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Device admin deprecation

In December 2017, Google publicly announced the deprecation of the device admin (DA) mode of mobile device management.

This deprecation is designed to expedite the migration:

Four essential DA policies that managed passwords, the keyguard (lockscreen), and camera:

  • were marked as legacy in Android 9 (or Pie, API level 28)
  • now throw security exceptions and no longer work when used in Android 10 (or Q, API level 29)

Apps uploaded to the Google Play store now need to target a recent Android API level to ensure that users benefit from significant security and performance improvements. By November 2, 2020, Google requires app updates to target API level 29, which corresponds with Android 10 (Q). So by this date, the deprecated DA policies stop working.

Google provides an Android Enterprise Migration Bluebook to help migrate to the new Android Enterprise model.

The following documentation focuses on the impact of the DA deprecation on:

  • Samsung devices — Through the Samsung Knox SDK, you can call APIs to manage passwords, the keyguard (lockscreen), and camera on Samsung devices. Apps currently using the Knox SDK are not impacted by DA deprecation.

  • VMware deployments — Valued partners and customers using VMware should note important info about managing the migration.

See also our FAQs, which answer common questions about the migration from the legacy device admin to Android Enterprise.

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