I've never worked with Smartcards before, so I'm a bit lost here. We have actual Fido2 Cards that also support Smartcard functions. Initially, we weren't focused on this because Android devices don't support Fido2 authentication through NFC. Since all our Zebra devices are used in Shared Mode, we can't use the app needed to make it work. However, I've noticed that on the Zebra Devices Managed Home Screen, there's an option that says 'Use a certificate or smart card' after entering the UPN, and it seems to enable the NFC for Smartcard functionality. I'm not sure how to go about enabling the Smartcard functionality. We're operating in a hybrid environment but we aim to fully transition to the Cloud in the next five years. However, I hope that by then, Android will have resolved some NFC authentication issues. Just to clarify, we don't need this Smartcard feature for PCs, only for mobile devices.
3 Answers
Is Smartcard authentication even supported on mobile devices? Last I checked, YubiKeys required a specific driver on the system to activate their Smartcard capabilities.
You might want to consider using certificate-based authentication to get started with Smartcard setup. Just keep in mind that you'll have to establish PKI and manage it, but the enrollment process can usually be automated. It's mainly about figuring out how to get the certificates onto the devices, which I haven't done personally.
Wait, you actually have to install the certificate on the mobile device?
It should be supported with Google Play Services v26.03. If you’re facing issues still, you might try using FIDO Bridge, also known as AuthnKey, as an alternative solution. You can find more details about it in the link below.
I saw that too, but even with the latest updates, no NFC option appears. There are a lot of discussions online about this, but Google hasn’t responded. Plus, the FIDO Bridge app doesn't work in our case because we use shared mode on our Android devices, and it doesn't show up in the list of Providers.
I assumed it was! I noticed there’s a Smartcard option when signing into both Teams and Outlook on Android.