Introduction
The Android Device Policy in Swif enables IT administrators to enforce critical security and operational controls on managed Android devices. These controls are part of Swif’s Android Enterprise Policy Systems and are designed to help organizations maintain compliance, prevent data loss, and ensure devices are used as intended.
This article explains each available control in the Android Device Policy and its impact on device management.
Policy Controls
1. Adjust Volume Disabled
What it does:
Prevents users from changing the device’s volume settings.
Impact:
Ensures consistent audio levels (e.g., in kiosks, classrooms, or shared/public devices).
Prevents users from muting important alerts or increasing volume to disruptive levels.
2. Factory Reset Disabled
What it does:
Blocks the ability to perform a factory reset on the device.
Impact:
Prevents accidental or malicious device wipes.
Ensures devices remain enrolled and managed, supporting compliance and asset tracking.
3. Location Mode
What it does:
Controls the device’s location services mode (e.g., high accuracy, battery saving, device only, or off). For "Location Mode", on Android 9 and above, modes: HIGH_ACCURACY, SENSORS_ONLY, BATTERY_SAVING are treated as LOCATION_ENFORCED, while OFF corresponds to LOCATION_DISABLED. When LOCATION_DISABLED is set location is disabled as below in the screenshot:
Impact:
Allows IT to enforce location settings for compliance, asset tracking, or privacy.
Example: Enforce location ON for fleet tracking, or OFF for privacy-sensitive deployments.
4. Microphone Access
What it does:
Enables or disables access to the device’s microphone.
Impact:
Restricts apps or users from using the microphone.
Important for privacy, security, or regulatory compliance (e.g., in secure facilities or to prevent eavesdropping).
5. Printing Policy
What it does:
Controls whether printing is allowed from the device. For Printing Policy, when it’s set to PRINTING_DISALLOWED, the Settings → Connections → Printing section becomes greyed out, as shown in the screenshot.
Impact:
Prevents sensitive data from being printed or shared via physical documents.
Supports data loss prevention (DLP) strategies in regulated industries.
6. Unmute Microphone Disabled
What it does:
Prevents users from unmuting the microphone if it has been muted by policy.
Impact:
Ensures that once the microphone is muted (for privacy or compliance), users cannot override this setting. Android 12 and higher, where camera, microphone, and location permissions cannot be automatically restricted without user consent, but the functionality could still be limited. When recording a video, it might not capture sound even though the microphone access setting isn’t shown as blocked or disabled.
Maintains strict control over audio input.
Why Use Android Device Policy?
Security & Compliance: Prevents data leakage, unauthorized resets, and circumvention of IT policies.
Operational Control: Locks down device features for dedicated use cases (kiosks, point-of-sale, field devices).
Audit-Ready: Ensures devices remain compliant with organizational and regulatory requirements.
How to Apply These Policies
Assign the Android Device Policy to device groups or individual devices in the Swif admin console.
Test on a subset of devices to ensure compatibility with your workflows.
Monitor compliance in the Swif dashboard.
For more details on Android MDM and policy management, see:
Need help?
Contact Swif support or visit our Help Center.