What's new in Google endpoint management

You can now block and unblock mobile devices under basic mobile management. This update gives you more control over which users and devices can access work data.

For details, see Approve, block, unblock or delete a device.

Device management rules have a new and improved page. Rule setup is more intuitive and it’s easier to review your existing rules.

If your organization already has device management rules, they’ll be automatically migrated to the new page. The migration window starts the week of December 7, 2020.

• Before migration: Until your rules are migrated, you can use only the current rules management page.
• During migration: You won’t be able to create or edit rules in the current page, or use the new page. We expect migration to take no more than 1 day for each organization.
• After migration: Use the new page to manage your rules. The current page will be shut down after migration is complete for all organizations.

If your organization doesn’t have device management rules, you can use the new page whenever you’re ready to make your device management more automatic.

For details, see Automate mobile management tasks with rules.

You can now configure advanced device policies and Android settings in a clean, modern interface in your Admin console. With this update:

• Set up settings, including mobile management and device approvals, password settings, and advanced settings are now under Universal settings.
• We improved the descriptions for many Android settings.
• Android-specific settings that were under Advanced settings are now in Android settings. These include Google Play private apps and CTS compliance.
• Android-specific app management settings that were under App management are now in Android settings. These include Allowed apps and system apps.

Learn more:

• Apply universal settings for mobile devices and endpoints 
• Apply settings for Android mobile devices

You can now manage all mobile apps, including public iOS and Android apps, Android private apps, and Android system apps, in one location in your Admin console. Learn more

You can now get a list of all apps installed on Windows 10 devices that you manage with Windows device management. The list includes when the app was first installed, the current version, and publisher. Use this information to identify devices that have malicious or untrusted apps on them. Learn more

In most cases, it now takes only a few minutes after you save your settings to push them to internet-connected Windows devices under Windows device management. However, it can take up to 6 hours.

You can now manage Windows 10 device sign in and settings with enhanced desktop security for Windows.

To let users sign in to Windows 10 computers with their work Google Account, you can now enable GCPW. GCPW includes 2-step verification and login challenges. Users can also access G Suite services and other single sign-on (SSO) apps without the need to re-enter their Google credentials. Learn more

For more control over company-owned Windows 10 computers, you can now use Windows device management. You can set users' administrative permission level for Windows. You can also apply Windows security, network, hardware, and software settings. Learn more

You can now control user access to your organization’s Wi-Fi networks, internal apps, and internal websites on mobile devices by distributing device certificates from your on-premises Certificate Authority (CA). Learn more

To make endpoint verification easier to deploy for your organization, users no longer need the native helper app on their Windows, Mac, or Linux computers. They still need the Chrome extension, which you can force install or let users install. Learn more

To make iOS mobile management easier, we updated the following settings:

• The Managed Apps settings are now Data sharing.

• Apple push certificates management is now under iOS settings. The setup process follows a new, simpler flow. Learn more

Android Device Policy is an Android management app that replaces the Google Apps Device Policy app. It still enforces your organization’s policies to protect corporate data, but it also allows Google to automatically add new security features.

New Android Device Policy features

• Zero-touch enrollment—Deploy company-owned devices in bulk without manually setting up each device. Learn more
• Advanced password management—Set advanced password requirements. For example, disallow repeating or sequential characters. Learn more
• Advanced VPN management—Specify an app to be an Always On VPN. Learn more
• Lock screen feature management—Disable notifications, trust agents, fingerprint unlocks, and keyguard features on fully managed devices. Learn more

Changes to existing features

• Remote device wipe—The data that’s removed depends on device ownership:
  • If ownership of the device is company-owned, all data is wiped from the device and the device is factory reset.
  • If the device is personally owned and has a work profile, only the work profile is wiped, leaving personal data untouched.
  For more information, see Remove corporate data from a device. 
• Auto Wipe setting—Applies when a device falls out of sync and when devices don’t adhere to your organization’s policies, such as a weak device password. For details, see Autowipe.
• Device policy app icon—Android Device Policy is more tightly integrated into the operating system, so users won’t see a device policy app icon. For details, see About Android Device Policy.
• Policy conflict prevention—Users can only add one G Suite account to a device. This prevents conflicts that would arise if more than one managed account with different device-management policies were added to a device. 
• Work profile setup—Personal Android devices that are used in your organization need to set up a work profile. You cannot disable the work profile setup.

Check which management app is on a device

You can see which app is managing a device in the Google Admin console. 

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. From the Admin console Home page, go to Devices.
3. Click Mobile devices to see your managed mobile devices.
4. Click the row of the device you want to view details for. 
5. Click Device security. 
   The device’s management is listed under User agent. 

Related topics

• Apply password settings for mobile devices
• Apply settings for Android mobile devices