DEVELOPERS BLOG

Custom Dynamics App Guidance for iOS 12 and Android P

ANNOUNCEMENTS / 09.17.18 / BlackBerry

With the annual Apple event now behind us, many customers are wondering what they may need to do in relation to their custom BlackBerry Dynamics applications. The good news is that this year the Dynamics SDK impacts, for both iOS 12 and Android P, were not security or Data Leak Protection (DLP) related.  It is a best practice when planning the annual release cadence for your custom applications to plan a release at this time of year, so you can integrate any Dynamics SDK compatibility updates.  This is the time of year that Apple and Google make the most substantial modifications to their iOS and Android operating systems.  Since BlackBerry Dynamics runs on top of these operating systems, underlying changes often require modifications on our part to maintain the high level of security our clients expect from Blackberry.

The iOS and Android Dynamics Native SDKs have been updated for compatibility with iOS 12 and Android P.  The updated SDKs and associated release notes can be found at  https://developers.blackberry.com/us/en/resources/downloads.html.

​​​​​Since I mentioned that the updates this year are not security or DLP related, a subset of readers will quickly follow up with “what if I just do nothing”.  The details can be found in the associated platform release notes but in general

  • iOS 12 – Your application will have issues with Password Autofill, if enabled, with the result being your application will crash when this feature is used. The workaround is to restart the application and don’t leverage Password Autofill.
  • Android P – your results may vary so we recommend you test your specific application on Android P as you may or may not experience application crashes. If your application crashes, you will need to update your Android Dynamics Native SDK.

Our guidance is that you should always update to the latest Dynamics SDKs especially during this period as the compatibility updates become available.  The associated release notes are your source for the most up to date detailed information directly from our product teams.

For those customers who are using the Trusted Authentication Framework, as per above, you may experience usability issues upon upgrade to iOS12 and Android P.  You can avoid these issues by upgrading to the new Trusted Authentication Framework which is planned for late September.

Now for Cordova and Xamarin Dynamics apps, the “what if I just do nothing” response is the same as the native info provided above since these platforms are built upon the native Dynamics SDKs.  Updates to the Dynamics Cordova and Xamarin SDKs are planned through late October.

Until the new Dynamics Cordova SDK release, you can avoid the issues detailed above by using the existing Dynamics Cordova SDK with the new Dynamics Native SDKs.  This will have the existing Dynamics Cordova plugins passing calls to the new Dynamics Native SDKs.  Minor workarounds are required to make this work and the details can be found in the associated Dynamics Native SDK release notes.  When the new Dynamics Cordova SDK ships in late October, it is recommended that you update your application to leverage the new plugins as well.

Until the Dynamics Xamarin SDKs are updated, the recommendation is that end users either avoid updating to iOS 12 or be advised of the work around for Password Autofill.  If your application is one that does have problems running on Android P, operating system upgrades should be delayed until the new Xamarin SDKs are available.  Our product teams are planning to make the Dynamics Xamarin Binding downloads available prior to the Xamarin Forms download so that non-Forms applications can be updated as soon as these components are ready in early October.  The improved Xamarin Forms support is planned for later in October.

Thanks for being a BlackBerry Dynamics developer if you have any additional questions please contact BlackBerry Support or your BlackBerry Account Team.

 

 

BlackBerry

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is an enterprise software and services company focused on securing and managing IoT endpoints.