App management

Add the apps your team needs. They install by themselves.

NounDesk manages apps through Google Play. You build a catalog from Google Play packages (with 59 suggested business apps in nine categories to start), then mark each app Required, Available or Blocked in a security policy, optionally with a minimum version. Required apps install automatically on every device that follows the policy, and an app compliance view shows which devices have, lack, or run outdated versions of each one.

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App management in NounDesk.

Build your catalog from Google Play

Search Google Play by name or paste a package name. NounDesk pulls the icon and title from Google, so your catalog looks like the Play Store rather than a list of codes.

59 suggested business apps come grouped into nine categories if you are not sure where to start.
Navigation, messaging, field service, scheduling, accounting, security, scanning, productivity and browsers.
Employees never sign in to Google Play with a personal account to get them.

59 suggested business apps

Grouped into nine categories, with icons pulled from Google Play.

Navigation
Messaging
Field service
Scheduling
Accounting
Security
Document scanning
Productivity
Browsers

Required, Available or Blocked

For each app in each security policy you choose one of three states, which is how you make sure the job app is always there and the games never are.

Required installs automatically and cannot be removed by the employee.
Available appears in the device's managed Play Store for the employee to install if they want it.
Blocked cannot be installed, and raises an alert if it appears anyway.

Per app, per policy

JobberInstalls automatically, cannot be removedRequired
Google MapsMinimum version 11.0Required
SlackEmployee can install it if they wantAvailable
Games and socialRaises an alert if it appearsBlocked

App compliance you can act on

The compliance view lists every required app with four numbers: devices that have it, are missing it, are outdated, or failed to install, plus the spread of versions.

Set a minimum version so a stale install shows as outdated rather than quietly running last year's release.
A failed install names the device and the reason, most often not enough storage.
The alert that arrives says the same thing as the dashboard, in the same words.

Required app compliance

Google Maps7/7
Jobber6/7
Authenticator5/7

Turn a website into an app

Many small businesses run their most important tool in a browser: an ordering page, a check-in form, a scheduling board. Any URL can become an installable app.

It installs like a normal app and opens full screen, with no browser bar and no tabs.
Combined with kiosk mode, a cheap tablet becomes a dedicated order screen.
Update the website and every device has the new version immediately.

A URL becomes an app

orders.yourshop.comInstalls like a normal app

Opens full screenNo browser bar, no tabs

Pair it with kiosk mode for a counter tablet.

Updates run when you say

App updates follow the update policy you set, so you are never in the position of an app changing itself in the middle of a shift because nobody had a say.

Automatic, within a nightly window, or postponed for a period.
The nightly window is the common choice for counters and crews.
Security patches are never delayed, whatever the app update setting says.

When updates run

AutomaticAs soon as Google releases themOption
Nightly window1–5 am, when nobody is workingCommon
PostponeHold app updates for a periodOption
Security patchesNever delayed by NounDeskAlways

Getting the right apps onto ten phones by hand means ten trips through the Play Store, ten logins and a spreadsheet nobody updates. In NounDesk you pick the apps once, and every phone on the policy installs them itself.

What app management does not do

NounDesk manages which apps are on a phone and whether they're up to date. Nothing more, and that's deliberate.

Google Play only
No APK files sideloaded onto phones. An APK you upload is published privately through managed Google Play, then installs like any other app.
Nothing inside apps
It never sees what employees do in an app.
Presence and version
Which apps are installed, and whether they meet the minimum version.

Private apps →Why: security and privacy →

What NounDesk sees on a phone

Which apps are installedAnd the version of eachManaged
What is inside an appMessages, files, customer recordsNever seen
KeystrokesAnything typed on the phoneNever logged
BrowsingSites visitedNever reported

Related features

Managed Google Play

Managed Google Play for business: browse the real Play catalog in NounDesk, add apps by name instead of package ID, and publish your own app privately.

Security policies

Android security policies in plain English: pick a template, set screen lock, updates, camera, Wi-Fi and encryption, and preview changes before publishing.

Kiosk mode

Android kiosk mode with no kiosk app to install. Lock a tablet or phone to one app, a few apps or a web page in a four-step wizard, and see each kiosk's health.

Industries

Who uses app management

The trades that lean on this feature most, each with its own scenario and recommended policy.

Field service

Technician phones that are ready before the first job.

Technician phones that hold the schedule, the customer address and the photos that get you paid. Keep the job app and maps installed, push the shop Wi-Fi, and lock a phone the moment it is left at a customer's house.

Cleaning & home services

Simple phones for a team that's always at someone's home.

Staff phones that carry the schedule and a client's gate code into someone's home. A simple PIN rule, an app allow-list, and reassignment in seconds when the team changes.

Delivery & logistics

Driver phones that navigate, scan, and lock when they go missing.

Driver phones running navigation and proof of delivery all day. Keep the dispatch app on the version you tested, get told when a phone goes quiet, and lock it the moment it is lost.

Restaurants & retail

The order tablet shows the menu. Nothing else. All day.

Order screens and check-in tablets that should show one app and nothing else. Kiosk mode blocks the settings menu, keeps the screen awake, and tells you before the lunch rush if a tablet dies.

See every industry →

From the blog

Set up app management, step by step

Guide · Apps and contentAppsAdd apps from managed Google Play in NounDesk and make each one required, available or blocked per security policy, with minimum versions.Guide · Apps and contentApp complianceSee which required apps are installed, missing, outdated or failed on every device, find blocked apps still installed, and learn how to fix each one.

Browse the full user guide →

App management: questions answered

Do employees need a Google account to get the apps?

No. Apps install through the managed Google Play built into the device during enrollment. Employees never sign in to Google Play with a personal account.

Can I stop someone installing games or social apps?

Yes. Block specific apps, or block apps from outside Google Play entirely, in the security policy. Blocked apps that appear on a device raise an alert.

What if my app is a website, not a Play Store app?

Turn the URL into a web app. It appears as a full-screen installable app, which is how most restaurant order screens and check-in desks run on NounDesk kiosks.

Can I install our own company app?

Yes. Upload the APK and it is published privately through managed Google Play, free, in about 10 minutes. Only your devices can see it, it installs as Required, Available or Blocked like any other app, and employees do not need a Google account.

Can I require a minimum version?

Yes, per app per policy. Devices below the minimum show as outdated in the compliance view.

Ten phones. Ten minutes. Protected.

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