With Terry out of the office this week, I'm sharing this week's update, and there's another good batch of improvements from the team. This release is all about giving you a bit more control over AutoFix, plus a first look at two new experimental features that we're really excited about. As usual, there's also a lot of less glamorous work going on in the background covering smaller fixes, speed improvements and modifications across the platform.
On the AutoFix side, you can now keep an app on its current major version and hold back an update for up to 30 days, so a buggy new release doesn't reach your devices before it has had time to settle. ARM64 devices also now get the proper native build when they're patched.
The two experimental features are Google Workspace, which brings the same MFA and auto forwarding visibility you already have for Microsoft 365, and the new vCSO top line, which puts a vCSO chat box at the top of every screen in the portal. The vCSO top line runs in the new blue theme, so if you haven't given it a go yet, now is a good time. Both are early days, so we'd love to hear your experience. Charlie has recorded a short Loom walkthrough for each of them below.
In this release:
- Only Update Within the Current Major Version
- Google Workspace (Experimental Feature)
- Add a Delay to AutoFix Rules
- ARM64 Apps Now Patch Natively
- Top Line vCSO (Experimental Feature)
Now available in the portal
Only Update Within the Current Major Version
AutoFix rules now have a "Stay on current major version" toggle, so a routine patch never turns into an unexpected major upgrade. With it switched on, AutoFix still installs minor and patch updates, so an app on 4.5 moves to the latest 4.x release and skips 5.1. It's ideal for apps tied to compatibility, licensing or a planned upgrade.
Watch Charlie's short Loom to start:
Google Workspace (Experimental Feature)
RoboShadow can now connect to Google Workspace and report on your user accounts, the same way our Microsoft 365 sync does. See which users and admins don't have MFA, and which accounts have auto forwarding turned on, a common sign of a compromised mailbox. Switch it on from Experimental Features, then connect it under Cloud Sync.
Watch Charlie's short Loom to start:
Add a Delay to AutoFix Rules
You can now delay an AutoFix rule by anything from 1 to 30 days, so a new release has time to settle before it reaches your devices. The setting is per rule, so you can use a long delay for sensitive applications and none for the rest. It's a simple way to avoid being first in line for a buggy update.
Watch Charlie's short Loom to start:
ARM64 Apps Now Patch Natively
We now match each installed app's architecture to the right WinGet installer. An ARM64 app gets the ARM64 build when it's patched, instead of an x64 build running through emulation. If there's no ARM64 package available for an app, we fall back to the standard update package, so ARM machines still get patched. There's nothing to switch on; it just works.
Top Line vCSO (Experimental Feature)
The vCSO top line puts a vCSO chat box at the top of every screen in the portal, so you can ask about your security posture without leaving the page you're on. Pick a suggested prompt such as "What should I fix first?" or ask your own question, and dock it to the side when you need the space. By default it answers across all of your tenants at once (multi-tenant), and next week we're releasing the option to pick a specific organisation to query. It runs in the experimental blue theme; switch it on from Experimental Features.
Watch Charlie's short Loom to start:
Coming soon
There's plenty more in the pipeline, and the following features will be landing in the portal shortly. We'll share more detail on each one as it arrives.
- AI AutoFix Rule Dialog: General & Advanced Tabs
- End user communication for AI AutoFix
- Delayed rollout percentages
- Auto Uninstall Rules
- Scheduled / delayed bulk device restart
A quick reminder from the previous release
In case you missed last week's release, here's a quick recap of what recently went live in the portal:
- Patch Summary Report (Experimental Feature): A complete overview of patch activity across your organisation over time, printable to PDF.
- Exclude Operators in Device Groups: Build smart device groups from what they leave out, not just what they include.
- Bulk Device Restarts for OS Updates: Restart multiple devices pending a reboot in one action from the OS Updates page.
- Uploading PowerShell Scripts (.ps1): Upload a .ps1 file straight into Packages instead of pasting your script in manually.
If you haven't had a chance to explore them yet, they're all ready for you to have a play with. And if you haven't signed up for our App Bounty programme yet, we'd love to have you involved as we continue testing and refining the new features. We're giving out gift cards to people who send us good feedback.
Please include 'App Bounty Feedback' in the subject line when sending over any feedback to hello@roboshadow.com, and the team will make sure it gets to the right place 😊
As always, please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, ideas, or anything you'd like us to take a closer look at. We're always keen to hear what's working well for you and where we could be doing better. Reach out to us any time at hello@roboshadow.com.
With a decade of experience in operations, compliance, and security operations at a leading MSP, Liz is now dedicated to the field of cybersecurity, where she supports RoboShadow in its mission to make cybersecurity accessible to everyone.
