Recently, I shared the steps to publish bookmark in Blackberry Access. Shortly after, the application owner asked if it’s possible to access the same web application as an icon on the home screen instead. This simple request becomes an excellent opportunity for me to share my findings below.

First off, I referenced the Blackberry KB Create an app shortcut for my setup. There are two specific requirements that must be met before proceeding further:

1. Entitlement for “Feature – BlackBerry App Store” (com.blackberry.feature.appstore): As long as you have the proper licensing (i.e. any suite listed in the License feature summary), you are entitled to this feature.
2. Image size for the icon: The maximum is 120×120. Anything bigger will not work.

You can verify your entitlement by visiting this link.

Once you verify your entitlement, log onto your Blackberry UEM console and refresh the app list. Then confirm that you see the same entitlement.

Next, assign this entitlement just like another app to your user/group as you see fit.

Now we are ready to create the app shortcut. Start by clicking Apps on the menu bar. Then click on the icon on top. 

Click App shortcut.

Fill in the information accordingly. Further down below under Show device types to continue the app shortcut for, select the platform you wish to publish the app shortcut.

Within the respective platform, fill out the URL and check off the applicable boxes.

You may notice that User’s home screen is only available on iOS but not on Android. I did test it on iOS and while it does create the shortcut, it launches the native browser (i.e. Safari) by default. This does not work for us as our web application is on the internal network, and it can only be accessed with Blackberry Access for obvious reason.

Once you finish configuring the shortcut, you will see it listed as another app.

Again, assign this app shortcut just like any other app to your user/group.

Once the above is completed, you should see the below within user’s device properties. I assume Not installed under Status is expected since no app shortcut is installed on user’s home screen.

And now comes the grand finale. You should now see the app shortcut within the Blackberry Launcher icon.

iOS

Android

As always, stay mobile!