In DevRel 63, we have enhanced our features and settings – remotely resetting lock screen password and factory reset along with several UI improvements in the Apps and Geofence section of the Console. These UI improvements will refine the user experience further. Here is a list of what’s new:
- Increased the number of characters in the device ID
- Ability to remotely view the devices for viewer role
- API to remotely reset the device lock screen password
- Samsung Knox factory reset protection
- Esper Console support for Chrome browser on Chrome OS
- Ability to execute ADB commands during provisioning using the provisioner tool
Provision Over a Million Devices to your Environment
Esper now supports 5 characters for the device name instead of the previous 4 characters, leading to provisioning more devices per tenant. Earlier customers could provision a maximum of 36^4 devices; now, they can provision up to 36^5 ~ 1.6 million devices for their environment. The device name will now take the form: Company short code – XXXXX. For example, ESP-DMO-12345.
Note: This feature will work only for existing customers’ newly provisioned devices and for new customers. This will not work with existing devices. Please don’t hesitate to contact Esper if you have any questions.
Remotely View the Device in Viewer Role
The Console user with the ‘Group Viewer’ user role can now remotely view the device via Remote Viewer. However, this user role won’t be able to control the device.
Remotely Reset the Device Lock Screen Password Using API
IT admins can now remotely change the lock screen PIN or password of a device using the API. They can make use of the Command API to reset the device lock screen password.
"command": "RESET_LOCKSCREEN_PASSWORD",
"command_args":{
"new_lockscreen_password":"0000",
}Changing password requests can be driven for the device or the group at once. Please find details on how to use the API here.
Samsung Knox Factory Reset Protection
If the IT admin has disabled the local factory reset on the device, the end-user can’t factory reset from the recovery mode or via ADB access. However, you can reset the device from the Esper Console. Please contact Esper to know more about this feature.
Support for Chrome Browser on Chrome OS
We now support Esper Console access from the Chrome browser on Chrome OS.
Execute ADB Commands During Provisioning Using the Provisioner Tool
Users can now fire ADB commands during provisioning using the provisioner tool.
Bugs and Improvements
- Previously, while provisioning a specific device, clicking the ‘Reset Device‘ button did not reset the device, causing the provisioning to fail repeatedly. This has been fixed, and the reset should work as expected.
- Esper now uses profile icons along with the username. Navigate to the user management section of the Console to view these profile icons.
- Previously, if a user removed the device with a factory reset check and the device was not online within 24 hours, it was not removed. Now, the device will get removed from the Esper Console after 24 hours, and the IT admin has to manually reset the device locally.
- We have improved pagination for the App section of the Console. When the user navigates to a page for an application, say page 5, and clicks the ‘View Details’ link for that application, the user is taken back to the same page (page 5).
- Logs from the Device provisioner are now in a proper format with line breaks and can be saved with a .txt or .log file.
- Now, Remote Viewing will work for Esper Agent versions below 7.5.0105, but Remote Control won’t work through accessibility service. However, the Remote Control and Remote Viewer will continue to work with the Supervisor and Knox.
- On the device, navigate to the Esper Settings> Remote Control> Accessibility and turn ON the ‘Esper Remote Control Service’ to enable remote control via the accessibility service method.
Note: Going forward, this is a one-time activity.
If Remote Control is still not working through accessibility service, the user might not be on the latest Esper Agent. Contact the Esper team to update to the latest Esper Agent version.
And that’s it for DevRel 63. Esper’s team is working to deliver another batch of exciting features and improvements in DevRel 64 and beyond. It is scheduled for the first week of August 2021. Please reach out to share your thoughts on how Esper can improve your customer experience in future releases.