Battery health and level monitoring

Key Functions

Supported Platforms and Requirements

Note: If the underlying OS does not expose a certain metric, the corresponding parameter will not appear or will be displayed as 'NA' in the console.

How Battery Monitoring Works

Battery health tracking is handled automatically through the BigFix UEM app. Once the feature is enabled, the process follows these five simple steps:

1. Automatic Setup: When a new device is enrolled, the BigFix UEM app is installed automatically. It securely links the device to our central management system so they can communicate.
2. Smart Data Collection: The app checks the device’s battery stats (like health and charge levels) using the phone’s own built-in monitoring tools.
3. Secure Syncing: The app sends this battery information encrypted over the internet to our secure cloud service.
4. Central Processing: Our core system receives the data, organizes it, and prepares it for your dashboard.
5. Ready-to-Use Reports: The information is saved in a central database, which then generates the Device Reports you see in your admin console.

You don't need to manually configure individual devices. As long as the device is enrolled and the feature is active, the BigFix UEM app does the heavy lifting of gathering and delivering battery health data directly to your reports.

How and When Battery Data Updates

Battery information is kept up-to-date through a mix of automatic triggers and manual refreshes.

Setting Battery Alerts

Use Policies to configure specific behavior based on temperature (e.g., an alert if a device overheats):

1. Create a Custom Policy: Go to the Policies page.
2. Define Thresholds: Use a Custom Policy Builder or a Custom Template to define actions when a device reports a status of "Overheat" (detected via the health of battery inspector).
   Sample JSON structure used to set up polling intervals and threshold behaviors for battery health:

   {
     "battery_health_config": {
       "polling_interval_minutes": 60,
       "enable_temperature_monitoring": true,
       "temperature_threshold_celsius": 45,
       "enable_capacity_monitoring": true,
       "capacity_alert_threshold": 80,
       "report_on_significant_change": true
     }
   }
   

   Field Definitions
   • polling_interval_minutes: Determines how often the app wakes up to check the battery hardware. A value of 60 balances data accuracy with device power consumption.
   • temperature_threshold_celsius: The specific trigger point for "Overheat" status. In the example above, the device will report a warning if it exceeds 45°C.
   • capacity_alert_threshold: Used primarily for iOS/iPadOS to identify when "Maximum Capacity" (battery health) drops below a certain percentage (e.g., 80%).
   • report_on_significant_change: If set to true, the app will send an immediate update to the Health Check dashboard if it detects a rapid spike in temperature or drop in health, regardless of the polling interval.
3. Targeting: Deploy these policies to your managed devices to receive notifications or trigger compliance actions if the temperature exceeds safe operating limits.

Web UI Display and Troubleshooting

Displaying Battery Information

Battery parameters are visible in the Web UI:

• Device Page: Battery information is displayed as a column and can be used for sorting (e.g., sorting by Battery Level to identify low-charge devices) and filtering.
• Device Details Page: All parameters are displayed under the dedicated Battery level analysis section.

Troubleshooting Battery Data Issues

If battery information is missing or not updating, confirm the following:

• The device is enrolled in MCM, online, and running a supported client version (v3.5 or later).
• The BigFix UEM App is installed on the device.
• Push notifications are enabled for the MCM client.
• Use the Send Client Refresh action from the Web UI to force an immediate update and verify that the Last updated timestamp changes.

Security and Limitations

• Security: No personally identifiable information (PII) is collected. Monitoring relies exclusively on system-provided APIs (Apple-approved APIs for iOS and public Android APIs), ensuring compliance and minimal data exposure.
• iOS Limitations: Due to OS constraints on background activity, continuous battery updates are not guaranteed. Data is refreshed reliably only during app launch, live event processing, or threshold-triggered sync. If the app is killed by the user, battery information updates will cease.