SkieWhy does Skie lock default apps on managed devices?
Default apps decide which app opens links, handles SMS, dials calls or acts as the home screen. Skie locks them with Android's default apps restriction, on by default. A student cannot swap in a launcher or browser of their own choosing, so the experience you configured is the one that opens.
When a link, a call or a home screen request comes in, Android uses a default app for the job. Change the default browser to something else, or the home app to a different launcher, and the device behaves differently from how the admin planned.
Skie sets Android's DISALLOW_CONFIG_DEFAULT_APPS restriction as the device owner. The Default apps screen in Settings cannot be edited, so the browser, launcher, phone and messaging roles stay as the policy sets them. It complements the always-blocked list of more than 50 alternative browsers, and the Chrome rules, which are described by another writer.
It is on by default. For admins, it is a single switch in the hardening section, read back from Android after each apply and reflected in the compliance score. Where a device uses kiosk mode or a one-app allow list, locking defaults means the home experience cannot be swapped.
It is also a quiet guard against a mistake. Without it, a student might install an allowed utility that also offers to become the default launcher, and the device would look different on the next press of Home.
Practical tip: decide your home experience before rolling out. If you want the device to feel the same on every tablet, keep this switch on and check one device against the effective policy view first.