Understanding system app availability on managed devices (What are vital apps?)

By design, Android Enterprise fully managed devices remove most of the preloaded applications on a device during the provisioning process, and inflated work profiles provide a limited selection of applications by default. It has been this way since the inception of Android Enterprise.

The idea behind this is simple; managed devices for enterprise use do not require - for the most part - the bloatware that's shipped with consumer Android devices to be present within the enterprise profile. That's the parent profile on a fully managed device, and a work profile on a company or personally owned device permitting personal use. Netflix, Facebook, any number of preloaded AV solutions, you name it. It's all surplus to requirements, uses device storage, consumes data, potentially poses security implications (preloaded cloud file managers like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc are freely available), and generally detracts from what is expected to be a device designed for business use only.

At face value there's a strong argument for this user experience, and I'm an advocate for it; it saves me time personally not needing to worry about blocklisting every possibly-preloaded application across my managed estate. The reality however has shown there are friction points and mixed expectations on how this experience is offered.

Above are four examples of devices with vital apps configurations in a fully managed deployment scenario.

Honor

This tablet has no cellular capability, so the lack of dialler is expected. It provides the camera, gallery, and a files app. In theory this device will be pretty much ready to run as-is.

Xiaomi

The camera app is present, but no gallery. Users taking photos won't be able to preview them directly from the camera shortcut, and the provided downloads app doesn't provide access to photo storage. This is a broken implementation, even though the mandatory apps per Google are present.

Doogee

This device went through the certification process in spite of not aligning with the requirements for enterprise implementation per GMS. There's no Download/file manager app present. They do offer messages though, which is useful since the dialler is mandated and it's a cellular device.

OnePlus

The camera app is present, but no gallery. Files by Google is preloaded which should fill that gap, but it does require the user close the camera (the shortcut won't work) and switch to the files app intentionally.

For OnePlus specifically, a configuration error appears to be present that causes AMAPI policy to block the opening of the camera and files app, so in reality this device would be a broken implementation for other reasons.

During device provisioning (for company owned devices), if an organisation creating zero-touch, QR, NFC, or other OOBE (out of box experience) solution configurations don't explicitly allow system applications, the device is provisioned in a way that disables anything the device considers to be non-vital.

You can test this yourself with my QR code generator by toggling the Enable system apps provisioning option, which will output JSON as follows when checked:

{
  "android.app.extra.PROVISIONING_LEAVE_ALL_SYSTEM_APPS_ENABLED": true/false,
}

This option - again by default for managed devices set to false - tells the device to disable anything non-vital to the operation of the device.

For the work profile experience, applications populated in the work profile when inflated do not have the same all-or-nothing configuration option; it is configured based on the configuration of the device only since the parent profile will have all system apps available to it instead, where personal use is permitted.

With that said, there are actually multiple configurations available to design the experience for varying scenarios: the device config, the profile config, and the user config, so depending on how a device is provisioned/set up, three variances of available apps may be present. This means a camera app could be present on the device config, but not in the profile config, and so on. Back in Android 10 with Work Profiles on Fully Managed Devices this was easily observed, since both profiles were managed and deployed apps in accordance with these configs in a way that was easy to compare. Since 11 however you'll have to switch between provisioning methods to do so.

As an administrator, then, you have to decide from what point you wish to start from: a device with no non-vital system apps enabled, which means deploying policies to enable applications to perform a function, or a device with all system apps enabled, where policies are then required to block all bloatware apps discovered. There are pros and cons to both.

• If you leave system apps enabled, users will have a default, complete device experience with the ability to do most-anything needed (open files, take photos, access the internet) without admin intervention, but you need to monitor your app inventories on a regular basis and keep an eye out for applications that aren't suitable or potentially pose a DLP threat to your estate, and block them.
• If you disable system apps, you'll need a policy that deploys apps to fill all potential gaps for each use case you're supporting. Pushing out 3rd party options is easier (if a little janky for the user experience vs native), but if you're enabling system apps ad-hoc, every new OEM/device will need to be inspected for the relevant packages to be enabled in order to avoid some users missing functionality.

This is further complicated when EMM vendors don't offer direct system app management.

They should do, it's easy to implement. But if it's not a priority, this puts organisations in a jam, as the only option is to either locate the system app in Google Play (hopefully OEMs push their apps there for ongoing updates) or deploy a 3rd party alternative.

You may notice I've emphasised that the ultimate inclusion (or lack of) apps comes down to the device, and this forms the basis of inconsistencies and friction points with organisations, because there's a reasonable amount of flexibility offered by Google on just how this should be set up.

When I think of a vital environment for organisations as a catch-all I think:

• Dialler
• Messages
• Camera
• Gallery/viewer
• File manager
• Contacts
• Settings

Some of these are use case dependent, I don't need a dialler, messages, contacts or possibly camera on a dedicated, POS device for example.. but they're pretty critical on a standard knowledge worker device in which the typical functions of a smartphone are expected. All but settings I'd expect within a work profile also, particularly with SIM management introduced in Android 14.

Google come pretty close with their requirements, in fact going a little overboard on their own services with the inclusion of wellbeing and the Google app:

Fully managed

• Google Play services (GmsCore)
• Google Play Store
• Google Setup Wizard
• Default contacts app
• Default downloads app
• Default dialler
• Default launcher
• Default settings
• Google app
• Android Auto

Work profile

• Google Play services (GmsCore)
• Google Play Store
• Google Setup Wizard
• Default contacts app
• Default downloads app
• Default wellbeing app
• Google app
• Android Auto

These applications are configured through XML files owned and maintained within the Android build of the device by the OEM, with the respective Google apps already pre-added.

The OEM is then free to add, or remove, system applications through these files:

vendor_required_apps_managed_[device|profile|user].xml
vendor_disallowed_apps_managed_[device|profile|user].xml

And thus, inconsistency is born.

You'll notice there's no reference to camera, gallery, or file manager in the above lists. If they show up on a managed device it is because the OEM has decided to include it. Often the OEM will include their camera, but not their gallery. This gives organisations the ability to take photos, but not view them.

This is also why devices will occasionally show up with Facebook, or OEM services, in the managed profile; the OEM, either knowingly or not, has configured these applications as vital in the respective XML files and this hasn't been picked up through the GMS/Play Protect certification process.

If you find yourself with devices either showing surplus/unsuitable apps, or missing applications vital to productivity, there are options:

Most EMM platforms worth their salt will have system app management in place. It will in most cases require you to input the package name of an application (easily fetched through ADB, or for a more user-friendly experience, an app like Package Name Viewer). Through this process you are able to both enable applications missing, and disable applications not suitable for the environment or use case. This can be done on an app-by-app basis, so is also worth considering the number of apps to be enabled/disabled, and opting for the provisioning option that poses the least amount of effort (if you're enabling 20 apps, perhaps enabling system apps and disabling 5 unwanted may be a smarter option).

It's not the best solution or experience, but in lieu of system app management in an EMM this is the next best thing. By deploying a 3rd party public app from Google Play you are able to restore functionality. In many cases the system app that you want to enable will be in Play also, so an alternative may not be required!

If you really end up in a jam with no alternatives, reprovisioning a fully managed device to change the PROVISIONING_LEAVE_ALL_SYSTEM_APPS_ENABLED option according to your use case may be the only course of action. Unfortunately this won't work for work profiles.

If you have the luxury of a direct OEM relationship, raising this with your representative can result in an OTA with a corrected implementation in as little as a month. Bug fixes are often sent out through SPL updates, and any issues caused by vital app misconfigurations can be sorted with an update.

If you're struggling with system apps and would like help or advice, feel free to get in touch.