Google Adds New BYOD Features to Android

The Google Apps Device Policy app is software which allows the remote management of Android devices through the Google Apps for Education admin console. The app provides similar functionality to other third-party MDM solutions but with  more granular control over parts of the operating system related to Google Apps accounts. Following an update this week, if you have a Google Apps for Education domain and have the Google Apps Device Policy app installed on your devices, you now have the following additional options available:

1. Selective wipe – Selecting Account wipe in the Admin console deletes just a user’s Google Apps data — email, calendar, Google Drive etc. — without removing their personal information. This is extremely useful in a BYOD scenario to manage school data held on staff or student personal devices without affecting their personal information.
2. SD card wipe – One of the problems with remote wipe previously was that you could clear the internal memory of a phone or tablet, but any data stored on an SD Card would still be accesible by either removing the card from the device or connecting the phone to a PC. The updated remote wipe feature clears all data on the phone, including the SD card.
3. Wifi configuration from Admin console – WiFi settings can now be pushed out to devices from the Google Apps admin console.

The new features can be accessed from the Settings > Mobile page in the Google Apps admin console.

The new features provide greater management over school data held on BYOD devices without affecting a user’s personal information.

Source: Google Enterprise Blog