Forum Discussion
Private app package name already in use
To be honest i don't work with Intune yet, so i don't know if they have the same possibility like Soti Mobicontrol but want to mention it.
In Soti we can upload apps as "Enterprise apk" internally to the MDM (or even as a package), so the app will be somehow sideloaded and installed by the MDM agent. Then you don't need to upload any app as a private one and don't need to care of things like that.
We do this with several apps where we got the apk from the developers but the app is also with the same package name in the (public) play store. We don't need to worry about that with that solution as we ran into this in the beginning as well.
Edit: I think this might be it in Intune (?): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/apps/lob-apps-android
Intune can't handle direct APK installation for Line of Business devices on Android Enterprise devices. It had this capability for DA but not for Android Enterprise.
As a representative of a software development company that also provides EMMs managed services we take the same stance as Poppulo here. We do not trust AMAPI based EMMs like Intune for fully managed device deployments and mandate that our end customers leverage a custom DPC based EMM that can install APKs directly on devices. The business applications are ultimately more important to the enterprise than the EMM being leveraged to manage the mobile devices. This is likely a counter view point to a lot of the folks in this community but is the vantage point I have being on both the app development and device management side of the fully managed mission critical device space.
Based on this situation I don't fault Poppulo at all, I fault Intune for only supporting Managed Play for app installation and fault Google for not providing better Managed Play capabilities for the mission critical device space. Forcing developers to recompile a new bundle ID to work around a Google (and by proxy Intune) limitation and then getting upset with the developer when they don't want to do that doesn't make any sense to me.
If the EMM can't handle the installation of APKs directly on mission critical /line of business Android Enterprise devices then it is not a sufficient EMM for managing those devices, in my opinion.
Thanks for your comment. I agree with you that Microsoft is at fault here for not allowing me to deploy APKs manually. I am a bit confused by your stance however. Why do you not trust AMAPI based EMMs? Sorry if I am missing something obvious.
Also curious about your recommendation for customers to use a custom DPC given that Google is deprecating them: https://developers.google.com/android/work/play/emm-api/register
Once AMAPI reaches parity with custom DPC Matt will undoubtedly be happier (as will many of us) given we've waited for it since 2019, and the custom DPC vendors holding out will migrate over finally too.
That said it's cake for developers to build a unique package, wholly automated, and if it's a stipulation of continued business as the only thing a dev has to do, it's totally with reason to do it.
I've been an Android user/fan for a long time but I'm a newbie when it comes to Android management so forgive me for asking: what is AMAPI lacking right now that everyone is waiting for? I've not had the pleasure of using a custom DPC (besides Company Portal on work profiles but that doesn't really count), I went full Android Enterprise from the get-go for my project so I guess I don't know what I'm missing.
Custom DPC just offers significantly more control over fully managed line of business Android devices right now. Google wants everyone to move to AMAPI but they've largely neglected the line of business device use case on AMAPI and don't offer parity. I don't consider any AMAPI only EMMs like Intune to be capable of effectively managing line of business Android devices and won't ever think that until Google can get close to parity. I don't care if Google wants to deprecate Custom DPC they need to continue to hear that they aren't offering us a valid alternative in AMAPI yet.
If you were using a Custom DPC based EMM for example you'd be able to install this Poppulo app directly on your devices without any question. You're frustrated that Poppulo isn't aligning their software release practices to the limitations of your own EMM.
Thanks for your perspective. I suppose I'm only left with one question: how much work is it to publish an app in Google Play? The apk they gave me had "googleplay" in the file name and I'm not sure what to make of that. Really hope this isn't a triggering question, just trying to learn here.
