Add an internal Android app using the Google Developers Console

You can use the Google Developers Console to upload internal apps for Android devices. You need a Google Developer account to log in to the Google Developers Console.

If you use Google Play to host the app, you can use configuration settings to modify app behaviors and set the app as required or optional. To host an app in Google Play, you upload an .apk file to the Google Developers Console and publish the app in Google Play so that users can install the internal app on their devices. For instructions on uploading an .apk file for Android devices in the Google Developers Console, see Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage private Android apps in Google Play. This is supported for both Android Enterprise and Android Management devices.

If you want to host internal apps for Android devices in BlackBerry UEM (not supported for Android Management devices), you must generate a .json file for the app, upload the .json file to Google Play, and get the license key for the published app. Apps that are hosted in UEM can be set only as optional and you cannot use configuration settings to modify app features and behaviors. To host the .apk file in UEM, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Verify that you have OpenSSL, JDK, Python 2.x, and the Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt) installed in a Path location on the computer hosting the app.
  • In the activation profile that is assigned to the user, verify that the "Add Google Play account to work space" option is not selected.
  • If you configured support for Android Enterprise, use the same email address for the developer account that you used to set up Android Enterprise.
  • Apps that are hosted in UEM can be set only as optional and you cannot use configuration settings to modify app features and behaviors.
  • In UEM, Add an internal app to the app list. Select the Enable the app for Android Enterprise option, and in the App will be hosted by drop-down list, click BlackBerry UEM. Copy and save the URL that is displayed in UEM.

    You need to select Enable the app for Android Enterprise even if you are hosting the app for all Android devices.

For more information, see Managed Google Play Help: Publish private apps from the Play Console.

  1. In the management console, on the menu bar, click Apps.
  2. Click The Add an app icon.
  3. Click Internal apps.
  4. Click Browse. Navigate to the app that you want to add or update.
  5. Click Open.
  6. Click Add.
  7. Optionally, add a vendor name and an app description.
  8. To add screen shots of the app, click Add. Browse to the screen shots. The supported image types are .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .gif.
  9. In the Send to drop-down list, perform one of the following actions:
    • If you want the app to be sent to all Android devices, select All Android devices.
    • If you want the app to be sent to only Android devices that use Samsung Knox Workspace, select Samsung KNOX Workspace devices.
    • If you want the app to be sent only to Android Enterprise devices, select Android devices with a work profile.
  10. To filter apps in the app list by category and to organize the apps into categories in the work apps list on users' devices, you can select a category for the app. In the Category drop-down list, do one of the following:
    TaskSteps

    Select a category for the app.

    In the drop-down list, select a category.

    Create a category for the app.
    1. Type a name for the category. The "new category" will appear in the drop-down list with the new category label beside it
    2. Press Enter.
    3. Press Enter.
  11. In the App rating and review drop-down list, perform one of the following actions. When multiple versions of the app exist, the setting specified applies to all versions of the app.
    • If you want users to rate and provide reviews of apps and see all reviews submitted by other users in your environment, select Public mode.
    • If you want users to only rate and provide reviews of apps, select Private mode. Users cannot see reviews provided by other users. You can see reviews in the BlackBerry UEM management console.
    • If you don't want users to rate or provide reviews of apps or see reviews provided by other users, select Disabled.
  12. For apps that support configuration settings, an App configuration table is displayed. If you want to create an app configuration, complete the following steps:
    1. Click The Add icon to add an app configuration.
    2. Type a name for the app configuration and specify the configuration settings to use.
    3. Click Save.
    4. If necessary, use the arrows to move the profiles up or down the ranking. When an app is assigned more than once with different app configurations, the app configuration with the higher rank applies.
  13. Click Add. If you plan to host the app in BlackBerry UEM using a .json file, copy and save the URL that is displayed.
If you are updating an app that you already added, wait 24 hours and see Update an internal app to complete the process.