Samsung finally admitted to Google’s Enterprise Android Recommended club

November 12, 2020 TH Author

Samsung regularly tops Android handset sales charts and has arguably done more than any other handset-maker to make the OS. Yet the Korean company did not make the list at the launch of the Android Enterprise Recommended program, a scheme that Google created in early 2018 to point out which ‘Droids are ready to offer enterprise-grade services like remote management and swift security updates.

As we noted at the time, Samsung seemingly ticked all Google’s boxes but also offered some functions that Google didn’t list – such as its own app store and mass device enrolment tools other than Google’s own.

Now Samsung has made it into the programme and probably revealed what kept it out for over two years.

A canned Samsung statement said that in the last couple of years Google and Samsung have worked to:

Harmonize Android Enterprise and Samsung’s Knox Platform for Enterprise to offer a seamless experience for Android customers who were also looking for Samsung’s advanced capabilities in security and device management.
Synchronize our mobile device enrolment services (Android zero-touch enrolment and Knox Mobile Enrolment) to offer enterprise customers a variety of services that help streamline the employee onboarding experience and re-deployment of devices.

Which sounds a lot like the two companies found a way to make the relationship work even though Samsung didn’t stick to the original ground rules.

Google’s spun that as an evolution of the Android Enterprise Recommended scheme.

And that program has indeed evolved: Google today announced the debut of zero-touch rollout for Android 9.0+ devices, which allows users to work with either Google or Samsung’s Knox on Galaxy devices.

Samsung devices recommended under the program include the S20, Note20, Tab S7|S7+, and the XCover Pro rugged phone. ®