Building better mobile apps for work

Posted by Matt Goodridge - Google Play for Work Product Manager

Last year, we introduced Android for Work, a program designed to pair the
strength of the Android platform with support from the rich ecosystem of OEMs
(device manufacturers like Samsung), EMMs (Enterprise Mobility Managers) and
carriers with the goal of transforming the workplace. This means that
developers get the support they need to develop apps that configure to meet
business needs without customization.

With Android for Work, developers have been able to build apps for business and
make them available via Google Play for Work to all types of industries. No
matter the place or use case, Android for Work has helped lead businesses to
foster employee productivity and creativity through increased mobility.

Today we are announcing the Android for Work DevHub, a place for developers to
keep up with Android in the workplace and engage fellow business app developers
in an open forum. Android for Work DevHub members will receive access to Google
Play for Work and Android for Work product betas and developer events and will
have the opportunity to learn from Google experts on topics like how to:

• leverage tools and resources provided by the AppConfig Community, which established a standard that provides Android developers a
  simple way set up app configurations,
  
• improve app security by integrating with Android for Work APIs,
  
• get an app featured on Google Play for Work,
  
• and more…
  

Among the early members of the Android for Work DevHub is Keeper, a
mobile-first company committed to securing corporate credentials and sensitive
information. Darren Guccione, Keeper’s CEO and co-founder, said: “Having our
team be able to talk with Google experts as a part of the Android for Work
DevHub has been very helpful in optimizing Keeper, as an essential product, for
the workplace.” In addition to Keeper, select developers across an array of
industries are already represented in the Android for Work DevHub, and—starting
today—any business developer can apply to become a member, too.

To learn more about Android for Work, join us at Google I/O Thursday, May 19th
at 2pm on Stage 10 Cassiopeia. I’ll be joined live on stage with James Kelly,
product manager in Android for Work and Rich Hyndman, and Android developer
advocate, to walk through the latest developments in Android for Work that will
help you make awesome apps for businesses and to meet the Android for Work team
in-person at our shop to see the Android for Work retail
experience.

Testing your app for Android for Work

Posted by, Rich Hyndman, Developer Advocate

Testing is important whether you’re building a dedicated app for the workplace, rolling out new features, or making it easy for IT departments to deploy.

Test DPC is now available for you and is a fully featured, open-source, sample Device Policy Controller (DPC) which allows you to test your apps with any Android for Work feature. A DPC manages the security policies and work apps on devices using Android for Work.
You can configure Test DPC to be either a device or profile owner to test all the Android for Work scenarios:

• 
  Profile Owner: Employees using their personal phones for work and allowing their company to own the work applications and data (i.e. bring your own device or BYOD)
  


• Device Owner: Enterprises providing devices to employees and managing the entire device


• Device Owner: Enterprises deploying devices for a narrow use case, such as a mall directory or restaurant menu (i.e. corporate owned, single use devices)
  

Test DPC simplifies testing and development because you can use it to set the kinds of policies an IT administrator might enforce. You can establish app and intent restrictions, set up managed work profiles, enforce policies, and can even set up fully managed Android devices — something you might find as an info board or kiosk in a public place.

The Test DPC app can be found on Google Play with the source on GitHub. Set up Test DPC as a device/profile owner on your device by checking out this user guide.

If you want to learn more about Android for Work and its capabilities, check out Android for Work Application Developer Guide for full guidance on optimizing your app for Android for Work.

Note: Your test Android device needs to run Android 5.0 or later and be able to support Android for Work natively.

New Android Code Samples

Posted by Rich Hyndman, Developer Advocate

A new set of Android code samples, covering Android Wear, Android for Work, NFC and Screen capturing, have been committed to our Google Samples repository on GitHub. Here’s a summary of the new code samples:

XYZTouristAttractions

This sample mimics a real world mobile and Android Wear app. It has a more refined design and also provides a practical example of how a mobile app would interact and communicate with its Wear counterpart.

The app itself is modeled after a hypothetical tourist attractions experience that notifies the user when they are in close proximity to notable points of interest. In parallel,the Wear component shows tourist attraction images and summary information, and provides quick actions for nearby tourist attractions in a GridViewPager UI component.

DeviceOwner - A Device Owner is a specialized type of device administrator that can control device security and configuration. This sample uses the DevicePolicyManager to demonstrate how to use device owner features, including configuring global settings (e.g.automatic time and time-zone) and setting the default launcher.

NfcProvisioning - This sample demonstrates how to use NFC to provision a device with a device owner. This sample sets up the peer device with the DeviceOwner sample by default. You can rewrite the configuration to use any other device owner.

NFC BeamLargeFiles - A demonstration of how to transfer large files via Android Beam on Android 4.1 and above. After the initial handshake over NFC, file transfer will take place over a secondary high-speed communication channel such as Bluetooth or WiFi Direct.

ScreenCapture - The MediaProjection API was added in Android Lollipop and allows you to easily capture screen contents and/or record system audio. The ScreenCapture sample demonstrates how to use the API to capture device screen in real time and show it on a SurfaceView.

As an additional bonus, the Santa Tracker Android app, including three games, two watch-faces and other goodies, was also recently open sourced and is now available on GitHub.

As with all the Android samples, you can also easily access these new additions in Android Studio using the built in Import Samples feature and they’re also available through our Samples Browser.

Check out a sample today to help you with your development!

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Bringing apps to the workplace with Google Play for Work

Posted by Matt Goodridge, Google Play team

Work doesn’t just happen in an office from 9 to 5 anymore. Today’s workers are mobile workers, and they need to be able to get things done as efficiently and collaboratively as possible, at any time. That’s why the Android for Work initiative is bringing together partners across the ecosystem, from device and app makers to networking and management solutions, to provide businesses with a secure, flexible and reliable mobility platform that users already know and love.

Google Play for Work allows businesses to securely deploy and manage enterprise-grade apps, across all of their users running Android for Work. Google Play for Work simplifies the process of distributing apps to employees and ensures that IT approves every deployed app. For developers, this is an opportunity to reach a new audience at scale through bulk installs or purchasing, which enables easy installation of your app across enterprises.

How to join Google Play for Work

Free apps will be available on Google Play for Work at launch with no action needed on your part. If you have a paid app, you’ll soon be able to opt-in to make your app available for bulk purchase on Google Play for Work in the Developer Console during the app publishing process. Find out more about publishing in the Google Play Developer Help Center.

Designing great apps for Android for Work

Apps that are installed from Google Play for Work will function without code changes. However, please note that some of the controls that Android for Work offers IT admins could affect how your app works. To ensure the best possible experience for your users, watch the first in our series of Android for Work DevBytes below to understand the best practices you should be following in developing your app.





More DevBytes will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. Find out more about Android for Work.

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