TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

• 2025.0.1 Maintenance Release Notes

SOTI Surf for Windows

Administrators can now deploy SOTI Surf on Windows devices, providing a customized, secure and tailored browser experience on Windows Modern devices (versions 10 and 11) via a Windows SOTI MobiControl profile.

SOTI Surf Integration with SOTI XSight

Administrators can now enable a toggle from the SOTI MobiControl web console for Android Classic and Enterprise to collect browsing data, including web visits and errors. The collected data is accessible in SOTI XSight dashboards.

Resolved Issues 

MCMR-34255	SOTI Surf catalog was not loading when the Wi-Fi toggle was turned on and not connected to a network
MCMR-36443	SOTI Surf was not correctly handling links when over 10 websites per folder and over 10 folders exist
MCMR- 36250	SOTI Surf was opening both camera picker and gallery when only camera picker was requested

• 2024.1.1 Maintenance Release Notes

SOTI Surf 2024.1.0 Release Notes

Release Highlights

SOTI Surf Scripting Option

Administrators can now create, save, and send JavaScript to the SOTI Surf browser to change the behaviour of web-applications. These scripts can be saved as templates to automate user actions such as auto login, autofill, and keypress options. The ability to send JavaScript can also be tailored to customize the display of web apps, such as SAP web apps, which don’t render properly in a standard mobile web browser.

SOTI Surf SSO through SOTI Identity

SOTI Surf now supports single sign-on authentication via SOTI Identity, enabling users to sign-in once and have access to all their essential webapps. This feature provides a more seamless, efficient, and productive user experience within a more secure user verified workflow.

Configure Desktop Mode and User Agent

Administrators can now configure SOTI Surf to render web content in Desktop mode by default, removing the need for users to toggle the rendering mode themselves.

Additionally, administrators can now customize the User-Agent value that is advertised by SOTI Surf to ensure compatibility with websites which have specific expectations about the web browser being used.

• 2024.0.1 Maintenance Release Notes

Download the SOTI Surf app from the SOTI Downloads page

Changes to Version Numbering

Going forward, the versioning of all SOTI products is being changed to provide a more consistent label that better reflects the timing of the release. 2024.0 is the next release after 15.6 for SOTI Surf, and all following releases will use this numbering convention.

Release Highlights

Multiple Tabs in Kiosk Mode

We’ve added the ability to add multiple tabs in Kiosk Mode to access other URLs. Admins can configure this feature from the web console.

Open Same Tab for Same URL

Admins can now configure links to reopen the same previously open tabs. With this toggle on, device users can navigate back to a previously opened tab and resume their work by clicking on the same link. If the tab is already open, no new tab is opened after clicking the link.

Automatic Authentication for Website Certificates

You can now to specify a list of URL patterns that Surf can use to automatically select client certificates, reducing manual effort for your admins.

• 15.6 Maintenance Release Notes

SOTI Surf 15.6.0 Release Notes

Release Highlights

Proglove Scanner Integration

SOTI Surf now supports integration with ProGlove Scanners on Android devices to capture data from ProGlove scanners, eliminating the need for field staff members to enter data in SOTI Surf manually and improving their overall productivity.

• 15.5 Maintenance Release Notes

SOTI Surf 15.5.0 Release Notes

Important Notes About this Release

As of this release SOTI Surf Android is only supported on devices with Android OS 4.2 or higher.

Release Highlights

This release includes the following new features:

Changes to Document Storage (SOTI Surf Android)

Due to changes in Android 11, file downloads are now allowed only under the public folder (/Download/). When upgrading from an earlier version of SOTI Surf, previously downloaded files will be moved from Surf’s internal document storage to the /Download folder.

Allow Popups and JavaScript (SOTI Surf iOS)

With this update, any website opened in Surf iOS is now able to run JavaScript and open pop-ups.

Resolved Issues

MCMR-28671	Users were not prompted to select an authentication certificate when revisiting certain websites
MCMR-28729	Web applications that used Base64 encoding for application data were not loading

• 15.4 Maintenance Release Notes for iOS

Release Highlights

This release includes the following new features:

Preview Downloadable Files

You can now preview files before downloading them to Android devices, adding an extra level of security.

• 15.3 Maintenance Release Notes for Android

New User Interface

SOTI Surf is redesigned with a modern user interface.

Custom Branding

New settings are added to the SOTI Surf profile configuration to customize the branding color and logo.

Webpage Refresh Improvements

The following webpage refresh controls are added to the SOTI Surf profile:

• Manage Pull to Refresh: Allows/prevents using a pulldown gesture to refresh a webpage in the SOTI Surf browser.
• Auto-Refresh: Enables/disables auto-refresh of webpage in the SOTI Surf browser and sets the refresh time interval.

• 15.2 Maintenance Release Notes for Android

Releases

• v15.2.0 Build 14 on August 04, 2020 - Download the SOTI Surf app from the Google Play Store
• v15.2.0 Build 3 on August 04, 2020 - Download the SOTI Surf app from the iTunes App Store

New Profile Configuration Settings

SOTI Surf v15.2 adds two new privacy settings:

• Manage Certificate Warnings: choose to show or hide SSL certificate warnings in the SOTI Surf browser
• Set Zoom Level of a website: set the default zoom level of a web page in the SOTI Surf browser.

Home Screen Improvements

Administrators can create folders on the SOTI Surf app home screen to group similar websites together. They can also choose to allow device users to add shortcuts to web pages on their home screens.

General Improvements

• File download improvements
• All standard authorization types are supported while downloading a file from websites through the SOTI Surf browser

• v15.1 Maintenance Release Notes for Android

v15.1.0 Build 5 on March 23, 2020

Dynamic URLs

You can now add variables to URLs and create dynamic links that change depending on which device opens the link. Variables can be either custom attributes or macros (%DEVICEID% or %MAC%). When you insert the variable in a link, SOTI Surf will interpret the variable and replace it with a real value, determined by device

New Profile Configuration Settings

SOTI Surf 15.1.0 adds new settings you can use to configure the SOTI Surf app, including:

• Additional Privacy Settings
  • Disable Third Party Cookies
  • Restrict File Types
• New Relaunch after profile configuration change setting
• New Open file after download setting

v15.0.0 Build 1 on November 04, 2019 - Download the SOTI Surf app for Android from the SOTI Downloads page

Hide Address Bar

You can hide the address bar in the SOTI Surf browser, preventing user from manually entering or editing website URLs, thus restricting user access to websites in the Home screen catalog.

Disable Zoom Gestures

You can block users from using gestures to zoom in and out in web pages.

Disable Media Auto-Play

You can prevent video and audio clips from automatically starting playback. Muted videos, however, will always be auto-played.

Releases

• v14.4 Maintenance Release Notes for Android
• v14.4.2 Build 1 on August 22, 2019 (Android)
• v14.4.2 Build 1 on September 09, 2019 (iOS) - Download the SOTI Surf app from the Apple App Store

 

Pull Down to Refresh

Device users can now refresh the contents of a webpage by pulling down from the top of a page.

Releases

• v14.3 Maintenance Release Notes for Android
• v14.3 Maintenance Release Notes for iOS
• v14.3.0 Build 7 on February 25, 2019 (iOS)

iOS Remote View Support

MobiControl administrators can now leverage the SOTI Surf app as a MobiControl SDK-enabled app, allowing administrators to remotely view the SOTI Surf app.

• v14.2 Maintenance Releases for Android
• v14.2.0 Build 119 on October 29, 2018 (Android)
• v14.2.0 Build 5 on October 29, 2018 (iOS)

Please Note: You must upgrade to MobiControl v14.2.0 to use these new features.

Increased Application Control

MobiControl administrators can use the SOTI Surf profile configuration to specify which SOTI Surf application settings are available to the device user.

New Privacy options have also been introduced to the profile configuration:

• Disable bookmark creation: device users cannot create or edit bookmarks in SOTI Surf
• Clear browser history on launch: browser deletes history of the previous session each time it is launched

Improved Dialing Behavior

Previously, SOTI Surf initiated a phone call immediately after a phone number was selected in the browser. Now it simply populates the device's phone app with the selected number, allowing the device user to decide whether to complete the phone call.

Integration with iOS Web Clips

When building Web Clip profile configurations, MobiControl administrators can use a SOTI Surf launch decorator (surf://) to force URLs to open in the SOTI Surf browser.

• v14.1 Maintenance Releases for Android
• Original Release v14.1.0 Build 57 for Android on February 21, 2018

It is recommended that you also update the ERG component for SOTI surf using the latest SOTI apps installer (available here) whenever you update your SOTI surf app.

• SOTI Apps Installer Release Notes

Release Highlights

• Bug Fixes

Bug Fixes

SOTI surf 14.1 applies fixes to bugs which may not have affected all versions of the app including:

• MCMR-12457: SOTI surf did not request all necessary device permissions causing the app to occasionally crash
• MCMR-12488: SOTI surf occasionally lost connection to WiFi proxy after using the Back button of the browser
• MCMR-13379: Device users could access blacklisted websites via PDF files

• Original Release v13.4.0 Build 307 for Android on November 26, 2017
• Original Release v13.4.3 Build 242 for iOS on November 27, 2017

 

It is recommended that you also update the ERG component for SOTI surf using the latest SOTI apps installer (available here) whenever you update your SOTI surf app.

Release Highlights

• Improved Profile Configuration
• Bug Fixes

Improved Profile Configuration

The SOTI surf profile configuration now allows you to specify the behavior of new tabs opened in the browser. You can set the SOTI surf app to always open new tabs in the background, thereby maintaining consistent behavior across all web pages. MobiControl v13.4 or later is required to enable this feature.

Bug Fixes

SOTI surf v13.4 applies fixes to various bugs which may not have affected all versions of the app.

• v13.3 Maintenance Releases for Android
• v13.3 Maintenance Releases for iOS
• Original Release v13.3.0.34 for Android on April 18, 2017
• Original Release v13.3.0.40 for iOS on April 18, 2017

It is recommended that you also update the ERG component for SOTI surf using the latest SOTI apps installer (available here) whenever you update your SOTI surf app.

Release Highlights

• Enhanced Profile Configuration
• General App Improvements

Enhanced Profile Configuration

Note: These improvements are only available in installations of MobiControl v13.3.0.3217 or later. See MobiControl Release Notes for more information.

Kiosk Mode

Kiosk Mode allows you to restrict the functionality of SOTI surf to limit user access to certain websites and app settings. With this release, the following options were added to Kiosk Mode:

• Hide app bottom bar
• Hide app menu
• Clear cookies with return to home page
• Disable keyboard

Privacy Settings

There are new options available within the Privacy settings section for SOTI surf. New options include the ability to:

• Automatically clear cookies on every app launch
• Disallow access to websites with invalid SSL certificates

Home Screen and Corporate Bookmarks

The options for a custom home screen have been expanded to allow you to set a specific website as the home screen. You can then add any other important sites to “Corporate Bookmarks”, which are accessible through the Bookmarks menu of the SOTI surf app. Furthermore, device users can open multiple home screen tabs at once.

Network Restrictions

SOTI surf allows you to limit which networks (cellular, roaming, WiFi) it functions on, letting you better manage your data usage costs.

General App Improvements

Interrupted file downloads will now automatically resume when a connection is regained, alleviating worry about data loss.

Search is supported within the Bookmarks and History menus.

Android Only Improvements

• Support for opening downloaded files directly from notifications
• Support for custom URL schemes (File://)
• Support for external certificates

Revisions

• v13.2 Maintenance Releases for Android
• v13.2 Maintenance Releases for iOS
• Original Release v13.2.0.396 for Android on August 31, 2016
• Original Release v13.2.0.450 for iOS on August 31, 2016

Product Launch

The SOTI surf app combines a fully functional mobile browser with a variety of security features. Take advantage of our enterprise resource gateway to encrypt all traffic passing through the SOTI surf browser. It provides safe access to your internal network, allowing device users to seamlessly switch between internet and intranet. Additional security features include support for LDAP authentication, web site and content filtering and numerous data leakage prevention options that restrict browser features with the potential for security breaches.

Furthermore, SOTI surf provides restricted browsing via kiosk mode, allowing organizations to improve the productivity of their mobile users and protect on-device data by locking down the kiosk mode to specific intranet websites. SOTI surf in kiosk mode restricts device users to accessing specific websites in a single tab (with no address bar) with limited browser settings.

SOTI surf is available on devices running Android 4.0 or later, or iOS 8 or later. See our documentation for more information.

Features

• Secure access to your internal network without a VPN
• LDAP authentication
• Enable browsing filters
• Integration with Lockdown mode