In this article, we will show you how to add your own (self-developed) Android apps to the Cortado administration portal and then assign them to your users' devices.
Note! You can create an additional administrator account for your app manager.
Install the app initially
- In the Administration Portal select Administration→ Apps.
- Click on the plus button (left arrow in illus.) and then select Android (right arrow in illus.).
- Select Self-Hosted Apps, if you want to add your own (self-developed) apps.
A description for adding apps from the Google Play Store can be found here.
- Then select your self-developed app (.apk file) by clicking on Select File.
- Name: Enter the app name.
- Description: Enter a description of the app.
- Minimum/Maximum OS version: Specifying a minimum/maximum OS version is optional. If the versions are entered, the app will only be made available to those devices with an operating system that meets these requirements.
- App icon: At the bottom, select an icon in .png or .jpg file format with a maximum size of 100 KB (optional).
- Mandatory: Activate this checkbox, if the use of this app should be compulsory for the users. The app is then pushed onto the user’s device at regular intervals, in case the user may have deleted it.
- Rollout initially: Enable this checkbox if the app should be pushed to the users‘ devices immediately (regardless of the synchronization interval and regardless of whether the Mandatory checkbox is enabled).The users can then individually delete the app later.
- Confirm your settings with OK.
You can now find the app in the Administration Portal (left column).
- Assign the apps to the users or groups.
Update of a self-hosted app
If you have already assigned a self-hosted app to your users, you can easily update the app here.
- To do this, select your app in the administration portal under Administration→ Apps (upper arrow in illus.).
- Then click on Edit (lower arrow in illus.).
Note! If you want to downgrade a self-hosted app, you must first remove the new version and then reinstall and distribute the older version of the app. A downgrade via the edit button is not possible.
- Upload the new version of your app now (arrow in illus.).
The new version of the app is pushed to users' devices during the next synchronization and then automatically installed on COBO devices. On devices with a work profile (BYOD or COPE), users must install the new version themselves. Further information on self-hosted apps can be found in the Android app user guide.
Under Administration→ Devices, you can see in the Apps tab whether an app update was successful. A separate status is displayed here for each version of the app (with the same package ID).