Forum Discussion
Private app package name already in use
I got an APK from our Digital Signage vendor Poppulo (formerly known as Four Winds Interactive) and tried to upload it as a private Google Play app through the iframe in Intune. Got this error: ...
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.
Some examples top of mind are multi/ephemeral user support (9.0), offline OTA deployment (10), remote debugging/bug report collection, eSIM support (15). If I fetch my notes I can grab more.. but AMAPI gatekeeps native DPM/UM APIs present on devices and can be really frustrating to work with knowing the configurations I want to apply are right there on the device with no way of using them.
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.
Publishing an app through Google Play, even Privately, carries an additional layer of burden and scrutiny than just compiling an APK and providing it to end customers that need that app installed on their devices. There are extra requirements that Google enforces when uploading a new version of the app followed by an approval process wherein Google will review your app, sometimes over the course of multiple days before approving it for distribution, even privately. I am not sure about you're environment, but I deal with mission critical apps in the sense that if the app isn't running or working correctly a warehouse or retail store is down. These operations depend on the mobile apps we develop for all workflow execution in the building, payment & order processing, etc. If an end customer of mine needs an emergency upgrade to their Point of Sale mobile app or their end user warehouse execution app I don't want to tell them they have to wait an arbitrary amount of time for Google to approve the new app before they can install it on the devices that they own. Businesses that own their own devices and the software that runs on them don't typically want Google in the middle deciding what they can and can't install on their own assets. Many of Google and/or Androids features are built around consumer protections. I personally deal exclusively with corporate owned line of business shared assets where there is no consumer to protect. In these situations these extra restrictions and scrutiny of Google become a burden. I've also only really covered the delays in the app approval process in this response. This also doesn't even touch on how long it can actually take to deploy an app through managed play to a fleet of dedicated devices and the lack of proper version control. Once the new app version is approved that is only half the battle to getting it rolled out across a fleet of devices.
I am honestly a little jealous of the perspective you have coming into this Android management space without any background experience of Device Administrator or the widespread usage of EMM API and Custom DPC prior to the push toward Cloud DPC AMAPI. To you this might just be how things work, whereas I come from a perspective of being frustrated that it used to work better for admins like myself and Google has made certain things progressively worse over time. I'm just constantly bitter that the dedicated device space is mostly ignored by Google but then we still get caught up in the trends toward concepts like Cloud DPC and AMAPI. I can't name a single end customer who was happy to go from DA to AEDO, and now potentially from Custom DPC to Cloud DPC. Each one of those steps is progressively worse relative to the ability to comprehensively manage a mission critical dedicated Android device. I find it interesting that the perspective of newcomers to the space is that the app developers are at fault here for not aligning with Google Play when my perspective is almost the exact opposite. As an app developer and EMM admin I have a view of the space that is more developer centric than EMM centric. I think the EMM, at least for the dedicated device space, should be selected based on the needs of the mission critical apps that it is supporting and I don't agree that the mission critical apps should have to change their distribution mechanisms or design approaches (eg. config files vs managed configurations) to comply with the limitations of the EMM. As much as I am an EMM fan and expert I am not afraid to acknowledge it is an ancillary support tool and not the primary business function compared with the business apps running on the devices.
I admittedly somewhat of a contrarian in this viewpoint but feel the need to constantly speak up for the dedicated device space in the Android community as I often feel like the voice of that management use case. So please take what I have to say with a grain of salt and understand that my lens on the world is completely based around the Device Owner / Fully Managed/ Dedicated Device/ Line of Business use cases.
