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Uninstall update with a script

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
ucptpaimpol

Hello,

I need to uninstall the latest Android webview update (v108) because it is not compatible with the VELOCITY app.

I sent the legacy script "uninstall com.google.android.webview" but it doesn't work.
The webview remains in version 108.

Do you have any idea how to uninstall an update via script?

I also want to block the automatic installation of Android system updates.
This parameter is accessible from the developer option of the smartphone.
Is this possible with MOBICONTROL?

Thank you in advance for your help.

system updates webview uninstall
2 years ago
SOTI MobiControl
ANSWERS
RS
Rafael Schäfer
2 years ago

Hi, i don't know a way to do an app downgrade. I think you need to wipe the device.

You can disable the app update via legacy script:

app_upgrade disable <package-list>

https://www.soti.net/mc/help/v15.5/en/scriptcmds/reference/androidplus_enterprise_do.html

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello Rafael, thank you for this information.

I really want to find a solution to uninstall the webview update using MOBICONTROL.

So I'm listening to any solution/script that would allow to realize this downgrade.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

WebView cannot be uninstalled or downgraded as it is a system application. You would need to factory reset the devices, downgrade the OS to a lower version that hopefully has an older version of WebView built in, and then use the scripting to disable the upgrade to the newer WebView that Google Play is otherwise going to try to immediately push to your device. The lack of version control in WebView is one of the major dangers in using web based applications on mission critical devices that rely on the WebView. It is a system component that many business apps are reliant on even though we as EMM admins have little to no control over it. 

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello,

It is possible to downgrade manually via Android Settings > Applications and Notifications.
It is also possible to do it with other EMM.
I don't think MOBICONTROL is less efficient than TELELOGOS!
So it must surely have a solution.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

I am not aware of a way to downgrade Google Play distributed apps via SOTI. Your best option may be to manually uninstall it through the Settings app and/or Google Play on the affected devices if you have that option available. 

Can you also clarify what the issue is between Velocity web and WebView 108? Is it an issue with that WebView that would only affect Velocity or is it something that could start to affect other web applications on Android?

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

To my knowledge, this problem only affects the VELOCITY application.
It uses the webview for its display.
The last version deployed by google causes strong slowdowns in VELOCITY.
Very complicated to go manually on hundreds of devices to do this downgrade.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

If you're looking for someone to blame I would personally blame Google for forcing out an upgrade to a mission critical system component without providing proper levels of version control and rollback mechanisms in Android Enterprise. SOTI didnt auto upgrade your devices causing them to run slow, Google did. 

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hi Matt,
I'm not trying to blame anyone.
I'm just looking for a solution to troubleshoot all of our customers impacted by this update problem.
Thank you for your attention to my problem.
I hope I will find a solution.
Have a nice day

RC
Raymond Chan Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Jean,

Before finding any possible solution for YOUR particular case, please provide the following details:

1. What is the brand and model of your devices?

2. What about the Android firmware version?  Are the devices enrolled with generic Android-Enterprise device agent or with an OEM specific legacy Android Plus device agent?  What are the version and build numbers of the device agent used?

3. For the Webview 108 currently on your problematic devices, were they updated while the system firmware (i.e. to a new Android version and/or OEM build-number), or updated explicitly with your own app-catalogue rule/app-policy selecting "com.google.android.webview" from Google Play store? 

4. Are your problematic devices deployed with kiosk/lockdown-menu policy, and was Velocity or any other app using Webview always running in the foreground while any Webview update was attempted?

In general, MOST device brands and models only allow IN-PLACE (and thus no loss of app data) upgrade for apps.  To downgrade, the whole app and any app data have to be totally uninstalled, before an earlier target version can be installed from scratch again. In the last ten years, I've encountered only a very very small percentage of device models that allow IN-PLACE app downgrade.  The case for Webview is even more tricky because it is a system app in many device firmware images as mentioned by Matt.

If you PERSONALLY have successfully performed IN-PLACE downgrade of this or other app via Android Settings > Applications and Notifications on YOUR, please provide screenshot(s) and details.    If you have successfully done so on YOUR device model with another EMM solution, please provide details (e.g. document/video URL on procedures, screenshots, limitations, etc. ).   If what you said in your post was just based on hearsay or some CASUAL/UNOFFICIAL comment with NO SOLID details you had seen on the web,  the validity of such claim should be re-checked.

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello Raymond,

Thank you for your help.

1.
We have this problem on ZEBRA and Honeywell terminals, regardless of the model and version of Android.

2.
We have seen the problem on Android 10 and Android11 Oreo
Agent Version 15.3.0.1006 for ZEBRA TC52AX

3.
There is no google account registered on the devices.
We install the apk VELOCITY with a packet.
The update of the Android webview was done automatically.
It is a system application that updates itself even if there is no google account registered on the device.

4.
There is a kiosk/lockdown-menu profile assigned to all devices.
We tried to uninstall the webview on a device that has a lockdown but also on a device just enrolled in MOBICONTROL without any profile assigned.µ
We can't uninstall the last webview upgrade in both cases.

We follow the manual procedure below to downgrade the webview, back to the initial firmware version.
https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/Velocity-Slow-Key-input-webview-got-automatically-upgraded?language=en_US

We want to go back to this native firmware version by uninstalling the V108 pushed by google last week.
We can do it manually, but also by using a script in some EMM concurent to MOBICONTROL.

You will find below a video of the procedure we use.
https://youtu.be/cu_xqVHfHHs

Sincerely.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

This issue has started to affect a number of my customers as well and I was surprised that it has affected the Velocity users using Telnet/SSH in addition to those using Web. I guess I incorrectly assumed that the Telnet/SSH connections would not be reliant on the system WebView. I have found this recent KBA published from Ivanti indicating that they are aware of the issue and that they only can recommend manually uninstalling the new WebView for the time being. They also include steps for manually disabling the auto-update but we know there are at least mechanisms offered through SOTI to prevent the upgrades via EMM. 

https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/Velocity-Slow-Key-input-webview-got-automatically-upgraded?language=en_US

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello Matt,

Thank you for your feedback.

We are also in contact with IVANTI regarding this problem since Thursday of last week.
Many customer cases are coming back to us every day.
The problem concerns TE or WEB applications in VELOCITY.
VELOCITY also uses the Webview for TE applications.

If we can find a way to uninstall the latest V108 version of the webview with SOTI MOBICONTROL, we should be able to troubleshoot our customers without having to do it manually.

MD
Matt Dermody Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

I am using Zebra MX to prevent future upgrades to the System WebView and then using Remote Control to uninstall the bad WebView version off the devices. It is tedious having to touch each device manually but you can send a script in RC to go directly to the page you need to get to in Google Play in order to tap on the Uninstall button. Using this approach I can batch through devices relatively quickly by having multiple Remote Control tabs open. 

_Adminmode on

notify kiosk off

sendintent -a "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.webview#Intent;action=android.intent.action.VIEW;end"

RC
Raymond Chan Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Regarding  management of  Android SYSTEM updates, one can have some control using either

  set_system_update_policy

or

  writeprvateprofstring

script command, depending on the device agent version running on your devices.  Alternatively, you can use a new "System Update Policy" Android plus profile payload if your MobiControl server is a recently released v15.x one.  

RS
Rafael Schäfer
2 years ago

Or just using a profile containing the "System Update Policy".

But as far as he's talking about an app, not the firmware update, it should be the one i posted before already.

RC
Raymond Chan Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Jean,

I am not sure if I can get a full picture based on your incomplete answers posted. 

Could you please check what active MDM API's are reported  for your devices in the web console or in the Device Configuration tab of the device agent?

One thing I can be sure is that your problem can be solved in the long-term only if  Ivanti improves its Velocity app (e.g. include in itself a built-in webkit/webview engine snapshot that works fine with the app, or improve the app to function properly with the updated version of Google Webview).  Until such a solution is released, what an MDM administrator can to is to disallow his/her devices from upgrading the Webview to 108+ arbitrarily  This part can, in general, be achieved successfully by using the MobiControl script or work profile I mentioned in my earlier post in this discussion thread.   Going into Settings'  "developer's option" page to configure any parameter is usually not an acceptable solution due to simultaneous unsecured exposure of other security critical  parameters to device end-users in the device UI.

Regarding the part on downgrading Webview in your  various problematic device models from different vendors,  I would rather wait for your reply related to the Active MDM API's before commenting on any possible solution(s).

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello Raymond,



RC
Raymond Chan Diamond Contributor
2 years ago

Hi Jean,

Thanks for your informative screenshot, which confirms that your device is running a generic Android-Enterprise device agent in managed-device mode.  I will just assume that your other Zebra and Honeywell device models have their device agents showing the same "Work Managed Device" active API item.

As I don't know which exact models you are using, nor having access to such device models to carry out any tests,  I can just comment in the general sense.  

Most Android device OEM  have their own proprietary mechanism and infrastructure to download firmware upgrade images for supported devices.  Most only support upgrade, but not downgrade.    The latest Google Android Enterprise infrastructure provides standard MDM API for any compliant 3rd party MDM solution like Soti to manage firmware upgrade in only some limited way.  There is no option for controlling downgrade, nor is there any STANDARD script commands/arguments defined to control the upgrade/downgrade process.    Thus, you can only use the MobiControl script command/profile mentioned in my earlier post to limit upgrade process IN THE FUTURE, but the downgrade process (if available for your device models) required for your current problematic devices has to be done manually.

Regarding the downgrade process, it can be complicated and may vary between your different device models. Your previous posts already indicated that your Webview used  is  the "Android System Webview" shown in devices Settings.  I suggest you to check in EACH of your different problematic device models whether you can SUCCESSFULLY disable the "Android System Webview" module, and download any "Android System Webview" module from Managed Google Play store associated with the MANAGED Google Play Account of your AE device enrolled. You could also test if Velocity or other apps can function properly using the Webview/Webkit in the Chrome browser app (as hinted in the web-page of Ivanti) if you have the "Android System Webview" disabled.   The rationale behind is to TRY decoupling  the Webview module to be used from the one already included in the firmware image released by the OEM manufacturer, as it is often important to upgrade firmware to fix security or other critical issues. You might be able to find apk of older version of "Android System Webview" or Google Chrome from the web (though you might also need to check.confirm the apk has not be tampered with to include any malware).  Such older but proven version compatible with your Velocity app can then be used if the decoupling mentioned above is possible.

In any case, please do sufficient tests for EACH of the device models involved.  Confirm that the flow is working fine before mass-scale deployment for remaining production devices of the SAME model & firmware version.

K
KCMOD@SOTI
2 years ago

Hello Jean-Simon,

Thank you for posting on SOTI Pulse!

I can see that the first question, regarding uninstalling a system application, was already answered by community members.

Regarding the system updates: It can be achieved via MobiControl by configuring System Update Policy Profile and assigning it to the device.

Please take a look at the following article for more information:
System Update Policy (soti.net)

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Technical Support Specialist | SOTI | +1 905.624.9828 | SOTI.net lDiscussion Forum | Log a Case Online l Facebook l LinkedIn l Twitter 

MM
Miguel Machado
2 years ago

Hello Jean-Simon,

Do you find a solution to this problem?

I'm in the same situation.

I need to uninstall Android Webview updates because it causes slowness on Velocity.

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Hello Miguel,

The solution for VELOCITY is to install the latest version of the apk V2.1.19.
The problem has been fixed since version V2.1.28.


Release 2.1.29
------------------------------------------------
Fix for connecting to multiple ConnectPro servers if some are suspended
Fix for the WiFi indicator when enabled for TE for Android 11 and above
Updated Profile selector screen with one that supports customization
Now requires Android Lollipop or higher.
Stopped compressing shared object files in the APK
Fixed for Quick Launch Icon being removed after use
Removed Quick Calibration.
Changed barcode handling of Unicode to allow for extended characters.
Added "openProfile" extra to launch intent to open a specific profile.
Added action to shutdown Velocity and optionally clear web data.
Fixed Immersive mode inconsistently working on Android 11.
Added Honeywell DPM decoding and Security
Added APIs for Device.bluetoothPairDevice() and Device.bluetoothGetPaired().
Added Device.setPreferredBluetoothPrinter() API.
Added image capture permissions for Android 11
In WEB profiles if no camera is available input elements of type file capture will fall back to the file browser.
Added support to forms for IIOT device licensing.

Release 2.1.28
------------------------------------------------
Removed option for software rendering. Always does hardware rendering.
MM
Miguel Machado
2 years ago

Hello Jean-Simon,

Thanks for your answer.

Yestersday I try to do that in some devices but it seems that the screen is dragged a little to the right in Velocity.

JL
Jean-Simon LALLICAN
2 years ago

Miguel,

I have not seen this problem in many of the profiles we have deployed across all of our clients.

If the problem is indeed present in your profile, I invite you to contact IVANTI support.

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