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Activation

Infrastructure and enterprise 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
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.
iOS
user enrollment and DEP activation enhancements
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.
Programmatic 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).