13 ms·

Google announces Android for Work

357 points by derpenxyne 12y ago

JTon 12y ago
Looks like blackberry balance was ahead of the curve on this one
- bdcravens 12y ago
  Blackberry was ahead of the curve on many things, they just sat on those advantages and never really responded to the changing market.
  - jusben1369 12y ago
    I don't mean to beat on Blackberry but I too thought of Blackberry when reading this. I had a different approach though. This was the sort of approach that Blackberry optimized to lock out any competition from the enterprise. Apple/iPhone was just soooo good that eventually IT departments had to capitulate and work with BYO devices. Things like the US government were the last to cave so you Obama had a blackberry for a long time. So Google _seems_ to be catering to that crowd with this but that's a ship that's kind of sailed. There might be a few stubborn outposts but if half my company (including the entire C suite) has an iOS device are we really going to get value out of implementing this Google stuff?
    - digi_owl 12y ago
      How it has pretty much been since day one. Didn't many accountants sneak their private AppleII into the office to run Visicalc rather than having to deal with the mainframe and its admins?
      - jusben1369 12y ago
        I think it's important though to differentiate between some rogue edge cases and activity that changed the way IT departments think and act.
        digi_owl 12y ago
        But telling one from the other ends up being the job of historians...
- aetch 12y ago
  Haha, nice pun.
listic 12y ago
How is this going to be rolled out? Minor version update for Android 5.0+?
- Navarr 12y ago
  It's probably part of Google Play Services.
aembleton 12y ago
Will this allow deployment to a rooted phone? If it does, then it will be possible for a third party to read the stored data.
- sparaker 12y ago
  Not if it is encrypted.
  - pwnna 12y ago
    If your device is rooted, and by that I mean real rooted (bypassing SELinux), then it can get the encryption keys as at some point the data needs to be decrypted and viewable by you.
    - sparaker 12y ago
      No you'd still need the crypt key to decode the data. Why do you assume this is stored on the device?
      - jahewson 12y ago
        Where else would the key be?
      - Someone 12y ago
        OK. Let's assume that key lives on Google's servers. Then, Google must send it back to the Android device that it cannot trust unencrypted (possibly in a httpd session, but that is irrelevant for this discussion. The pipe may be secure, but you poor the data in a pool that isn't secure)
    - kevin_thibedeau 12y ago
      Encryption keys can be hidden in a way that is next to impossible to decipher. Superfish level of insecurity doesn't have to be the norm. The downside is that there are no open source libraries that make this possible which is why few people know about it.
cwyers 12y ago
I love the name "Google Play for Work."
- robotresearcher 12y ago
  "Google Play for Work" is as bad as "Playstation" is good. They really shouldn't let this awkward branding stuff happen.
  - RyJones 12y ago
    I worked on Windows Live Mobile for Windows Mobile. Thankfully it was renamed.
    - bdcs 12y ago
      Good to hear they're working hard in the Department of Redundancy Department.
    - Mahn 12y ago
      Could be worse. I still remember when Microsoft maintained both "Windows Messenger" and "MSN Messenger" as separate apps with separate update schedules and version numbers even though it was the same product. That was confusing.
      - digi_owl 12y ago
        As best i recall it started with Windows Messenger, aimed at intranet use (and with a client bundled with Windows, natch). Then MS used the same protocol to offer a AIM competitor. In the end though what they killed seemed to be IRC...
  - TeMPOraL 12y ago
    A bus station is a where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. So what is the purpose of a workstation? And more importantly, what is the purpose of a PlayStation? ;).
viccuad 12y ago
I tried to find any info about license or repos and couldn't find anything. Unlike Samsung's Knox, which is FOSS, how can this be even remotely secure if it is closed source? Seems that Google is full on the "Extinguish" phase with Android. edit: amazing that I'm being downvoted for stating facts yet nobody replies to me.
- josteink 12y ago
  The fact of the matter, is that Google usually publishes their source. They're just a bit slow at it. Most versions of android ship in binary form before source is released.
  - viccuad 12y ago
    yet, they are just phasing all the important bits to privative code. Of course, this Android for work goes with Google Play, and guess what, it is privative, of course. Just a step more into their "Extinguish" phase.
  - kelnos 12y ago
    AOSP is fairly basic and somewhat limited on its own, unless you have the resources to replace all of the "gapps", including setting up your own app store. Google Play Services has been slowly taking over a lot of core (and not-so-core) phone functionality over the past year or more, and it's entirely closed source. Google even stopped open-sourcing new versions of Google Authenticator, which you'd think would be a prime candidate for a full-blown open source project. (And hell, it's a crappy app; there are better GAuth-workalikes available.)
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- eitally 12y ago
  My guess is that it's because this is KNOX.
- tbrownaw 12y ago
  how can this be even remotely secure if it is closed source? It does not work that way. "Many eyes make all bugs shallow" failed to replicate. (I understand this fate is even more common for anecdata than it is for formal studies.) edit: amazing that I'm being downvoted for stating facts yet nobody replies to me. My guess would be that you were being downvoted for spreading FUD and/or trolling.
narrator 12y ago
Looks like they are going after Microsoft on a different front. Especially with the notes and outlook integration. Can they provide enough of a productivity boost to get people to dump the windows ecosystem? Will IT managers be comfortable with cloud managed systems?
api 12y ago
So we're all going to code, write, etc. on four inch screens? Seriously why hasn't someone made a smart phone that "transforms" into a larger screen form factor when connected to a monitor? I could see Android phones doing this. I could never imagine iOS doing it-- Apple would never cannibalize Mac like that, and iOS is too jailed for anything "real." Of course apps would have to support it. But those that didn't could pop up in little windows in "desktop mode." That would be fine. Google should dump ChromeOS -- which I never understood -- and do this instead.
- empy 12y ago
  Magic Leap fixed this problem.
- dflock 12y ago
  Android has been able to do this for years - here's video with details of someone using an android phone as a desktop replacement - with an external monitor and keyboard, etc...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB-icTl2J-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB-icTl2J-c Also, ChromeOS is a functional replacement for Windows + Office: ChromeOS + Google Docs. It comes on hardware (ChromeBooks or ChromeBoxes) which are very cheap but capable, because ChromeOS is very lightweight. These devices are on par, cost wise, with a Windows Terminal - and require even less IT dept. effort to maintain.
  - O____________O 12y ago
    Interesting video. It looks like the Chromecast can be used to mirror an Android phone's display, which might help with the HDMI vs USB connectivity trade-off. https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6059461?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6059461?hl=en It also appears that Synergy allows you to control an Android phone using your PC mouse and keyboard (requires rooting). http://synergyandroid.sourceforge.net/ http://synergyandroid.sourceforge.net/ (looks like it's in early development) So, with a Chromecast and Synergy, it may be possible to use a spare screen and your existing keyboard/mouse setup, keeping all your personal email and browsing off your work machine. And you'd only have to plug in USB for power.
- 12y ago
MichaelGG 12y ago
> a dedicated work profile that isolates and protects work data Oh wow, can this be used to just create a separate profile for every app? That way I can run Uber or Line without giving them every permission to everything? This is the biggest reason I do not install apps. Every "famous" app requests so many permissions it's just stupid. And not to mention the weirdness of some of them, like "WiFi Device Information". What's that mean? Access to my WiFi AP names? No thanks. Or just local multicast? Who knows.
- loxs 12y ago
  Actually that's the reason I use iOS
  - vlunkr 12y ago
    I honestly don't understand why this is down-voted, more "sandboxed" apps is one of the reasons I use iOS as well.
    - Splendor 12y ago
      Just for the sake of clarity, do you mean that there are more apps that are sandboxed on iOS or that all apps have a higher level of sandboxing on iOS?
      - vlunkr 12y ago
        The second option, that all apps have a higher level of sandboxing. Until iOS 8 apps couldn't do anything to modify the OS besides adding push notifications and maybe a page in the settings.
      - noblethrasher 12y ago
        More "sandboxed" in the sense that iOS apps start in a small sandbox that gets progressively and opportunistically larger. Instead of demanding all permissions upon installation, they demand them contemporaneously with attempted access to certain resources. The idea is that user consent is more informed. In contrast, Android apps demand all of their permissions up front.
the-dude 12y ago
A counter-move to the Apple-IBM collaboration? http://www.computerworld.com/article/2859480/apple-ibm-partnership-off-to-impressive-start.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2859480/apple-ibm-partn... edit: replaced paywalled wsj link
- wmf 12y ago
  More like an official version of Knox (which has existed for years) IMO.
pasbesoin 12y ago
I suggest that anyone considering sharing a personal device with work activity (other than basic phone calls and messaging, e.g. "I'll be in late") think twice. Comes a security concern or conflict, someone's probably going to want access to the whole thing. If you want me to do "your work" on a phone -- particularly as an employee as opposed to as an independent contractor utilizing their own resources as defined in the contract -- then give me a phone. A hassle, but on the other hand some protection, in exchange for a few additional ounces (phone weight) of prevention, as it were. Just like I don't want to use my own computer to host their work/data. Nope. When the relationship ends, I turn in their equipment and there is no question as to whether all relevant data has been expunged. They have the entire device.
- r00fus 12y ago
  Would secure-wiping the phone if involved in a legal discovery process be considered destruction of evidence? Does your advice apply when you're only using, say Exchange, as your only entry point (e.g. on iOS devices?) - in this case, all discovery can be done server-side. I find it hard pressed to think this issue hasn't been covered more rigorously.
  - pasbesoin 12y ago
    Part of my argument is that, when you as an individual are on one end of an argument about this with a substantial business/corporation and/or the government, you are going to have a rather difficult time, regardless of what is "right" and "lawful". Better to be able to hand the device over and say, "Have at it." Also, if there is some breach of security and a question about whether you facilitated it, through activity or through negligence, better to be able to say/demonstrate to the other party: "It's the organization's device, and the organization's / the organization's IT department's responsibility to maintain it."
  - pjc50 12y ago
    Would secure-wiping the phone if involved in a legal discovery process be considered destruction of evidence? Yes, if it's not part of a routine process.
davidgerard 12y ago
I wonder how the work apps compare to LibreOffice, which should be getting a usable Android version this year.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
This would be a lot more compelling if, when I got a Google voice voicemail and saw that in my Gmail app on my "Google Experience" Moto-G and clicked on the "listen to it" link it didn't just vanish leaving me with an open browser and no message. I like my phone, it works for me, but the sheer disconnectedness of it all is really jarring. Things show up in random places, or not at all, (especially media), and there is no "data connectivity" from anywhere to anywhere else, the same text message appears in my GVoice app, my Gmail app, and as a text message in Messaging. How do you even begin to make a coherent business tool out of that?
- Bjartr 12y ago
  > same text message appears in my GVoice app, my Gmail app, and as a text message in Messaging. The "official" way to deal with this is to go to the Google Voice site and turn of emailing yourself every text. Then install the Hangouts app and enable SMS through Hangouts. Then disable notifications in the Google Voice and Messaging apps. Result: On phone Hangouts handles texts + voicemail + Google chat, and on desktop GMail (or the Hangouts extension for Chrome) handles them. At least, that's my understanding of what Google's intended best practice is.
  - sliverstorm 12y ago
    You don't need Google Voice at all anymore (that I am aware of) and Messaging just goes to sleep when you make Hangouts your SMS app. GV integration is not the most seamless perfect experience ever (for example, incoming IP calls go straight to voicemail when I'm on corporate WiFi) but I'm fairly pleased with it.
- valgaze 12y ago
  That reminds me of the 14 steps & sub steps to take a screenshot on a DroidX in 2010: http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/22/how-to-take-screenshots-with-the-droid-x/ http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/22/how-to-take-screenshots...
- on_and_off 12y ago
  Google really did drop the ball on messaging. Hangouts was supposed to progressively regroup all these messaging capabilities in one service, but the SMS integration alone has been so bad that Google rolled out a separate SMS app after deleting it in the first place (the new version is an improved Material revamp, but it still serves the same purpose). There is probably a very interesting insider story behind this cock-up. In the mean-time, I hope that Google will learn from these attempts and improve Hangouts in meaningful ways. Sundar Pinchai has already alluded to the fact that Hangouts and Photos are going to be treated as entirely different teams/services than Google+, which is probably a good start.
noconflict 12y ago
Does this mean we'll get Google Now cards for non-gmail accounts now?
- chambo622 12y ago
  Ha, good one
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- notatoad 12y ago
  do you really want Google to be reading all the mail on your non-gmail accounts? If you want that, you can set up forwarding on your non-gmail account to send all your mail to a gmail account, and you'll get cards. Personally, i'd rather have the option for google to not read some of my mail.
- modeless 12y ago
  Google can fetch mail from other accounts via POP3. Set that up and you'll be able to get Now cards based on the email from any account.
prawn 12y ago
"Android for Work app – For devices running Ice Cream Sandwich through Kitkat..." I can imagine the average business manager type reading that line and thinking "Wha?!"
- jnevelson 12y ago
  I don't think the "average business manager" is going to be reading a Google blog post.
- kibwen 12y ago
  As immortalized in http://m.imgur.com/gallery/xe7Uw http://m.imgur.com/gallery/xe7Uw
walterbell 12y ago
Is this using SE Linux for isolation, like Samsung Knox?
- mikecb 12y ago
  This is Samsung Knox, or rather its evolution.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
jsudhams 12y ago
Looks like anoher thing would follow pc world. Initially companies allow personal laptop to be connected to work as long as you had correct version of patches and so on but with increased focus on security in most large organizations they have moved back company provided laptop. Same will happen here? Another issue a lot of good andriod's come with single sim hence you will anyway need a second (may be dumb phone) phone. Or does people use office phone for personal use , i mean where websites ask for your phone number? Because in India when leave a company (which is on an average one in 3 years) the company take the SIM back with number. And many folks have 2 sims for personal use itself so will obivously need office to provide the phone.
pjbrunet 12y ago
For work on Android I really need native split-screen support. Samsung-specific "multi window" is not a solution. A proper window tiler would be even better. Also the interface needs slim UI controls and slim window decorations, basically a "pro mode" theme-switcher for larger screens and mouse/keyboard users.
- Thimothy 12y ago
  So... You need a Surface.
minusSeven 12y ago
All the negativity aside can someone post what this brings to the market. What can android for work do essentially that other androids can't ? What does this bring extra to average android users?
- gambiting 12y ago
  Why would average android users care? It's not for them. But I work for a large company which allows me to use my own device for work purposes,but I have to install a 3rd party sandboxing app, which encrypts everything inside it and allows our IT department to remotely wipe it if needed. If Android supported this natively, we wouldn't have to spend big $$$ on a 3rd party solution.
ispivak 12y ago
On a basic level its a "container" that uses selinux to create a separate security space in which "work" apps and data live, so they they don't mingle with your personal apps. The Android for Work administrator has complete control over that part of the phone, but can't touch any personal apps or data. There are also updated email/calendar/contacts apps. This made mainly to address BYOD scenarios.
makeitsuckless 12y ago
Because centralized control by IT has worked so well for corporate security over the past few decades... I don't understand why organizations still want implement an IT paradigm which has done nothing but fail at its primary goal but has held back innovation and made workers miserable.
eka808 12y ago
I would NEVER EVER EVER use an android phone for work. Privacy management of google is catastrophic.
teekert 12y ago
I hope this will appeal to our management, at the moment we have to use this horrible, horrible Vodafone-at-work app on Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobileiron.vodafone.MIClient&hl=nl_NL https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobileiron...). I crashes, it ask for a password constantly, separate from your system password, it cannot show appointment in your normal agenda or the lock screen, it drains battery. They switched to it because some apps for android "lied" to our exchange server and said that mail was encrypted locally while it was not, passwords would not even be necessary (I think that was solved in Android >4). The Vodafone app caused many people to just stop syncing work related accounts: Not worth the trouble.
chinathrow 12y ago
"Secure business apps" Right, on a device with a closed source baseband. On a platform where the vendor has shown to install new apps without getting active consent from the user (Google Play Games, Hangouts, Google Now, Play Kiosk) to name a few.
- chinathrow 12y ago
  Downvote all the way you like. Or start defining "secure".
  - ocdtrekkie 12y ago
    If you criticize Google in HN, you're going to get downvoted, sadly. Lot of fanboys here.
  - digi_owl 12y ago
    Sadly secure as a throw away term is an absolute used to label a continuum.
SabinaHary 12y ago
Thanks for the update!

357 points by derpenxyne 12y ago

JTon 12y ago

Looks like blackberry balance was ahead of the curve on this one

bdcravens 12y ago
Blackberry was ahead of the curve on many things, they just sat on those advantages and never really responded to the changing market.
- jusben1369 12y ago
  I don't mean to beat on Blackberry but I too thought of Blackberry when reading this. I had a different approach though. This was the sort of approach that Blackberry optimized to lock out any competition from the enterprise. Apple/iPhone was just soooo good that eventually IT departments had to capitulate and work with BYO devices. Things like the US government were the last to cave so you Obama had a blackberry for a long time. So Google _seems_ to be catering to that crowd with this but that's a ship that's kind of sailed. There might be a few stubborn outposts but if half my company (including the entire C suite) has an iOS device are we really going to get value out of implementing this Google stuff?
  - digi_owl 12y ago
    How it has pretty much been since day one. Didn't many accountants sneak their private AppleII into the office to run Visicalc rather than having to deal with the mainframe and its admins?
    - jusben1369 12y ago
      I think it's important though to differentiate between some rogue edge cases and activity that changed the way IT departments think and act.
      - digi_owl 12y ago
        But telling one from the other ends up being the job of historians...
aetch 12y ago
Haha, nice pun.

listic 12y ago

How is this going to be rolled out? Minor version update for Android 5.0+?

Navarr 12y ago
It's probably part of Google Play Services.

aembleton 12y ago

Will this allow deployment to a rooted phone? If it does, then it will be possible for a third party to read the stored data.

sparaker 12y ago
Not if it is encrypted.
- pwnna 12y ago
  If your device is rooted, and by that I mean real rooted (bypassing SELinux), then it can get the encryption keys as at some point the data needs to be decrypted and viewable by you.
  - sparaker 12y ago
    No you'd still need the crypt key to decode the data. Why do you assume this is stored on the device?
    - jahewson 12y ago
      Where else would the key be?
    - Someone 12y ago
      OK. Let's assume that key lives on Google's servers. Then, Google must send it back to the Android device that it cannot trust unencrypted (possibly in a httpd session, but that is irrelevant for this discussion. The pipe may be secure, but you poor the data in a pool that isn't secure)
  - kevin_thibedeau 12y ago
    Encryption keys can be hidden in a way that is next to impossible to decipher. Superfish level of insecurity doesn't have to be the norm. The downside is that there are no open source libraries that make this possible which is why few people know about it.

cwyers 12y ago

I love the name "Google Play for Work."

robotresearcher 12y ago
"Google Play for Work" is as bad as "Playstation" is good. They really shouldn't let this awkward branding stuff happen.
- RyJones 12y ago
  I worked on Windows Live Mobile for Windows Mobile. Thankfully it was renamed.
  - bdcs 12y ago
    Good to hear they're working hard in the Department of Redundancy Department.
  - Mahn 12y ago
    Could be worse. I still remember when Microsoft maintained both "Windows Messenger" and "MSN Messenger" as separate apps with separate update schedules and version numbers even though it was the same product. That was confusing.
    - digi_owl 12y ago
      As best i recall it started with Windows Messenger, aimed at intranet use (and with a client bundled with Windows, natch). Then MS used the same protocol to offer a AIM competitor. In the end though what they killed seemed to be IRC...
- TeMPOraL 12y ago
  A bus station is a where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. So what is the purpose of a workstation? And more importantly, what is the purpose of a PlayStation? ;).

viccuad 12y ago

I tried to find any info about license or repos and couldn't find anything. Unlike Samsung's Knox, which is FOSS, how can this be even remotely secure if it is closed source? Seems that Google is full on the "Extinguish" phase with Android. edit: amazing that I'm being downvoted for stating facts yet nobody replies to me.

josteink 12y ago
The fact of the matter, is that Google usually publishes their source. They're just a bit slow at it. Most versions of android ship in binary form before source is released.
- viccuad 12y ago
  yet, they are just phasing all the important bits to privative code. Of course, this Android for work goes with Google Play, and guess what, it is privative, of course. Just a step more into their "Extinguish" phase.
- kelnos 12y ago
  AOSP is fairly basic and somewhat limited on its own, unless you have the resources to replace all of the "gapps", including setting up your own app store. Google Play Services has been slowly taking over a lot of core (and not-so-core) phone functionality over the past year or more, and it's entirely closed source. Google even stopped open-sourcing new versions of Google Authenticator, which you'd think would be a prime candidate for a full-blown open source project. (And hell, it's a crappy app; there are better GAuth-workalikes available.)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
eitally 12y ago
My guess is that it's because this is KNOX.
tbrownaw 12y ago
how can this be even remotely secure if it is closed source? It does not work that way. "Many eyes make all bugs shallow" failed to replicate. (I understand this fate is even more common for anecdata than it is for formal studies.) edit: amazing that I'm being downvoted for stating facts yet nobody replies to me. My guess would be that you were being downvoted for spreading FUD and/or trolling.

narrator 12y ago

Looks like they are going after Microsoft on a different front. Especially with the notes and outlook integration. Can they provide enough of a productivity boost to get people to dump the windows ecosystem? Will IT managers be comfortable with cloud managed systems?

api 12y ago

So we're all going to code, write, etc. on four inch screens? Seriously why hasn't someone made a smart phone that "transforms" into a larger screen form factor when connected to a monitor? I could see Android phones doing this. I could never imagine iOS doing it-- Apple would never cannibalize Mac like that, and iOS is too jailed for anything "real." Of course apps would have to support it. But those that didn't could pop up in little windows in "desktop mode." That would be fine. Google should dump ChromeOS -- which I never understood -- and do this instead.

empy 12y ago
Magic Leap fixed this problem.
dflock 12y ago
Android has been able to do this for years - here's video with details of someone using an android phone as a desktop replacement - with an external monitor and keyboard, etc...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB-icTl2J-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB-icTl2J-c Also, ChromeOS is a functional replacement for Windows + Office: ChromeOS + Google Docs. It comes on hardware (ChromeBooks or ChromeBoxes) which are very cheap but capable, because ChromeOS is very lightweight. These devices are on par, cost wise, with a Windows Terminal - and require even less IT dept. effort to maintain.
- O____________O 12y ago
  Interesting video. It looks like the Chromecast can be used to mirror an Android phone's display, which might help with the HDMI vs USB connectivity trade-off. https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6059461?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6059461?hl=en It also appears that Synergy allows you to control an Android phone using your PC mouse and keyboard (requires rooting). http://synergyandroid.sourceforge.net/ http://synergyandroid.sourceforge.net/ (looks like it's in early development) So, with a Chromecast and Synergy, it may be possible to use a spare screen and your existing keyboard/mouse setup, keeping all your personal email and browsing off your work machine. And you'd only have to plug in USB for power.
12y ago

MichaelGG 12y ago

> a dedicated work profile that isolates and protects work data Oh wow, can this be used to just create a separate profile for every app? That way I can run Uber or Line without giving them every permission to everything? This is the biggest reason I do not install apps. Every "famous" app requests so many permissions it's just stupid. And not to mention the weirdness of some of them, like "WiFi Device Information". What's that mean? Access to my WiFi AP names? No thanks. Or just local multicast? Who knows.

loxs 12y ago
Actually that's the reason I use iOS
- vlunkr 12y ago
  I honestly don't understand why this is down-voted, more "sandboxed" apps is one of the reasons I use iOS as well.
  - Splendor 12y ago
    Just for the sake of clarity, do you mean that there are more apps that are sandboxed on iOS or that all apps have a higher level of sandboxing on iOS?
    - vlunkr 12y ago
      The second option, that all apps have a higher level of sandboxing. Until iOS 8 apps couldn't do anything to modify the OS besides adding push notifications and maybe a page in the settings.
    - noblethrasher 12y ago
      More "sandboxed" in the sense that iOS apps start in a small sandbox that gets progressively and opportunistically larger. Instead of demanding all permissions upon installation, they demand them contemporaneously with attempted access to certain resources. The idea is that user consent is more informed. In contrast, Android apps demand all of their permissions up front.

the-dude 12y ago

A counter-move to the Apple-IBM collaboration? http://www.computerworld.com/article/2859480/apple-ibm-partnership-off-to-impressive-start.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/2859480/apple-ibm-partn... edit: replaced paywalled wsj link

wmf 12y ago
More like an official version of Knox (which has existed for years) IMO.

pasbesoin 12y ago

I suggest that anyone considering sharing a personal device with work activity (other than basic phone calls and messaging, e.g. "I'll be in late") think twice. Comes a security concern or conflict, someone's probably going to want access to the whole thing. If you want me to do "your work" on a phone -- particularly as an employee as opposed to as an independent contractor utilizing their own resources as defined in the contract -- then give me a phone. A hassle, but on the other hand some protection, in exchange for a few additional ounces (phone weight) of prevention, as it were. Just like I don't want to use my own computer to host their work/data. Nope. When the relationship ends, I turn in their equipment and there is no question as to whether all relevant data has been expunged. They have the entire device.

r00fus 12y ago
Would secure-wiping the phone if involved in a legal discovery process be considered destruction of evidence? Does your advice apply when you're only using, say Exchange, as your only entry point (e.g. on iOS devices?) - in this case, all discovery can be done server-side. I find it hard pressed to think this issue hasn't been covered more rigorously.
- pasbesoin 12y ago
  Part of my argument is that, when you as an individual are on one end of an argument about this with a substantial business/corporation and/or the government, you are going to have a rather difficult time, regardless of what is "right" and "lawful". Better to be able to hand the device over and say, "Have at it." Also, if there is some breach of security and a question about whether you facilitated it, through activity or through negligence, better to be able to say/demonstrate to the other party: "It's the organization's device, and the organization's / the organization's IT department's responsibility to maintain it."
- pjc50 12y ago
  Would secure-wiping the phone if involved in a legal discovery process be considered destruction of evidence? Yes, if it's not part of a routine process.

davidgerard 12y ago

I wonder how the work apps compare to LibreOffice, which should be getting a usable Android version this year.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

This would be a lot more compelling if, when I got a Google voice voicemail and saw that in my Gmail app on my "Google Experience" Moto-G and clicked on the "listen to it" link it didn't just vanish leaving me with an open browser and no message. I like my phone, it works for me, but the sheer disconnectedness of it all is really jarring. Things show up in random places, or not at all, (especially media), and there is no "data connectivity" from anywhere to anywhere else, the same text message appears in my GVoice app, my Gmail app, and as a text message in Messaging. How do you even begin to make a coherent business tool out of that?

Bjartr 12y ago
> same text message appears in my GVoice app, my Gmail app, and as a text message in Messaging. The "official" way to deal with this is to go to the Google Voice site and turn of emailing yourself every text. Then install the Hangouts app and enable SMS through Hangouts. Then disable notifications in the Google Voice and Messaging apps. Result: On phone Hangouts handles texts + voicemail + Google chat, and on desktop GMail (or the Hangouts extension for Chrome) handles them. At least, that's my understanding of what Google's intended best practice is.
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  You don't need Google Voice at all anymore (that I am aware of) and Messaging just goes to sleep when you make Hangouts your SMS app. GV integration is not the most seamless perfect experience ever (for example, incoming IP calls go straight to voicemail when I'm on corporate WiFi) but I'm fairly pleased with it.
valgaze 12y ago
That reminds me of the 14 steps & sub steps to take a screenshot on a DroidX in 2010: http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/22/how-to-take-screenshots-with-the-droid-x/ http://www.droid-life.com/2010/07/22/how-to-take-screenshots...
on_and_off 12y ago
Google really did drop the ball on messaging. Hangouts was supposed to progressively regroup all these messaging capabilities in one service, but the SMS integration alone has been so bad that Google rolled out a separate SMS app after deleting it in the first place (the new version is an improved Material revamp, but it still serves the same purpose). There is probably a very interesting insider story behind this cock-up. In the mean-time, I hope that Google will learn from these attempts and improve Hangouts in meaningful ways. Sundar Pinchai has already alluded to the fact that Hangouts and Photos are going to be treated as entirely different teams/services than Google+, which is probably a good start.

noconflict 12y ago

Does this mean we'll get Google Now cards for non-gmail accounts now?

chambo622 12y ago
Ha, good one
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
notatoad 12y ago
do you really want Google to be reading all the mail on your non-gmail accounts? If you want that, you can set up forwarding on your non-gmail account to send all your mail to a gmail account, and you'll get cards. Personally, i'd rather have the option for google to not read some of my mail.
modeless 12y ago
Google can fetch mail from other accounts via POP3. Set that up and you'll be able to get Now cards based on the email from any account.

prawn 12y ago

"Android for Work app – For devices running Ice Cream Sandwich through Kitkat..." I can imagine the average business manager type reading that line and thinking "Wha?!"

jnevelson 12y ago
I don't think the "average business manager" is going to be reading a Google blog post.
kibwen 12y ago
As immortalized in http://m.imgur.com/gallery/xe7Uw http://m.imgur.com/gallery/xe7Uw

walterbell 12y ago

Is this using SE Linux for isolation, like Samsung Knox?

mikecb 12y ago
This is Samsung Knox, or rather its evolution.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

jsudhams 12y ago

Looks like anoher thing would follow pc world. Initially companies allow personal laptop to be connected to work as long as you had correct version of patches and so on but with increased focus on security in most large organizations they have moved back company provided laptop. Same will happen here? Another issue a lot of good andriod's come with single sim hence you will anyway need a second (may be dumb phone) phone. Or does people use office phone for personal use , i mean where websites ask for your phone number? Because in India when leave a company (which is on an average one in 3 years) the company take the SIM back with number. And many folks have 2 sims for personal use itself so will obivously need office to provide the phone.

pjbrunet 12y ago

For work on Android I really need native split-screen support. Samsung-specific "multi window" is not a solution. A proper window tiler would be even better. Also the interface needs slim UI controls and slim window decorations, basically a "pro mode" theme-switcher for larger screens and mouse/keyboard users.

Thimothy 12y ago
So... You need a Surface.

minusSeven 12y ago

All the negativity aside can someone post what this brings to the market. What can android for work do essentially that other androids can't ? What does this bring extra to average android users?

gambiting 12y ago
Why would average android users care? It's not for them. But I work for a large company which allows me to use my own device for work purposes,but I have to install a 3rd party sandboxing app, which encrypts everything inside it and allows our IT department to remotely wipe it if needed. If Android supported this natively, we wouldn't have to spend big $$$ on a 3rd party solution.

ispivak 12y ago

On a basic level its a "container" that uses selinux to create a separate security space in which "work" apps and data live, so they they don't mingle with your personal apps. The Android for Work administrator has complete control over that part of the phone, but can't touch any personal apps or data. There are also updated email/calendar/contacts apps. This made mainly to address BYOD scenarios.

makeitsuckless 12y ago

Because centralized control by IT has worked so well for corporate security over the past few decades... I don't understand why organizations still want implement an IT paradigm which has done nothing but fail at its primary goal but has held back innovation and made workers miserable.

eka808 12y ago

I would NEVER EVER EVER use an android phone for work. Privacy management of google is catastrophic.

teekert 12y ago

I hope this will appeal to our management, at the moment we have to use this horrible, horrible Vodafone-at-work app on Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobileiron.vodafone.MIClient&hl=nl_NL https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobileiron...). I crashes, it ask for a password constantly, separate from your system password, it cannot show appointment in your normal agenda or the lock screen, it drains battery. They switched to it because some apps for android "lied" to our exchange server and said that mail was encrypted locally while it was not, passwords would not even be necessary (I think that was solved in Android >4). The Vodafone app caused many people to just stop syncing work related accounts: Not worth the trouble.

chinathrow 12y ago

"Secure business apps" Right, on a device with a closed source baseband. On a platform where the vendor has shown to install new apps without getting active consent from the user (Google Play Games, Hangouts, Google Now, Play Kiosk) to name a few.

chinathrow 12y ago
Downvote all the way you like. Or start defining "secure".
- ocdtrekkie 12y ago
  If you criticize Google in HN, you're going to get downvoted, sadly. Lot of fanboys here.
- digi_owl 12y ago
  Sadly secure as a throw away term is an absolute used to label a continuum.

SabinaHary 12y ago

Thanks for the update!