How to Separate Work and Personal Apps on Android Device?

A few years back, when mobile devices like smartphones started becoming relevant in the corporate world, people would carry two separate devices—one for personal use and the other for professional use.

Today, as mobile devices have become indispensable, there has to be a more convenient way to separate your work and personal life on Android, and there is.

Thanks to ever-evolving technologies, enterprises can now create Android work profiles to keep their corporate data isolated from the employees’ personal apps and data on their BYO devices.

Wondering why it is crucial to separate personal and work data? It is to help employees draw lines between their work and personal lives.

But more importantly, it is also to help businesses manage and secure their corporate data on employees’ personal devices. With Android work profiles, businesses can push extensive corporate policies strictly on the work profile without hampering their employee’s user experience or privacy.

Let’s understand how you can split work and personal apps on phones.

Separating work profile and personal profile on Android devices

1. Multi-user profiles

Besides creating Android work profiles, there’s another way by which users can successfully separate their work & personal data on devices. This can be done with the help of multiple user profiles.

Android devices allow users to create multiple profiles using a primary and a secondary Google account.

You can set up the primary profile as your personal profile and the second one as your work profile and then switch back and forth depending on your working hours.

This, however, is a tedious method and not preferred by many for several reasons. The main reasons being it takes a considerable amount of time to set up, it is not supported in Samsung devices, and also because it is impractical to execute on an enterprise level.

2. Android work profiles

Android devices belonging to version 5.0 and above have support for the Android work profile feature that creates a separation between the personal & work apps and data on the user’s Android phone.

This separation is easily achievable with the help of an MDM solution that supports Google’s Android Enterprise service. Android MDM solutions like Scalefusion offer containerization capabilities that help IT admins set up a work profile for efficient BYOD management.

What is containerization?

Containerization is a form of segregating apps to ensure they run in separate containers on the same device using the same OS. Containerization works by virtualizing all the components of an application into a single container, where it runs as an isolated entity on a shared OS.

MDM Containerization goes a long way in helping businesses streamline and secure their BYOD management.

It enables IT admins to separate their employee work apps from their personal apps on their BYO devices. This containerized data can also be separately encrypted or password-protected for additional security.

What are the benefits of containerization?

Statistics show that 67% of employees use their personal devices for work. This makes it crucial for businesses to implement strategies that streamline their BYOD management.

Here’s how containerization benefits businesses and employees:

1. Corporate data security

Securing sensitive business information is a major concern when allowing employees to use their personal devices for work. Providing company-owned devices makes corporate data security easier for businesses since these devices can be secured with enterprise policies.

It is anything but fair to expect employees to allow their companies to take over their personal devices and push extensive settings for tailored device usage.

Containerization of data allows businesses to strike a balance between allowing employees the freedom to use their devices and securing their corporate data. With the Scalefusion MDM solution, you can selectively apply corporate policies to your Android work container.

With this, all the corporate data stored separately in the work container is secured with strict corporate settings, whereas the rest of the device functionalities remain unaffected. You can also restrict the copying of data from work to personal apps, reinforcing your android data security.

2. Simplified administration

Imagine the hustle of managing and monitoring your employees’ personal devices. Firstly, enterprises cannot take complete control of the user’s personal device. Secondly, IT admins are always apprehensive about accidental or intentional data breaches. 

Managing work containers with the help of an MDM solution makes the process of managing and constantly monitoring hundreds and thousands of employee devices easier for your IT teams.

3. Employee data privacy

BYOD policies are not very appealing to employees. Several enterprises have experienced resistance to BYOD policies simply because employees feel threatened with losing their privacy.

Containerization helps employees change their perspective on BYOD management since any and every corporate policy that their enterprise extends is applied specifically to the work profile and does not hamper the functioning of their device or their personal data.

Separate work and personal apps on an Android device with Scalefusion MDM

You can easily manage your employee-owned or BYO devices with Scalefusion BYOD. It helps ensure that your corporate data is securely accessed and used in a non-intrusive manner.

As an IT admin, you need to have the following requisites to start managing your employees’ personal devices.

• Have an Android for Work setup
• Successfully update your organization’s information
• Create a BYOD profile with policies and settings that suit your business needs
• Manage users by adding or importing employees to the Scalefusion dashboard
• Create enrollment configurations such as QR codes for a simplified bulk enrollment process and send out invites to your employees via email

While enterprise mobility is helping employees stay connected from anywhere in the world, it is also thinning the lines between personal & work life.

Separating personal and work-related apps and data on your employees’ Android devices is easy and fuss-free with Scalefusion MDM. BYOD management ensures seamless management, keeping work and personal data distinct while maintaining security and compliance.

FAQs

1. What are separated apps on Android?

On Android, separated apps are a security feature found on Samsung devices with Knox. They create an isolated work environment for certain apps, keeping your work data separate from personal apps and enhancing security.

2. What are the options for separating work and personal profiles on Android?

Android supports multiple ways to separate work and personal use on the same device. The Android Work Profile creates a secure, isolated space for work apps and data, keeping them separate from personal content. For shared or multi-user scenarios, multiple user profiles allow different users to have their own accounts with distinct apps and settings on a single device. In addition, some apps offer built-in, app-specific work profiles within their interface, providing an extra layer of separation and control for work-related activities.

3. How do I set up an Android work profile?

Start by checking whether your device supports the feature (typically Android 5.0 or later). Then follow your organization’s setup instructions or enroll the device using an MDM solution. Once configured, you can install and manage work apps separately from personal apps, ensuring clear separation between the two environments.

4. What happens to my personal data in a work profile?

Your personal environment remains separate and unaffected by work apps and data, allowing you to continue accessing and using your personal apps and files just as you normally would.

5. Are there any disadvantages to using separate profiles?

Some apps may not support dedicated work profiles, which can limit functionality in certain cases. Switching between profiles can also feel slightly inconvenient during frequent use, and notifications or data usage often need to be managed separately across personal and work environments.

6. How do you move apps from personal to work profiles?

Unfortunately, directly moving apps between personal and work profiles on Android isn’t possible. However, you can achieve a similar outcome by installing the desired app within your work profile from the work profile’s app store and logging in with separate credentials.