The levels to which Microsoft will promote its new found cross-platform developmental spirit seems to know no bounds. Beyond developing in conjunction with the open source community, Microsoft is also promoting development and support of its software and services on other competing operating systems on both the PC and mobile ecosystems.
Adding to its list of cross-platform support Microsoft has recently announced additions to its Intune software that brings app management control for iOS 9.3 and Samsung KNOX-enabled devices.
In the August round of updates to Intune, customers gain enhances app management for devices running iOS 9.3 and Samsung’s new mobile enterprise management security layer, KNOX, that include:
Hidden and shown apps for iOS 9.3 (or later)There are two new ways to manage and control which apps your users have access to on their supervised iOS 9.3 or later devices. Now you can use the hidden and shown apps list in the iOS general configuration policy to specify which apps users can view and launch, and which are hidden on their devices. The apps you can specify include both apps you have deployed, and the built-in iOS apps like Messages and Notes.
- Apps that are specified as hidden can’t be viewed or launched by users.
- When you specify a list of apps to be shown, no other apps can be viewed or launched.
Allowed and blocked apps custom policy for Samsung KNOX devices
Samsung KNOX
The Samsung KNOX improvements also allow you to configure custom policies that let you block or allow specific apps on these devices.
- Once an app is blocked, it cannot be activated or run on the device, even if it is already installed.
- Specifying which apps are allowed designates which apps can be installed from the Google Play store. When a list of allowed apps is defined, no other apps can be installed from the store.
With Intune now supporting Samsung KNOX-enabled devices as well as the most recent iOS 9 operating system version, Microsoft seems to be looking beyond petty operating system wars and viewing the bigger picture of being the much larger connective tissue to all services.
We’ll have to wait and see if their supportive development approach pays off in the end.
[Source:- Winbeta]
