Released: Citrix XenMobile 9.0

Today Citrix has released XenMobile 9.0, which introduces a lot of improvements for the different XenMobile components and Worx apps.

XenMobile components updates

As an engineer each new release makes me eagerly check out the technical improvements for a product to provide an even more stable and feature rich solution to support the business processes and corporate mobile workers.
So let’s start with the improvements for the technical components that this XenMobile release has to offer. The main focus for XenMobile 9.0 is on the Device Manager and MDX Toolkit, which now includes management for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 devices.

So here’s the list of improvements for the technical XenMobile 9.0 components:

Device Manager:
• Windows Phone 8.1 device enrollment.
  You can enroll and manage devices running Windows Phone 8.1. Auto discovery simplifies the enrollment process for users by letting them use their corporate network credentials to enroll.
• Device Manager and App Controller updates in support of Windows Phone 8.1.
  This release offers the following updates for Device Manager and App Controller:
  • Email-based account discovery during Workplace enrollment process.
  • Windows Phone 8.1 MDM protocol enhancements
• Apple Device Enrollment Program.
  XenMobile integrates with the Apple Device Enrollment Program to automatically enroll new company-issued iOS 7 devices when users complete the standard iOS initial configuration process.
• Wi-Fi and VPN configurations for Windows 8.1 devices.
  You can deliver Wi-Fi and VPN configurations for Windows 8.1 devices. In addition, with the appropriate Microsoft Volume Licensing, you can side-load applications that are not available in the Windows Store.
• Multisite clustering.
  You can create clusters consisting of Device Manager servers in multiple geographic sites so that the device management service is resilient to outages at individual sites.
• FIPS mode installation.
  The product installer provides an option to install Device Manager in a FIPS-compliant configuration.
• Licensing.
  You can use Citrix Licensing installed either locally or on a remote license server to manage your XenMobile licenses.
• Sony SD card encryption.
  You can deliver a configuration to encrypt external SD card storage on Sony devices running Android.
• Windows 8 device registry configurations.
  Registry configurations for Windows 8 devices are no longer available. Upgrade Windows 8 users to Windows 8.1 so you can migrate them to the Windows 8.1 device management policies and configurations.

MDX Toolkit:
• Automated prerequisite check.
  The MDX Toolkit now allows you to perform an automated check to ensure you have met all prerequisites before you start the app-wrapping process.
• Cloud-ready upon installation.
  You can now deploy App Controller instances in the cloud when you install the MDX Toolkit.

You can find the list of fixed issues for XenMobile 9.0 here.
 

User experience updates

The above mentioned improvements for XenMobile 9.0 are very important from a technical point of view, but our corporate mobile users will not be aware (or interested) in of most of these technical changes that are part of this release. A changed license model will not directly effect their user experience. And whether or not XDM is clustered is of no concern to them either.

So even though the engineer in me is very excited about the technical improvements that are made to the Device Manager, the consultant in me is more interested in the user experience improvements that will determine the adaptation of this XenMobile release. After all, it is the user and user experience that determines the success of XenMobile.

So let’s look at the many improvements that are made to the user experience of XenMobile 9.0.

With XenMobile 9.0, the following general user experience improvements are made:

General:
• Improved authentication experience.
  Users experience fewer transitions, or “flips,” between apps and Worx Home. This means a reduction in the number of times the user has to re-enter their credentials while remaining authenticated.
• iPad-only apps prevented from installing on iPhones.
  The accidental installation of Worx apps restricted to iPads useage onto iPhones is now automatically prevented.

With XenMobile 9.0, the following user experience improvements are made to the Worx App family:

Worx Home:
• Improved battery life.
  Worx Home efficiency improvements have resulted in a 15 percent increase in battery life.
• Security blocks for iOS users.
  You can block iOS users from using AirDrop for iOS and social media apps. You can also obscure the image in the screen capture that iOS takes when Worx Home is sent to the background. Instead, a gray screen appears when using the iOS app-switching feature.
• Advanced notification controls.
  You can control whether mail and calendar notifications appear on a locked device screen.
• Simplified support requests.
  It is easier to send support logs and data from the Worx Home Support screen. In addition, when users email support from Worx Home, a log file of the Worx Home app processes is now attached to a WorxMail message, rather than to native email in the iOS device.
• Simplified re-enrollment for Android.
  Android users can re-enroll in Worx Home in one step from Settings > Re-Enroll.
• Improved PIN recovery experience.
  The PIN recovery steps in Worx Home include more helpful messages, as well as a link to email Support for PIN recovery.
• Worx Home support for Windows Phone 8.1.
  Worx Home now supports the following authentication methods through Windows Phone 8.1:
  • Active Directory authentication
  • Freeform authentication
  • Worx PIN with Active Directory password caching

  In this release, Worx Home also offers logging support.

Note: Users with pure MDM accounts cannot upgrade to the latest version of Worx Home. XenMobile for Windows Phone supports only pure MDM and MDM + MAM (enterprise) modes.
 

WorxMail:
• Redesigned interface.
  The WorxMail interface has a more organized look with an improved ability to switch between mail, calendar, and contacts.
• Landscape and portrait mode support.
  Users can switch between portrait and landscape modes on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8.1 devices.
• Server-side search for iOS.
  iOS users can now carry out server-side and client-side searches of their email.
• Media access from email messages for Android users.
  Android users can now view image files and play video and audio files directly from email messages.
• Fast Sort.
  iOS and Android users can switch from a Fast Sort view to process selected emails into Archive, Delete, or Mark as Read, or to move them to a folder.
• Enhanced meeting invite response options.
  iOS and Android users can respond to meeting invites with comments. In addition, the meeting organizer can view the response status.
• Global refresh.
  iOS and Android users can refresh their mail, calendar, and contacts at one time with a single tap.
• WorxMail support for Windows Phone 8.1.
  This release offers support for the following features:
  • Mail, calendar, and contacts functionality
  • Live tiles that indicate the number of unread emails and upcoming meetings
  • GoToMeeting support for calls
  • Secure handling for attachments that are not Microsoft Office documents

Note: XenMobile for Windows Phone supports only pure MDM and MDM + MAM (enterprise) modes.
 

WorxWeb:
• Offline viewing.
  Users can save web pages for offline viewing in WorxWeb on iOS and Android devices.
• Download file persistence.
  When WorxWeb is updated, files downloaded with the earlier version are now persistent.
• WorxWeb support for Windows Phone 8.1.
  This release offers support for the following features:
  • Secure browsing and CVPN
  • Multiple tabs
  • Favorites
  • Browsing history
  • Home page

Note: XenMobile for Windows Phone supports only pure MDM and MDM + MAM (enterprise) modes.
 

Technical Preview

Along with thw XenMobile 9 release a technical Preview is available for three new additions for the Worx app family:

Technical Preview:
• WorxDesktop.
  Users connect to their computer’s desktop from their iPad, accessing applications, files, and networked and connected drives.
• WorxEdit.
  Users open, view, create, and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files from their iOS devices.
• WorxNotes.
  Allows users to record, recall, and share text, photographic, audio, and video notes with the help of contextual information relating to events, locations and people.

You can download the XenMobile 9.0 components and technical previews at: http://www.citrix.com/downloads/xenmobile.html (login required).
 

Esther Barthel

Solutions Architect at cognition IT

Esther has been working in different roles and functions as an IT consultant ever since she finished her Masters degree in Computer Science in 1997. She has worked as a web developer, database administrator, and server administrator until she discovered how Server-Based Computing ( SBC ) combined servers, desktops, and user experience in one solution. Esther has been specializing in virtualization solutions such as SBC, VDI, application, and server virtualization for over eight years now and is currently working as a Senior Consultant at PepperByte, where she designs and implements Citrix® solutions for both small-business and large-enterprise infrastructures scaling from 100 to 15,000 users.
In january 2014 her first book Citrix XenApp 6.5 Expert Cookbook was published by Packt Publishing.

Esther is awarded as a Citrix Technology Professional (CTP) from 2015 - 2017.
Esther is awarded as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in 2017.

Esther is a Citrix Certified Expert – Virtualization (CCE-V), Citrix Certified Professional – Mobility (CCP-M), Citrix Certified Professional – Networking (CCP-N) and RES Software Certified Professional (RCP).