Headwind MDM 6.39 is out. Most of the changes are in the mobile agent, and two of them change how you deploy and migrate Android fleets rather than just fixing behavior.
Device ownership transfer: switch MDM vendors without wiping devices
Headwind MDM 6.39 supports device ownership transfer. If the MDM platform your devices currently run on supports it as well, you can hand ownership of those devices over to Headwind MDM without a factory reset.
This matters because of what migration normally costs. Changing MDM vendors on a fleet of a few hundred Android devices has traditionally meant collecting the devices, resetting each one, re-enrolling it, and restoring whatever the user had on it. On a distributed fleet of delivery drivers, field technicians and retail floor staff, that is not a weekend of work. It is the single most common reason teams stay on a platform they have already outgrown.
With ownership transfer, the device keeps its data and its configuration state, and the management authority moves. The device does not leave the field.
The requirement is mutual. Your current provider has to implement the transfer as well. If you are not sure whether yours does, tell us which platform you are running and we will check it against your setup.
AOSP integration: fewer manual steps when Headwind MDM ships inside your firmware
If you build your own Android firmware and want Headwind MDM built into the image, three changes in 6.39 come directly out of real integration projects.
Platform-signed builds can complete provisioning on their own
A platform-signed build now applies the default configuration and reboots the device automatically when a reboot is required to finish provisioning. Previously this step had to be handled manually, which is workable on a bench and painful on a production line.
The Provision app now supports older Android versions
The AOSP Provision app has been updated for compatibility with older Android releases. Device manufacturers rarely get to pick the Android version they are shipping on, and this removes one reason an integration stalls.
The MAC address can be used as a device ID
The MAC address is now sent to the server and can be used as the device identifier. This is available on platform-signed builds only. It gives integrators a stable identifier that survives re-provisioning, which is useful when device serial numbers are not reliably available.
Other changes in Headwind MDM 6.39
- Fixed an issue where multiple custom app icons were displayed incorrectly while the device was online.
- Pending password reset tokens are now released properly (issue #53).
- App configuration can now be placed in the shared downloads directory.
How to get Headwind MDM 6.39
The update is available now. Existing installations can update through the standard procedure. New users can download the Community Edition or request a demo of the Enterprise version.
If you are evaluating a move from another MDM platform, the migration path is the part worth discussing before you plan anything else. Get in touch and we will tell you what the transfer looks like on your devices.
