End of Support for Android Device Admin technology

The Android Device Administrator (DA) was a framework developed by Google to help businesses manage their Android devices in the early days of the operating system. This has been a technology used by SOTI MobiControl to secure and manage Android devices since operating system version 2.2.  

Starting with Android 5 and rapidly improving since, Google developed the “Android Enterprise” framework to streamline and modernize Android device management in the workplace. Android Enterprise provides many features and new deployment types previously not supported by DA such as Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) and Corporate Personal (COPE).  

As of Android 10, Google fully deprecated DA and removed some of its key features. Correspondingly, starting with Android 10, SOTI MobiControl stopped the use of DA functionality.  SOTI strongly recommends the use of Android Enterprise where possible instead. 

Via its Android Classic Agent, SOTI MobiControl continues to provide support for any device that is not compatible with Android Enterprise, such as a device that is strictly based off the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) or does not support Google Mobile Services (GMS).

What devices are affected? 

The following devices are impacted by DA Deprecation:  

• Android 10 and above devices enrolled as Android Classic 

Do I need to take any action? 

If you are already using Android Enterprise, you do not need to take any action. 

If you are using the Android Classic agent, please migrate to Android Enterprise where possible, as all the support for new features and security improvements provided by Google will only be available on this platform. Google has provided an Android Enterprise Migration document with more information.