FREE or low-cost alternative to Apple Configurator 2 for Samsung Galaxy Tab E

[Android Central Question]

I work for a law enforcement education institution and we teach refresher courses that are anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks long. Previously we gave the students that took our courses an iPad they could check out during the class that had the course's "textbook" on it. We used the Apple Configurator application to set the iPads up; however, we just recently made the switch and got 100 Samsung Galaxy Tab E's so that students would be able to save the textbook PDFs with their highlights and notes on the USBs we give them.

My question is... is there any kind of software or website that is free that I can use to mass load these tablets with the textbook PDFs each time we have a class? I also need to be able to hide or restrict use of certain applications. The only app they would need to use are the following:
- My Files
- Gallery
- Camera
- Memo
- Xodo (an app that is downloaded from Google Play Store)

We have about 15 different classes we offer, so each time I set the tablets up, I will need to take the textbook PDF from the previous class the tablets were used for off and put the new class's textbook PDF on them.

We also still have a large charging station that can fit 32 tablets. When I set up the iPads, I connected this to the computer to set them all up at once. I would GREATLY appreciate any advice and help you could offer - preferably a free or cheaper, more user friendly software (because we have a low budget since we just bought 100 tablets and I am not as proficient with the Android platform as I am with Apple's).

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome to Android Forums

I'd like to recommend creating a account so me or other members can assist you, as guest have limitations in replying here and if we need further Information to communicate with you.

I'll provide a link to register, please come back to your post so we can further assist you . Thank you

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[katycruse11]

Hi, welcome to Android Forums

I'd like to recommend creating a account so me or other members can assist you, as guest have limitations in replying here and if we need further Information to communicate with you.

I'll provide a link to register, please come back to your post so we can further assist you . Thank you

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

Hello! Thank you for the advice. I just created an account. Should I repost my question on my account?

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome!
Your good here

Hello! Thank you for the advice. I just created an account. Should I repost my question on my account?

 

[mustang7757]

Let me see if @B. Diddy can help

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Sorry, but I don't really have any recommendations for specific mobile device management apps. I would venture to say that you won't find one that's free, though. That kind of app is intended for businesses/enterprise, so there will almost certainly be some kind of hefty one-time fee, or a subscription plan.

 

[katycruse11]

Do you know of any and what their prices are by chance?

 

[Rukbat]

It's a per/seat (meaning per the number of tablets), and it's for businesses that can just raise prices a few percent, or make the package of goodies 1 ounce smaller - schools don't have that kind of budget (4 or 5 figures, at least, for something good).

But you don't even need that.

For hiding things, you need a kiosk app - there are plenty of free ones in Play, just search kiosk app, then see more. Then spend an hour reading reviews, to see which one you want to use.

For the pdf files, are you starting with a fresh pdf file each time, or are you saving a student's work, then putting it back? For the same starting point each time you set up a batch of tablets, Samsung Smart Switch (which runs on Windows - you'll find very few programs [if any] that work with Android devices and run on Macs). I don't know who made the decision to buy Android, but if you're in an Apple environment, it's best to stay with Apple. You may end up having to configure a few Macs to run Windows or you may have to buy a few Windows PCs.

There's nothing in the Android world that sets up system level settings, configurations, etc., except the tablet itself. (Apple originally designed for school environments, to sell to schools - Google didn't design Android that way, they designed it to work.)

About the only way I can think of to "configure" an entire tablet in one shot would be with TWRP Recovery (which has only been written for the SM-T560NU, the SM-T377P, GT510WiFi or the Tab E (8.0) Exynos). Set one up, files, settings, whatever else you need (including the kiosk app set up the way you need it), make a backup, then restore all the rest with that backup file (which you have to copy to each tablet - you can't restore from a file on the PC - but you could use a Mac to hold the various backups - transferring files between a Mac and a Samsung tablet is as difficult as transferring files between the tablet and a USB drive).

 

[katycruse11]

I will definitely look into the kiosk app that is a good idea! That is what I have been doing, is setting each tablet up and restoring it from the back up I saved from the first tablet I set up but I still have to go in and hide all the unwanted apps.

For the PDF files: they are starting with a fresh, clean version of the manual and then at the end of the class, they are saving the manual to their flash drive that we give them an adapter to connect to the tablets for and it has all their highlights and notes on them.

The reason we did switch to tablets was because we no longer have the iMac that we used to set up iPads. We only have Windows PCs now.