As part of his rollout of Android 13 (opens in new tab)Google has more details released (opens in new tab) on the suite of new quality of life and security features they say are designed to make life easier for business users.
While the features aimed at professionals may be less important than those aimed at a consumer audience, business smartphone users can also benefit from the new release.
Already available to owners of Google-branded phones, Android 13 has made it much easier for employees to maintain a work-life balance, while IT admins have more control than ever over the restrictions on their use. business devices.
Android 13 for business
According to Google, Android 13 is more intuitive for business users than previous releases. That’s really the focus here; the new feature set doesn’t break spectacular ground, and not all of the new features are present at this time, but these new details show steps toward a smoother and safer user experience.
Customize the employee experience
Work profiles have been a feature of Android’s business settings for some time, separating and protecting an employee’s personal information. However, one of the biggest quality of life changes in Android 13 is how work and personal profiles are managed.
It’s now easy for employees to separate and navigate between personal and work profiles, while still allowing admin policies to monitor both sides.
“Employees can choose to open an app in their work or personal profile, depending on where it’s installed,” Google noted. “If they prefer to keep work-related content out of their personal apps — so that a work-related training video on YouTube doesn’t affect their personal watchlist, for example — they can choose to access that content in their browser.”
According to Google, the updated Android Management API not only provides immediate ease of use and privacy for business phone users, but also allows the company to continue to release useful new features and management capabilities “more often”.
This should mean that employees and IT administrators alike don’t have to wait until Android 14 for further quality-of-life adjustments to their business phone experience.
Increasing labor productivity
There will also be an additional level of ChromeOS integration, bringing Google one step closer to matching Apple’s seamless integration between iOS and macOS that makes an all-Apple organization such an attractive business proposition.
The changes allow users to view and reply to messages and data on their phone from a business Chromebook.
But that’s not all, Google’s Smart Dictation recommendations are now split across profiles so that users will never again send a text message that ends with “Sincerely” to a family member.
Near-field communication (NFC) is now also available on work profiles, making it even faster to use tap-to-pay services in public, which is sure to save valuable time on that trip to the coffee shop over lunch.
With Google’s new productivity features for Android 13, the company has made its Pixel devices — and other Android smartphones, which will soon take advantage of the new operating system — attractive to business buyers.
Additional security measures
Google claims that privacy and security are at the heart of Android Enterprise, and Android 13 is no different. The company’s early preview makes it clear that it wants business users to know what control they have over their individual security settings and the data shared with their IT administrators, all through a central hub.
Users now have one photo gallery per profile, automatically hiding the photo gallery that is not in use so that employees maintain their privacy at all times when they are working.
In addition, administrators can now check security logs for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and password usage, as allowed by the National Partnership for Information Assurance (NIAP) (opens in new tab)manage and limit Wi-Fi connectivity and issue security patches faster than before.
Users and administrators are treated equally here. Admins will soon be able to track and lock devices with Lost Mode, while the Stay Private at Work feature encrypts and forwards employee Wi-Fi to a personal profile while connected to corporate Wi-Fi.
In addition to existing corporate governance policies, users who interact with their phone data through the new ChromeOS integration features are also protected by end-to-end encryption.
With Android 13, Google is increasingly confident that the operating system will have a strong presence in the working world. With these new planned improvements to Android in a business environment, Google will soon be offering a better value proposition to professionals than ever before.