Android Work Profiles will soon be available with Google Workspace on unmanaged phones

Abner Li | Oct 21 2021 - 9:00 am PT

After detailing what’s new for enterprise in Android 12 at the start of this month, the Android Enterprise team is now teasing upcoming capabilities, like expanding Work Profile availability to Google Workspace.

Android allows users to separate work-related applications and data from personal ones. When enabled, the app drawer features tabs for “Personal” and “Work,” with the latter set of apps labeled by a briefcase icon. This means you’ll have two versions of apps like Gmail, Calendar, and Drive, while a quick shortcut lets you “Turn off work apps.” There are various security and privacy upsides, as well as peace of mind, with this tiered approach.

Currently, access is only available to Android devices managed by a company through enterprise mobility management (EMM) software. Android is now getting ready to expand Work Profiles to unmanaged users that have a business identity, like Google Workspace. More identity providers will be supported, and the first-party availability is coming next year. This expanded support is not tied to Android 12, and more support details (like OS version requirements) will be available in the future.

On the security front, a new Android Enterprise Vulnerability Rewards Program will offer up to $250,000 for a full exploit on Pixel devices. This joins how Google will pay up to $1 million for an attack that compromises the Pixel’s Titan M chip.

Meanwhile, to push Zero Trust adoption (when accessing corporate data), Google is encouraging identity providers to “move beyond WebView for authentication and embrace Custom Tabs.”

While WebView is a flexible and powerful component for rendering web content, Custom Tabs are more modern and full-featured, allowing identity providers to gather device trust signals, improve employee security and enable single-sign-on across apps and the web. We’re partnering with Okta, Ping, and Forgerock to move the industry towards modernizing authentication.