Managed Mobile App Conversion via Code Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for developing, distributing, and managing software applications on mobile devices lack efficient mechanisms for converting native applications into managed applications, limiting enterprise control and security, especially in hybrid personal and business usage scenarios.
Innovation Solution
The approach involves modifying native mobile applications or template applications into managed mobile applications by determining their structure, inserting code, and rebuilding them, generating metadata for policy enforcement, and providing these applications through both public and enterprise application stores, with stubs for OS API calls and policy enforcement logic to manage access to device resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If native mobile applications are converted into managed applications by inserting code and rebuilding, then enterprise control and security are improved, but application development complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically determining the structure of native applications and inserting necessary management code before the application is deployed. The application is rebuilt with embedded management capabilities in advance, so that when the application runs, enterprise control and security are already in place without requiring manual intervention during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary conversion system that acts as a mediator between native applications and enterprise management frameworks. This intermediary automatically performs the conversion process by analyzing application structure, inserting management code, and rebuilding the application, thereby reducing the complexity burden from developers while maintaining security controls.
2Adaptability or versatility
If code is inserted and application structure is modified to enable management framework integration, then policy enforcement capability is improved, but application processing time and build complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conversion process performs preliminary actions by automatically determining application structure and inserting management code before deployment. This preliminary conversion enables policy enforcement capability in advance, allowing the application to be processed more efficiently once deployed without requiring time-consuming manual modifications later.
3Reliability
If stubs for OS API calls and policy enforcement logic are inserted, then security control over device resources is improved, but application code complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces stubs for OS API calls as intermediary components that act as mediators between the application and the operating system. These stubs intercept API calls and enforce security policies without requiring complex modifications to the original application code. The stubs handle the complexity of security control internally, maintaining clean separation between application logic and security enforcement.
4Adaptability or versatility
If native applications are converted to managed applications through structure determination and code insertion, then enterprise management capability is improved, but conversion process complexity and time requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically determining the structure of native applications and inserting necessary management code before the application is deployed. This automated preliminary conversion process enables enterprise management capability while minimizing the time and complexity burden on developers, as the conversion is performed systematically rather than manually.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary conversion system that acts as a mediator to automate the conversion process. This intermediary handles the complexity of structure determination and code insertion automatically, improving conversion efficiency by eliminating manual steps while maintaining the ability to enforce enterprise management policies.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods and systems for developing, modifying, and distributing software applications for enterprise systems are described herein. A software component, such as a native mobile application or a template application, may be modified into a managed mobile application, and metadata associated with the managed mobile application may be generated. The managed application and associated metadata may be provided to one or more application stores, such as public application stores and/or enterprise application stores. Managed applications and/or associated metadata may be retrieved by computing devices from public application stores and/or enterprise application stores, and may be executed as managed applications in an enterprise system.