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How to install Android apps (Store/Enterprise apps) silently?

Description

With mobile devices becoming the cornerstone of the corporate workforce, apps have now become integral to productivity. With IT admins required to keep devices usage-ready by installing all the requisite corporate apps, MDM lets you install apps silently, without any user action making bulk installation of apps easier. The advantage of silently installing apps on Android devices is that, it requires minimal admin action to install apps on devices and provides for bulk installation of apps over-the-air. Besides being able to install apps without any user intervention, MDM ensures users cannot uninstall these silently installed apps. This is applicable for Fully managed (Device Owner) devices (including Fully Managed Samsung devices enrolled via invite) and Work profile (Profile Owner) devices.

MDM facilitates apps to be installed silently as explained in the table below:

DEVICE/APP TYPE	ENTERPRISE APPS		STORE APPS
Samsung devices	Distribute and install apps, using MDM app repository		Provision the device as a Work Profile/Fully-managed device, if supported by the device (as in Android 6.0 or above), configure Managed Google Play, approve and install apps If the device does not support Fully managed/Work profile provisioning (as in Android 5.0 or below), grant Device Administrator privilege to the ME MDM app, configure Managed Google Play, approve and install apps If a device running Android 5.1 - 6.0 supports Device Owner Provisioning, it must be provisioned as Device Owner to silently install apps.
Non-Samsung devices	OS<6.0	Configure Managed Google Play, add the app as a private app, approve, and install it	Configure Managed Google Play, approve, and install apps
	OS>6.0	If provisioned as Fully managed, Distribute and install apps, using MDM app repository If provisioned as Work profile, Add the app as a private app, approve, and install it

Demo Video

Learn how to install apps silently on Android devices in 4 minutes, through the demo video below:

Steps

Provisioning device as Fully managed

Enroll the device using any of the enrollment methods listed here to provision the device as Fully managed.

Work Profile provisioning of the device

Enroll the device using Enrollment by Invites or Self-Enrollment, to provision the enrolled device as Work profile.

Distributing and installing Enterprise apps, using MDM App Repository

On the MDM console, add enterprise apps to the App Repository as explained here. Once the app has been added, it is ready for distribution.
Navigate to Groups & Devices and select the Devices tab.
Select the device(s) to which the app is to be distributed and click on Distribute Apps from the Action dropdown.
Search and select the app you want to distribute, from Available Apps.
Choose Silent Installation for Installation type is selected.
Click on Select to distribute and install the app(s) silently on the selected device(s).

In case there is an update to the enterprise app, it can be tested before deployment to the production environment. This eliminates the productivity and security issues that arise due to bugs in the app update.

Configure Managed Google Play, Approve, and Install apps

You can configure Managed Google Play using both G Suite or without G Suite (using your Google account). Configuring Managed Google Play, without G Suite lets you install apps, without configuring Play Store on the devices as explained explained here.
The next step is to add the Store apps to the App Repository as explained here. These apps are then distributed to the devices, where they get installed silently.

In the case of Store apps:

Login to Google Play for Work using the same account used to configure Managed Google Play in the previous step.
Approve the apps, which are to be installed silently on the device. Here, by approving you are actually purchasing the apps. For more details, refer to this.
For paid app and in-app purchases, you can refer to this.

In the case of enterprise apps:

First, you need to privately publish the enterprise apps on Google Play, to ensure silent installation of the enterprise apps on managed devices. After completing that, follow the steps given below to distribute and install the apps to your devices.

On the MDM server, navigate to Device Mgmt and select App Repository.
Click on Sync Apps and select Sync Play Store Apps from the dropdown. All the approved apps get added to the App Repository.
Navigate to Groups & Devices and select the Devices tab. Select the devices to which you want to associate the apps.
Select the device(s) to which the app is to be distributed and click on Distribute Apps from the Action dropdown.
Search and select the app you want to distribute, from Available Apps.
Choose Silent Installation for Installation type.
Click on Select to distribute and install the apps, silently on the selected devices.