IBM MaaS360

Introduction:

With the growing use of Kiosk Mode on Android devices, businesses are increasingly locking down devices to limit user access to general settings. This is particularly common in COSU (Corporate-Owned, Single-Use) environments, where devices are restricted to a single app or specific functionalities to serve a focused purpose. However, essential settings such as Biometrics, Password management, and NFC are crucial for daily operations, ensuring that users can efficiently navigate their tasks within a controlled environment.

Kiosk Mode in MaaS360 offers a high level of customization, allowing businesses to tailor the look and feel of their devices with branding elements like custom wallpapers and logos. This mode prevents unauthorized users from altering device settings or installing unapproved applications, making it ideal for retail, digital signage, and self-service kiosks. Moreover, the ability to manage devices remotely helps maintain compliance with organizational policies while ensuring that devices operate smoothly and effectively in their designated roles.

Overview of the Custom Status Bar Feature

The introduction of granular control over the custom status bar in MaaS360 significantly enhances user experience within enterprise environments. By enabling flexibility in the status bar’s configuration, this feature caters to diverse needs across various industries and client applications, making it an adaptable solution for customer-facing kiosks and employee-only devices alike.

Without this feature, IT administrators may struggle with device identification and management, particularly in environments with multiple devices. The inability to display or hide the device name or asset tag could lead to confusion and security risks, complicating monitoring and reporting efforts essential for compliance and oversight.

Targeting all Kiosk-enabled devices, this feature is designed for IT administrators and operations managers who require efficient management solutions. By addressing this requirement, MaaS360 enhances its product offering, meeting customer requests for improved functionality and usability.

Steps to Configure the Custom Status Bar in MaaS360

1. Navigate to the MDM Policy section in the MaaS360 portal.
2. Select COSU (Corporate-Owned, Single-Use) from the available options.
3. Enable the Show Custom Status Bar under kiosk launcher settings
4. Go to Kiosk Additional Settings and add the required attributes under Kiosk Additional attributes.
5. Enable the Show Custom Status Bar parameter, which allows you to select which features will be visible in the custom status bar.

Additional COSU Control Parameters

You can add the following parameters in the MDM policy to control the visibility of specific elements in the Custom Status Bar:

• User Name:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showUserName, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the user information in the custom status bar.
• Email:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showEmail , where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the email in the custom status bar.
• Battery icon:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showBatteryIcon , where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the battery icon in the custom status bar.
• Battery percentage:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showBatteryPercentage, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the battery percentage in the custom status bar.
• Wifi icon :
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showWifiIcon, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the wifi icon in the custom status bar.
• Network icon :
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showNetworkIcon, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the network icon in the custom status bar.
• Clock:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showClock, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the clock time in the custom status bar.
• Bluetooth:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  kioskCustomStatusBar.showBluetoothIcon, where default value is “true”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the Bluetooth status in the custom status bar.
• Device Name:
  Add the COSU additional field in the policy:
  showDeviceNameOnHomeScreen, where default value is “false”
  Set the value to "true" to show or "false" to hide the device name in the custom status bar.

Device view ( Device name enabled except all other parameters )

  Device view ( Device name enabled wifi, Bluetooth,batteryicon, device name,username )

Here user is going to have more control on the kiosk custom status bar , which helps the user to remove the unnecessary parameters shown on the status bar and will prevent security risks.