SkieWhat is the global unknown sources block in Skie?
The global block applies Android's unknown sources restriction to the whole device, not just to the current user or profile. It is on by default in Skie. That way an install from a file, a browser or another profile is refused everywhere on the tablet, with no separate area left open.
Android has two flavours of the unknown sources restriction. One applies to a user. The other, DISALLOW_INSTALL_UNKNOWN_SOURCES_GLOBALLY, applies to every user and profile on the device. The second matters because Android can host more than one space on a tablet, such as a secondary user or a work profile, and a gap in one space could be used as a stepping stone.
Skie sets both. The global form is the one that guarantees the rule does not depend on which space a person is in. Because Skie also blocks adding users and profiles, there should be no other space in the first place. The global switch is an additional layer, and it is the reason we describe the protection as applying to the device as a whole.
In the dashboard, you will see unknown sources as one switch, with the global behaviour included. It is default on. After each apply, the device reads both values back from Android, and the compliance score reflects them.
Admins sometimes ask whether this affects apps that update themselves. Updates for apps installed from Google Play are not affected, since they come from the store. What is refused is a package arriving from anywhere else.
Practical tip: if you are testing an internal app, publish it through the organisation app store and let Skie approve it, rather than trying to install it directly on a device.