Skip Navigation
  1. BlackBerry Docs
  2. BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android 6.0
  3. BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android Release Notes
  4. BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android version 6.0

BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android
 version 6.0

What's new in the 
BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android
 version 6.0

Required SDK changes
Feature
Description
Changes to the Automated Test Support Library (ATSL)
The 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 ATSL is now delivered as binaries (a 
Java
 library (.jar) and an 
Android
 library (.aar)), with the sources available on 
GitHub
. For more information, see the Testing and Troubleshooting section of the BlackBerry Dynamics SDK for Android Development Guide.
General SDK changes
Feature
Description
SDK delivered in .aar format
The SDK is delivered in .aar format in addition to .jar format.
Support for x86_64 CPU architecture
The x86_64 CPU architecture is now supported in addition to ARMv7, ARMv8, and x86.
Changes to GDNetworkInfo class
Going forward, 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 apps should register a receiver class to obtain accurate network information and status. For more information, see GDNetworkInfo in the API Reference.
If the app calls 
GDConnectivityManager().getActiveNetworkInfo
 directly, it may get incorrect results. 
Changes to cipher support
Support for the following ciphers has been removed as they do not meet the security standards of the SDK:
  • RC4
  • RC4-MD5
The next release of the 
BlackBerry Dynamics SDK
 will remove support for additional weak ciphers, including the following:
  • SSLv3
  • ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA
  • ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA
  • ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA
  • ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA
  • DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA
  • DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA
  • AES128-SHA
  • AES256-SHA
  • DES-CBC3-SHA 
Programmatic activation
The programmatic activation feature enables a 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 app to activate without any user interaction and without displaying activation prompts or progress screens. This can be useful when targeting your apps to a consumer audience or for developing apps for devices that have limited or no means of user input.
This release features a new implementation of this feature. For more information, see 
programmaticActivityInit
 in the BlackBerry Dynamics SDK API Reference.
Note that as a result of this new implementation, the following APIs have been deprecated:
  • void programmaticActivityInit (android.app.Activity activity, String userID, String accessKey)
  • void programmaticActivityInit (android.app.Activity activity, String userID, String accessKey, URL nocAddress)
Android
 biometric authentication prompt
This release supports the new 
Android
 prompt that allows a user to select their preferred method of biometric authentication. Since the 
BlackBerry Dynamics SDK
 currently supports fingerprint authentication only, if a user selects another biometric authentication method such as face or iris, the 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 app prompts the user to use a supported method such as fingerprint or password instead.
New APIs
Feature
Description
Crypto C programming interface
This release adds a new Crypto C language programming interface that allows an app to retrieve public key certificates that are stored in the 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 credentials store and use those certificates for signing and verification of messages and documents such as PDFs. Note that 
BlackBerry Infrastructure
 certificates cannot be retrieved from the store and that the private key will remain inaccessible. A new sample app demonstrates the use of this interface.
For more information, see the Crypto C Programming Interface appendix in the API reference.
Locally block or unblock the app UI
This release includes the following new APIs that can be used to locally block or unblock a user’s access to the UI of a 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 app:
These APIs can be used to temporarily prevent access to an app under certain conditions. For example, if the user accesses a public 
Wi-Fi
 network that is not trusted, you can use GDAndroid.executeBlock to prevent access to the app until the user is once again on a trusted 
Wi-Fi
 network. While the app UI is blocked, the app’s network activity and container storage access is not affected.
You can use GDAndroid.executeBlock to display a message to the user that explains why access to the app has been blocked and how the user can restore compliance and unblock the UI.
The GDInteraction sample app has been updated to demonstrate the use of these APIs.
It is possible to circumvent a UI block if the user is able to restore a backup that was created before the block occurred. Take this condition into account when developing and testing your app.
New administrative and security features in 
BlackBerry UEM
 version 12.11
Feature
Description
Support for Android keyboard restricted mode
Using a new 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 profile setting in 
UEM
 12.11, “Enable Android keyboard restricted mode”, you can choose to turn off personalized learning for the 
Android
 keyboard.
Note that this setting applies only to 
Android
 keyboards that support turning off personalized learning. For example, this setting does not apply to the default 
Samsung
 keyboard. 
Changes to the 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 connectivity profile
In the 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 connectivity profile in 
UEM
 12.11, the Route all traffic option has been replaced with a new Default route option. The new Default route option allows for more detailed control over how 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 apps that use SDK version 6.0 or later can connect to app servers.
Note the following:
  • After you upgrade to 
    UEM
     12.11 or later, existing settings in the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     connectivity profile will apply to 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps that use any version of the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics SDK
    . If you want to configure the profile after the upgrade to add new settings or to make changes, the Route all traffic option will apply only to 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps with a version of the SDK earlier than 6.0 (released prior to June 2019). The Route all traffic option will not apply to 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps with SDK version 6.0 or later (released in June 2019 or later). 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps with SDK version 6.0 or later will use the new Default route settings that can be configured in the profile.
  • The route settings (deny or direct) should only be configured after all 
    UEM
     components and the 
    BlackBerry Connectivity Node
     are upgraded to version 12.11 or later.
  • If Route all traffic is selected and configured to use the Deny option, connections from 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps with an SDK version earlier than 6.0 will be blocked.
  • Priority is given to configuration settings in the following order: app servers, IP address ranges, allowed domains, default domains, Default route. If Route all traffic is enabled, any 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps with an SDK version earlier than 6.0 will prioritize that route over any direct route. 
Using Entrust for 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 apps
In 
BlackBerry UEM
 12.11, you can now use an Entrust PKI connection to enroll certificates for 
BlackBerry Dynamics
 apps using the user credential profile.

BlackBerry Dynamics Launcher Library

This release uses 
BlackBerry Dynamics Launcher Library
 version 2.10.115.

Fixed issues

The following issues are fixed in this release:
  • Performance improvements have been made to the GDHttpClient API. (FIRST-16581)
  • A duplicate tracking ID in a protocol message could cause an app to hang during the authentication process, displaying a "System is not ready yet" error message. (FIRST-16256)
  • If a user tried to activate a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app that was designated as the primary authentication delegate by using the secondary authentication delegate app, and the secondary delegate was locked, the activation prompt became stuck in a loop. (FIRST-15509)
  • If a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app used app-based client certificates, and a user tried to open and activate the app before the certificate provider (the 
    BlackBerry UEM Client
     or 
    Entrust
     Smart Card credentials) had been provisioned for 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
    , the 
    UEM Client
     became locked.
    A descriptive error message has been added to clarify how to resolve this scenario. (GD-39573)
  • If the 
    UEM
     administrator configured and assigned a SCEP profile to devices with 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps, 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps could not enroll the certificate if the CA instance name specified in the profile included a space or a character that was not alpha-numeric [0-9a-zA-Z] or $-_.+!*'(), for example, non-ASCII, URL-reserved, or unsafe URL characters. (GD-39207)
  • If a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app imported the same certificate from another user credential profile, the app stopped responding. This issue occurred only on 
    Android
     devices that were set to Korean language settings. (GD-38725)
  • If a user reactivated a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app that was assigned as the authentication delegate, the user had to enroll the client certificate again. In this release, if a user reactivates an authentication delegate app, the app tries to retrieve the client certificate from other 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps on the device. If no other apps have the certificate, then the user is prompted to enroll the certificate again. (GD-23372)

Known issues

  • If a user activates a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app and access to that app later becomes blocked because of a compliance violation (based on the assigned 
    UEM
     compliance profile), when the user tries to activate additional 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps, those apps cannot be activated because they cannot retrieve certificates from the blocked app. (GD-41592)
    Workaround:
     Resolve the compliance issue with the blocked app, or remove the blocked app and try the activation process again.
  • If the 
    UEM
     administrator enables FIPS in a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     profile and assigns it to a user account, 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps on the user's device cannot verify an MD5 certificate thumbprint. (GD-38397)
    Workaround:
     Turn off FIPS in the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     profile or use SHA1, SHA224, SHA256, SHA384, or SHA512 instead.
  • After an administrator assigns a user credential profile, the user imports the required certificates when they install and open a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app. When subsequent 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps are installed and opened, the user is prompted to log in to the first app in order to share and use the previously imported certificates. If the user completes the initial certificate import using an app built with the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics SDK
     version 5.0 or later, and a subsequent app was built using a previous version of the SDK, the prompt to log in to the initial app will get stuck at a progress spinner and will not proceed. (GD-38337)
    Workaround:
     Update all deployed 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps to use the latest version of the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics SDK
    .
  • If the 
    UEM
     administrator configures and assigns a user credential profile with a native keystore CA connection, on devices with a 
    Samsung KNOX
     activation type, certificates may not be pre-selected during the app activation process. This is due to a known issue with 
    Samsung KNOX
    . (GD-38251)
  • After an administrator assigns a user credential profile to a user, the user imports the required certificates when they install and open a 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     app. When the user installs and opens additional 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps, the user will see a list of certificates with previously imported certificates already selected. If the user selects additional certificates that are not pre-selected, the certificate enrollment will fail. The user can proceed only if they use the pre-selected certificates. (GD-38084)
  • If an administrator changes the settings of a SCEP profile or user credential profile based on a native keystore, users are not prompted to enroll the certificates again and only new certificates receive the updated settings. The administrator must delete the profile and create and assign a new one to apply the new settings. (GD-38029, GD-37857)
  • If the 
    UEM
     administrator assigns a user credential profile that uses 
    Entrust
    , and another user credential profile that uses PKI, when activating 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     apps using an authentication delegate, the user is prompted to enroll the PKI certificate multiple times. (GD-35783)
  • The “Do not allow Android dictation” option in the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     profile in 
    UEM
     is used to stop dictation from keyboards, however there are certain keyboards that allow dictation through other channels. (GD-35440)
    Workaround
    : To help prevent dictation, select the “Enable Android keyboard restricted mode” option in the 
    BlackBerry Dynamics
     profile. This applies only to keyboards that support turning of personalized learning.