Bluetooth.

WiFi settings
Settings Description
Enable 2.4 GHz band Allows admins to enable/disable the 2.4GHz band.
Enable 5 GHz band Allows admins to enable/disable the 5 GHz band.
WiFi radio state Allows admins to enable/disable the use of Wi-Fi. Unless forced on/off is selected, users can turn Wi-Fi on/off as required.
Enable WiFi configuration Allows admins to enable/disable Wi-Fi configuration.
Enable Network Notifications Allows admins to enable/disable available open network notifications on devices.
Whitelist WiFi channels Admins can provide specific Wi-Fi channels to be whitelisted, permitting users to connect to these networks only.
Enable WiFi power save Allows admins to enable/disable power saving on Wi-Fi.
Enable WiFi tethering (hotspot) Allows admins to enable/disable Wi-Fi tethering.

NFC settings
Settings Description
Enable NFC payment Allows admins to enable/disable NFC payment.
Enable NFC read Allows admins to prevent the device from reading tags/other devices when bumped.
Enable NFC write Allows admins to prevent the device from writing to tags/other devices when bumped.
Enable NFC radio Allows admins to enable/disable NFC for contactless payment.

GPS settings
Settings Description
Enable GPS radio Allows an admin to enable/disable GPS radio.

Location settings
Settings Description
Enable location Allows an admin to restrict enabling of location.

Network settings
Settings Description
Enable USB tethering Allows admins to enable/disable tethering via USB.
Enable VPN Allows admins to enable/disable VPN on the device.
Set private DNS mode Allows admins to set private DNS mode.
Private DNS hostname If Set private DNS mode is set to ‘Custom’, admins can set a private DNS hostname for the device.

Airplane mode settings
Settings Description
Enable Airplane mode Allows admins to enable/disable airplane mode. If set to ‘True’, users can turn it on/off when required.

Camera settings
Settings Description
Enable front camera Allows admins to enable/disable the front camera.
Enable main camera Allows admins to enable/disable the main camera.
Enable flash Allows admins to enable/disable camera flash.
Disable front camera wide FOV Allows admins to enable/disable the wide FOV in the front camera.
Enable location information Allows admins to allow/prevent the location or meta from being stored with the photos.

Battery settings
Settings Description
Battery optimisations If any app should not have battery optimization enabled, its package name can be added here.

Screen input settings
Settings Description
Enable screen input Allows admins to enable/disable touch input on devices. Disabling touch could be useful for digital signage applications.
Number of taps to override (escape hatch) Admins can enter the number of times one has to tap the screen to override the disabled screen input as an escape hatch incase the device loses connectivity.

Keyguard/Screen lock settings
Settings Description
Enable key guard Allows the admin to disable the setting up of any kind of passcode on the device. Disabling this feature can affect the working of apps or services that may requires a passcode.
Enable screen lock Allows the admin to disable the screen lock (sets to none in device settings)

Auto boot/shutdown settings
Settings Description
Time on Allows admins to configure the time of the day (hh:mm) when the device should turn itself on automatically.
Time off Allows admins to configure the time of the day (hh:mm) when the device should turn itself off automatically.
Days of week to enforce Allows admins to configure the days of the week when the device should turn itself off automatically.

Wake up applications
Settings Description
Single application to wake up If admins require any app to be activated instantly following installation, its package name can be added here.

Android update management
Settings Description
Apply update from storage When enabled, this feature allows the admin to send the update package zip normally distributed via OTA to a folder on the system named “systemUpdate” present at /storage/sdcard0/. When file “RhinoUpdate.zip” is detected in the folder, the system update procedure is initiated immediately.

Recovery settings
Settings Description
Enable access to device recovery Enables the admin to configure the user’s access to recovery settings on the device. This feature needs to be used with caution, since preventing access can be risky.

NTP settings
Settings Description
NTP server Allows admins to set the hostname and port of an NTP server.
Enable NITZ Allows admins to enable/disable NITZ

Locale settings
Settings Description
Set device locale Allows admins to set the default device locale.
Allow locale change Allows admins to permit/restrict the device locale from being changed.

Password display settings
Settings Description
Show passwords by default Allows admins to enable/disable showing passwords by default. This feature is usually set to disabled.

Firewall settings
Settings Description
Prevent network access to app globally Allows admins to select apps by package name to block their access to the internet.
Prevent network access to app on WiFi Allows admins to select apps by package name to block their access to the internet over Wi-Fi.
Prevent network access to app on cellular Allows admins to select apps by package name to block their access to the internet over cellular.
Prevent network access to app on Ethernet Allows admins to select apps by package name to block their access to the internet through ethernet.

Associate Policies with Devices/Groups

If the policy has not been saved yet,

  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.

The policy can also be associated with Device Groups, Users, User Groups, or Domain from the left pane of the Policy Targets tab.

If the policy has already been saved,

  1. From the Policies tab, select the policy to be associated.
  2. Go to Manage > Associate Targets and select the device.
  3. Click on Associate to apply the policy to the device.
Note:


The OEM-specific settings explained in this document are based on the configurations set by the respective OEM vendors, which may vary frequently. Since Hexnode is not solely responsible for setting up these configurations, you may find slight variations in the settings displayed on the portal from this document.

  • Managing 'Android Enterprise' Devices
  • Hexnode Integrations