Troubleshooting issues with MANAGED SETTINGS

If you're having issues configuring or using MANAGED SETTINGS, the below guidance may help. If not, feel free to contact project-support@bayton.org or join the BAYTON Discord.

Activity may not be available on this device

This shows when a device user taps a Setting (i.e., APN) for which there isn't an activity intent available. This may be because the OEM has implemented a custom activity intent, or the device doesn't have this setting available. Please follow steps under submitting to support to have this investigated. You will be asked for a bug report after replicating the issue.

A supported client is required to email support

The device user has tapped the support card under available actions, but no mail client is available on the device. This warning can be safely ignored if it is intentional, and device users should use another means of emailing the configured support address.

A supported web browser or engine is required

The device user has tapped a link or action that requires a web browser, but no configured browser is available on the device for MANAGED SETTINGS to use. If this is intentional, the warning can be ignored. Otherwise, configure a browser. You may opt to provide limited access to an application such as Chrome through the use of managed configurations, and a FAQ for this can be found here.

Alternatively, configure a support message without links, and disable the feedback action to remove links from the application.

Licensing server unreachable

The application is unable to communicate with the remote licensing server. See MANAGED SETTINGS requirements for network requirements in order to use the application. If this is an issue for your deployment, please reach out.

Some OEMs/devices do not support AOSP settings intents

Where alternative intents exist, support will be added. If you're testing with devices that do not open intents, please follow steps under submitting to support to have this investigated.

OEM/device support is tracked via this document. I welcome feedback to grow it.

Some OEMs/devices only open the Settings app

Particularly prevalent on older Android versions, some devices treat all activity intents as a request to open the Settings application, and provide full access to all device settings.

If this occurs on a device in your fleet, please follow steps under submitting to support to have this investigated.

Unfortunately support for this scenario may not be possible, but the OEM/model will be added to the OEM support list and I will work to bring it to the attention of any vendor in which this is occurring on a modern Android version.

App cannot be configured on uncertified devices

MANAGED SETTINGS requires a GMS/Play Protect certified device with a modern management platform (EMM) to configure it. If your EMM supports offline/AOSP deployment of uncertified devices, and can support the configuration of applications through managed config without access to Google Play, get in touch and I'll provide the necessary information to offer support for this use case.

APN settings don't launch/aren't available

A device needs a SIM and an active plan to launch APN settings. Even then, APN settings are altered from AOSP often across OEMs, and it may not be compatible with the intents offered in MANAGED SETTINGS. Custom intents may help, and will be available in future.

If you're setting customisations, but seeing they don't apply to device(s), there can be a few reasons:

The device is offline

Customisations are sent through managed config, and if a device is not online - or does not have access to the Google Play infrastructure and/or EMM services to receive it, customisations won't apply. You'll notice no other configurations (activity intents) are configured, either.

No access to the licensing server

If the device(s) cannot reach ping.projects.bayton.org, a valid licence cannot be confirmed, and customisations will not apply. See network requirements.

Invalid/unlicensed organisation ID

Customisations are only supported on licensed organisation IDs. On invalid or unlicensed organisation IDs, customisations will be ignored. Activity Intents configurations will still apply.

If you're licensed, please ensure the organisation ID added to the managed config is correct, validate the device(s) can reach the licensing server, and reach out to project-support@bayton.org for further assistance.

The icon is too large

If the image file is simply too large (file size), and the download fails due to unstable network conditions, it will fall back to the generic icon to ensure an acceptable user experience.

The icon is unavailable

Ensure the device can reach the URL the file is hosted from. It only needs to do this once per configured icon, and will retain the cached file as long as the URL in the managed config does not change.

General icon issues

Check the file format, file size, file dimensions, network quality, file integrity, and generally ensure the environment in which the managed device(s) work doesn't prevent the icon from being fetched.

This points to an issue between the application and the EMM in the first instance. Reach out to debug.

MANAGED SETTINGS requires Android 7.0 and above, running on ARM chipsets. Outside of these requirements, the app should be supported on pretty much all open-market devices. If you're seeing issues, reach out to debug.

MANAGED SETTINGS will retrieve/receive the managed configuration either from the DPC or companion application via EMM, or from disk. It will then cache the configuration on an ongoing basis until a new configuration is received.

Three scenarios where configuration becomes unavailable:

1. The organisation ID is no longer licensed
2. The device is offline for an extended period
3. The EMM/DPC is sending blank/malformed configurations without admin input
4. There's a bug 🙃

For 1, reach out if you believe this to be a mistake.

For 2, if you have a use case that mandates devices are offline for more than one week at a time, please reach out.

For 3, get in touch with your EMM in the first instance to debug their platform. Loop me in as required to assist.

Licensing/billing issues

Please email project-support@bayton.org directly, no need to raise an issue.

Functionality issues

Remember: Your device may be one of many regional SKUs of one of many OEM models, so the more information you can provide about your device(s) and your issue, the better I can support you.

You can obtain information to aid in resolution through the following process:

1. Open your native Android Settings application
2. Tap in to the Setting (e.g., Wi-Fi) that doesn't launch through MANAGED SETTINGS. Do this several times.
3. Note the time to the second (13:31:45) when doing this, then capture a bug report.
4. Repeat step 2 & 3, but from the MANAGED SETTINGS intent you're unable to use.

With this information, please create a new issue to be investigated.

As bug reports can contain sensitive information, you're welcome to use the private feedback form for BRs that may come from a device with user information present. Please input the issue number of the raised request on GitHub so feedback can be linked to the issue.

For priority support customers, raise your concern through your dedicated channel.