What is KNOX according to Galaxy AI, how to install the Ministry of Digital Development certificate and other impressions over the year

This article is about which SDK features and KNOX services attracted developers this year, as well as interesting B2B stories and impressions from running a blog on mobile B2B topics

Conclusions after 6 months of blogging

I recently became a tekkix author. After ten years of working in the mobile B2B field, there is a lot to write about. The mobile B2B topic is not so widespread, but it is impossible to predict in advance whether an ordinary tekkix reader will encounter it at work. Whether it will be useful or not. The first article was published on July 30 of this year, and as a result, I come to the conclusion that I need to write about two things. The first is instructions for specific useful things, for example, how to isolate Whatsapp, or how and for what POGO pin connectors are used on rugged devices. This broadens the readers' horizons, which is never superfluous, and can be useful at work, introducing the specifics of using mobile devices in business. The second topic is simply sharing what made a special impression in the daily routine.

An article with a philosophy on product management and development, where I described our experience of creating a solution for schools based on Samsung tablets, is rather rare. We do not develop... a solution from scratch every day.

How to install root certificates

From recent experiences, I remember solving the problem of installing certificates from the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation on Samsung devices. For the successful automated installation of the EMM agent, the device needs to download it, and the location for downloading may use these certificates. So, in the Knox Mobile Enrollment service, in its license-free part, the ability to upload and install a certificate during the automatic installation of the MDM/EMM agent (Mobile Device Management/Enterprise Mobility Management) was useful. This feature has always been there because the situation with root certificates is typical for B2B, and in this case, this long-existing KME option found its application.

The device automatically downloads and installs the necessary items upon first power-up.

Another moment that impressed me is the tendency to stick to habits despite all the difficulties in following them. Many prefer to install MDM/EMM agents via QR codes, even though they know that the resource-intensive process can be simplified using the aforementioned KME service for free.

You can manually handle a hundred devices, but why struggle with thousands? Although there are exceptions when admins have reasons for manual work. For example, the company manually checks and tests each device.

Promised about Galaxy AI

In the first article, I promised to figure out the real value of Galaxy AI for working with images. Not everyone can draw, but many need illustrations. You can choose paid or free ones from stocks, but it's more fun and adequate to make them yourself. Based on a sketch, traced like a stencil from other images, or drawn by yourself, or based on text. It perfectly helps to cut out the necessary objects and combine them.

At the beginning of the article, there is an image-response from Galaxy AI about what Samsung KNOX is, in its opinion.

For those who make presentations or engage in blogging, the value is obvious. The question is to understand a little and get involved. It was convenient for me to do everything on the Ultra version of the flagship because it has an S Pen, although it would be more convenient on a tablet. I need to try it sometime, but I still need to get one for this.

About antennas and internet speed on different devices

What else was remembered. Once there was information that "in the fields" people say that on the phone, and it was a simple and cheap consumer model, the internet works worse than on a tablet, also not a B2B series. Not surprising, because the size is larger, the ground is larger, more antennas can be placed in the tablet and all that. The difference can also be determined by the release time. Each subsequent model is, in one way or another, some improvements. I took this phone and tablet, SIM card. Simple testing using speedtest in Chrome confirmed an average speed twice as low on the smartphone. It was necessary to monitor whether it connects to the same cell and whether the test goes through the same server, but for "on the knee" it will do.

The most interesting thing is that the protected devices Tab Active5 and XCover7 supported a speed almost one and a half times higher than the usual tablet. XCover7 turned out to be even better than Tab Active5 and this is a small six-inch smartphone. I will have to figure out why. Perhaps the marketing about the protected version - "fast network support" in practice makes sense and soon we will get an interesting explanation for this. Maybe more antennas, maybe special technologies. Or I tested it wrong (it would be good to track the same cell and the same server every time), or there is something to tell here.

Clichés and the most popular specifics about KNOX

There is a persistent cliché that KNOX is about security. It is a hardware-based controller for the Android OS and its integrity, and it monitors various methods of data hacking on the device. Now it is already KNOX Vault with separate processor and memory. However, it is not so well known that KNOX is about management...

First of all, with the help of KNOX SDK, which recently received a more convenient wrapper in the form of OEMConfig Knox Service Plugin for embedding its capabilities into MDM/EMM solutions, and it has long been integrated into most of them. The integration is not complicated, as mentioned. In a business that does without an IT department, stability is more important than updates, so one of the popular topics this year is prohibiting OS updates altogether, or applications separately, and a common example is the Chrome browser, in which the service operates. There was a case of tablet monitors placed in cars for passengers in the back seat. In this case, the option of automatic device on/off when the power is turned off was in demand. The car battery is not eternal when the engine is off.

And KNOX is also about management through services...

It costs some money, but it is cheaper than development and definitely faster.

In fact, few people know or have a very vague idea, so I will briefly say that KME or Knox Mobile Enrollment is a free service for automated out-of-the-box installation of any of your EMM/MDM. Whatever your company uses, with a 95% probability your EMM/MDM supports it.

Also, any company or seller of Samsung devices can brand devices up to the boot and shutdown animation, reassign button functions, create kiosk mode, and so on using KC (Knox Configure). In the old days, it was necessary to release customized firmware for this, which meant the project had to be large and commercially justified for such maneuvers. Now, even one device. Do custom, no one cares about it. Everything is in your hands.

Banks and large companies often resort to this method of branding.
Fans of corporate style aesthetics will always be there

Knox Manage is Samsung's native EMM/MDM, which even supports iOS to some extent, an analogue of existing solutions. It can do a lot, up to policy settings depending on the day of the week and time of day, and shared devices, when one device is used by different employees. Separate topic.

KNOX Guard is used by those who sell Samsung phones on credit, allowing not only to block the device in case of non-payment and manage its availability, but also to restrict use to a specific network operator. Yes, this has been done around the world through this service for a long time. There was an interesting example of using this service to "brick" a device on request. The point is that you buy a device and additionally add an option, according to which, if you lose the device and there is no chance of finding it, then at your request it can be turned into a "brick", even if the craftsman who received it after the theft or loss reflashed it or did a factory reset.

Conclusion

At the end of the year, we sum up the results and remember the most interesting and memorable. In this article, I tried to outline just that. What was most often asked and had to be told, as well as what struck and remembered as the brightest moment. I am most interested in feedback from readers and ideas on what else could be written about besides the topics I mentioned. I congratulate all readers on the upcoming New Year and wish professional development and career success in the next 2025 year.