Throughout 2026, Google is expanding Android Enterprise capabilities with tools aimed at IT teams that manage work devices, with a dual focus on enabling the use of artificial intelligence and protecting corporate data. The updates include Gemini agents for performing multistep tasks, support for managing extended reality devices, running Android applications on external displays, and improvements to file sharing, updates, and hardware security.
AI agents within work profile boundaries
Gemini will be able to use the context visible on the screen and work across multiple applications, including the calendar, email, and browser, to search for information and perform complex tasks without requiring manual navigation between applications. Android Enterprise controls keep work data separate from personal data, while IT administrators can configure, restrict, or disable AI automation across the fleet.
Management of extended reality devices and workstations
Google is adding support for managing XR devices through mobile device management controllers powered by the Android Management API. This includes devices such as the Samsung Galaxy XR and the wired XREAL Aura glasses, expected to launch in the fourth quarter. This allows these devices to be managed and secured alongside phones and traditional devices, while providing workers with front-facing displays, integrated audio, and AI assistance.
Some Android devices will also support extending the work environment to external displays through a multiwindow desktop mode, using a keyboard and mouse. Standalone applications can run on the phone and display, and windows can be dragged between them, while security and management policies remain enforced when the device is connected to an external display.
More controllable file sharing and updates
Quick Share is receiving an updated integration for one-tap sharing, enabling the rapid transfer of contacts, media, and work documents, while administrators’ restrictions and work profile boundaries continue to be enforced to limit data leakage.
Unified Update Controls brings manufacturers’ OTA update channels, Google Play system updates, and Google Play services into a unified system. Administrators can define deployment policies during operating hours or change-freeze periods. Feedback API, which will launch later this year alongside these controls, will provide measurement data to help understand rollout processes that were previously less transparent.
What changes in practice for IT teams?
The updates give management teams greater ability to extend the device fleet to displays and XR devices without separating them from existing management policies. However, the practical value will depend on device support and actual integration with EMM controllers, and some capabilities remain tied to a later launch schedule, such as XREAL Aura, Attestable Identifiers, and Feedback API.
Additional security and privacy layers
Attestable Identifiers, scheduled to launch later this year, provide a means of cryptographically verifying hardware identity with EMM systems and security partners to support access decisions based on a zero-trust model. Available Security Patch Level also provides specific reports on devices’ eligibility to receive patches.
Applications will require the user’s explicit permission to access local network devices, with administrators able to grant advance approvals through the Android Management API. Google is also adding transparency for digital certificates by logging and verifying them against public records, aiming to strengthen protection against man-in-the-middle attacks on standard devices and kiosk devices.