OEMConfig

How it works

Google published OEMConfig in 2019 to solve a recurring delay. Every time Samsung or Zebra shipped a new device-level feature, each MDM vendor had to write code for it, test it, and ship an update. Six to twelve months could pass before an admin could actually use a scanner setting that already existed on the hardware.

The fix reuses a mechanism Android already had: managed app configuration. The manufacturer publishes an OEMConfig app on Managed Google Play (the Knox Service Plugin for Samsung, Zebra OEMConfig, Honeywell UEM Connect) and declares its settings in a schema, the same way any app can declare configurable keys. The MDM reads that schema, renders it as a form in the console, and sends the values to the app as a managed configuration. The OEMConfig app then applies them on the device using the manufacturer's private APIs.

The MDM never needs to know what a setting does. When Zebra adds a new barcode symbology or Samsung adds a Knox firewall option, the schema updates through the Play Store and the new field appears in the console.

The device has to be enrolled through Android Enterprise, in work profile, fully managed or dedicated mode, and the OEMConfig app must be installed on it, usually silently as a required app.

Why it matters for a fleet

For a phone fleet, OEMConfig is how you reach the Knox settings that stock Android lacks: USB restrictions, firewall, APN, hardware key remapping. For rugged devices it's essential. A Zebra TC series terminal has dozens of scanner parameters (symbologies, beep on decode, key wedge behaviour) that make no sense on a Pixel and that the MDM would never model on its own.

It also removes a vendor lock. Because the schema belongs to the manufacturer, the same configuration works whichever MDM you use, and switching MDM doesn't mean rebuilding all your Zebra profiles from scratch.

One thing to keep in mind: the schemas can be large and the field names terse. A Knox Service Plugin form has several hundred keys, so documenting which ones you actually set is part of the job.

How Appaloosa handles it

Appaloosa supports OEMConfig on Android Enterprise devices. You install the manufacturer's OEMConfig app from Managed Google Play, the console renders its schema, and you assign the resulting configuration to device groups: Samsung Knox settings, Zebra scanner parameters, Honeywell terminal options. It sits alongside kiosk mode, app deployment and remote wipe on the Android MDM page.