Back in 2020, Google deprecated Android device administrator management, and has been encouraging moving off of device administrator since 2017. Google continues to remove device administrator management capabilities and they no longer provide fixes or improvements. Due to these changes, as mentioned in MC674247 and MC726113, Microsoft Intune will be ending support for device administrator management on devices with access to Google Mobile Services (GMS), beginning December 31, 2024. Until that time, we’ll continue supporting device administrator management on devices running Android 14 or earlier. For devices without GMS access, Intune will maintain device administrator support on Android 15 and earlier past December 31, 2024.
Impact of ending support
For devices with access to GMS
After Intune ends support for Android device administrator, devices with access to GMS will be impacted in the following ways:
- Intune won’t make changes or updates to Android device administrator management, such as bug fixes, security fixes, or fixes to address changes in new Android versions.
- Intune technical support will no longer support these devices.
For devices without access to GMS
Microsoft Teams certified Android devices will be migrated to Android Open Source Project (AOSP) management in Intune with a firmware update. Policies will not be migrated automatically, so IT admins will need to create the appropriate new policies for AOSP management. You can read more about this in the Microsoft 365 or the Microsoft Intune admin center Message center under MC665936, as well as Moving Teams Android Devices to AOSP Device Management for further migration guidance.
For all other devices without GMS access running Android 15 or earlier, Intune will continue allowing device administrator enrollment and will maintain limited support, since Android Enterprise management is unavailable to these devices. Device administrator is not recommended for these devices, since Google’s device administrator deprecation could impact functionality in the future. Refer to the following section for recommended device management alternatives.
Alternatives to Android device administrator
Intune offers many alternatives to device administrator that provide rich functionality for the many different scenarios for which you use device administrator today. Our recommendations depend on device ownership and whether the device has access to GMS. You may want to review the list of countries where Android Enterprise is available. The list below provides suggested alternate management methods for common device administrator use cases.
- Personal device with access to GMS: Personally-owned work profile and/or app protection policies. See move from Android device administrator to personally-owned work profile management and move from Android device administrator to mobile application management for guidance.
- Corporate device with access to GMS: Corporate-owned work profile, fully managed, or dedicated. If desired, combine with app protection policies.
- Personal device without access to GMS: App protection policies.
- Corporate device without access to GMS: For Intune AOSP supported devices, use AOSP user-associated or AOSP userless.
- Teams devices: These devices will be migrated to AOSP user-associated management with a firmware update.
Identifying device administrator devices
You can check your Intune reporting to see which devices and users may be affected. Go to Devices > All devices and filter the OS column to Android (device administrator) to see the list of devices.
Feedback
The Intune Android product team is here to support you through this transition. If you have feedback on this change, you can send it to them directly by filling out this feedback form, leaving a comment on this post or reaching out on Twitter @IntuneSuppteam.
Stay tuned to this blog for updates! We’ll provide more information about the changes as it becomes available.
Additional resources
- Intune blog from 2020 about decreasing device administrator support.
- Google's guidance for migration from device administrator to Android Enterprise.
Post updates
09/08/23: Updates to the "Alternatives to Android Device Administrator" list.
09/14/23: Added additional clarity around devices without GMS access.
02/01/24: Added additional docs link to the "Personal device with access to GMS" for additional guidance.
03/07/24: Added references to MC674247 and MC726113.
04/15/24: Updated post that for devices without GMS access, Intune will maintain device administrator support on Android 15 and earlier past December 31 August 30, 2024.
06/18/24: Update for Microsoft Teams certified Android devices - The firmware update will start in the third quarter of the 2024 calendar year & Intune will maintain device administrator support on Android 15 and earlier past December 31, 2024
10/31/24: Teams is continuing to work on the firmware update to migrate Teams devices to AOSP, refer to the Message center for the latest timeline updates.
