Update on End User Notifications (App Installers)

Mariusz
New Contributor III
New Contributor III

We introduced a notification capability for App Installers deployments in September 2022 and have continued to refine these notifications since that time. The original intent was to present a notification to the end users that as closely resembled the particular app that was being updated as possible. Unfortunately, we were unable to present a consistent notification experience which has led to end user confusion.

Issues with the current process:

  • Notification icons – For some applications we can show an original app icon, while for others we need to replace it with a generic “exclamation mark” icon. This may be confusing for the end user.
  • BundleID for additional configuration profiles – If the Install supporting configuration profiles checkbox is selected, apps with a BundleID different than com.jamf.appinstallers.notify are configured to show permanent notifications (Alerts alert type). Because this setting is forced by the configuration profile, an end user cannot turn it off. As a result, notifications from these apps (e.g., Discord) are present and persistent in the Notifications Center.

Upcoming changes to improve the end user experience:

Starting 1 June, we will begin a transition to update all new versions of the apps from the Jamf App Catalog to use the Self Service icon and Bundle ID for end user notifications. The entire process is expected to take no longer than six weeks. The goal of this change is to unify and improve the end user experience when it comes to receiving notifications coming from App Installers updates.

Benefits of this change include:

  • Fewer configuration profiles needed  - a single profile to enable notifications for com.jamfsoftware.selfservice.mac is enough to enable notifications for all apps in Jamf App Catalog
  • Supporting configuration profiles will only be sent to suppress built-in auto-updates.
  • The notification from App Installers is now completely separated from the behavior of the software titles’ own notifications.
  • Notifications will automatically be enabled for all apps deployed via App Installers, as long as the Jamf management framework and Self Service checkbox is selected in Settings>Computer management>Security

Do admins need to do anything?

Short answer: No. You do not need to do anything specific. However, we recommend navigating to Settings>Computer management>Security and ensure the Jamf management framework and Self Service checkbox is enabled.

 

Notifications before change (example):

image-20230529-142344.png

image-20230529-142400.png

update-complete.png

 

Notifications after change (example):

screen_shot_2023-05-24_at_12.10.19_pm_720.png

screen_shot_2023-05-24_at_2.10.00_pm_720.png

8 REPLIES 8

Tribruin
Valued Contributor II

Is the Self Service icon the default icon or the custom Self Service icon, if the user sets this. 

It would be very confusing to users to see an unfamiliar icon. At least if we use our custom Self Service icon, users will know the prompt is likely from our IT.  

 

@Tribruin we are using the bundleID of Self Service as a parameter for the notification. If you have branded your Self Service icon, that is the icon that will be used in the notification from App Installers.

jamf-42
Valued Contributor

Supporting configuration profiles will only be sent to suppress built-in auto-updates.

How can we see what this config profile is doing? It would be beneficial to see this prior to deployment.

@jamf-42 you can create a test deployment for Chrome, Slack or Zoom to see what is the content of "App Installers - APP_NAME" profile. I've added more details in my last post in https://community.jamf.com/t5/jamf-pro/app-installers-distribution-method-missing/m-p/293380

The exact content of a config profile that disables built-in auto-update is shared on this page: https://learn.jamf.com/bundle/technical-articles/page/Disabling_Developer_Auto_Updatesfor_App_Instal...

ITIRUserSupport
New Contributor

@JustinC Regarding this prompt, does this prompt only come up if the software is installed and active on the machine? I would assume so. Reason - I want to scope the software to all computers and then just toss it into the category of my choice. I would prefer not every user gets this prompt "unless" they have it installed which is what I would assume its intended for. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

Yes, you are right. This notification is only displayed if given app is installed and currently running. Otherwise the latest version is installed silently.

Example below.

Screenshot 2023-09-14 at 1.28.59 PM.png