Activation

After a

BlackBerry Dynamics

app is installed on a user’s device, the user must activate the app in order to use it. The activation process registers the app with the management server and gives the app access to the full capabilities of the

BlackBerry Dynamics

platform. The activation process ensures that all end users are fully authorized and permitted to use the app.

Users can activate a

BlackBerry Dynamics

app manually using an activation password, QR code, or access key provided by the administrator or obtained from

UEM Self-Service

, by using the

UEM Client

, through a third-party IDP, such as

Active Directory

or

Okta

, or by using the Easy Activation feature described below.

For more information about activating

BlackBerry Dynamics

apps, see the Activation section in the GDAndroid class reference or GDiOS class reference and Managing BlackBerry Dynamics apps in the UEM Administration content.

Easy Activation simplifies the process of activating multiple

BlackBerry Dynamics

apps on a user’s device. With Easy Activation, a device user only needs to activate the first

BlackBerry Dynamics

app on their device; when the user installs additional

BlackBerry Dynamics

apps, the user can choose to delegate the activation process to the previously activated app. Any

BlackBerry Dynamics

app can be an activation delegate, but priority is given to the app that is configured as the authentication delegate.

Easy Activation is automatically enabled for all

BlackBerry Dynamics

apps that are produced by

BlackBerry

. To enable Easy Activation for your custom

BlackBerry Dynamics

app, the

UEM

administrator must specify the app package ID (

Android

) or bundle ID (

iOS

) in the

BlackBerry Dynamics

app settings in the management console. Contact your organization’s administrator to provide this information. For instructions for specifying the package ID or bundle ID for an app, see Manage settings for a BlackBerry Dynamics app in the UEM Administration content.

On the application side, Easy Activation is enabled by default by the

BlackBerry Dynamics Runtime

.

For more information, see the Easy Activation section in the BlackBerry Dynamics Security White Paper.

The

BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for iOS

version 8.0 and later and

UEM

version 12.13 and later feature the following activation enhancements for

iOS

user enrollment and DEP:

MDM enrollment and the activation of
BlackBerry Dynamics
apps doesn’t require the
UEM Client
.
After a new device is enrolled on
UEM
,
UEM
prompts the user to install the
BlackBerry Dynamics
app that is configured as the authentication delegate (that app must be assigned to the user). When the user opens this app for the first time, it activates automatically. The user can then activate additional
BlackBerry Dynamics
apps using Easy Activation.

The programmatic activation feature enables a

BlackBerry Dynamics

app to activate without any user interaction and without displaying activation prompts or progress screens. This can be useful when targeting your apps to a consumer audience or for developing apps for devices that have limited or no means of user input.

For more information about programmatic activation, see

programmaticActivityInit

in the BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android API Reference or

programmaticAuthorize

in the BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for iOS API Reference.

Note the following implementation details:

Decide whether you want users to specify a password to unlock a
BlackBerry Dynamics
app after the initial activation. You can use programmatic activation while still requiring users to type a password to unlock the app. This setting is configured in a
BlackBerry Dynamics
profile in
UEM
.
To activate the app, your application server must use the BlackBerry Web Services REST APIs to retrieve the user credentials and to generate an access key. You may need to create a new
UEM
user account or to lookup an existing user account. See the User resource in the BlackBerry Web Services REST API reference for the available REST APIs that can be used to create a user, lookup a user, and to generate an access key.
Pass the user credentials to the app and call
programmaticActivityInit
or
programmaticAuthorize
with the retrieved credentials, setting
ShowUserInterface
to false.
For
Android
, receive the broadcast event
GD_STATE_ACTIVATION_ACTION
to track activation progress from
NotActivated
to
InProgress
to
Activated
. You can choose to display a progress indicator during this short period.
For
iOS
, observe
GDState.BBActivationState
to track activation progress from
NotActivated
to
InProgress
to
Activated
. You can choose to display a progress indicator during this short period.
Once activation completes, the user is prompted to set a password (unless you’ve configured the
BlackBerry Dynamics
profile to not require a password). The app should wait for the
GD_STATE_AUTHORIZED_ACTION
notification.
You can use
configureUI
(Android/iOS) to customize the UI of the password screen (for example, with a custom logo and colors).