I have an customer project where I have to make single task android device. Customer isn't able to escape the application which my company have developed. Also customer isn't able to start any other application and our application is started when the device is booted. Overall all the customer is able to do with the device is run our application.
Is there any other way to make this work than rooting the device, disabling all system buttons and making our application the launcher. I have something like 400 devices for this purpose so rooting all those would cost lot of time.
I also read Google's tutorial about COSU devices but found it very confucing https://developer.android.com/work/cosu.html#testing-plan
Androids own screen pinning is not good enough because customer can escape the app. Some may suggest to use some kiosk application like SureLock but my company's goal is to find clear solution for this without using any third party apps. Also running our app via some kiosk application is not our goal.
I found some posts on the Stack Overflow with similar question, but not the answer I'm looking for.
If someone has some tips for this question I would be very grateful.
Single purpose devices built on top of Android can get difficult to implement. There are a few different options, but each have trade-offs.
As you mentioned, rooting devices will functionally get you what you want - however it will be time consuming with hundreds of devices to root, difficult to maintain, and you will (potentially) introduce security issues to your devices and app.
Another option is using Google's Lock Task Mode for COSU devices[1]. The link there has a nice graphic showing the features of lock task mode:
1 app pinned to the home screen
only apps white-listed by the DPC (device policy controller) can be locked
Home and Recent buttons hidden
exit by calling stopLockTask()
There are some downsides to using Google's solution for this. First Google recommends creating (and therefor maintaining) an entirely separate DPC app to run as a device owner and set policies[2]. You'll also be dependent on Google Play to manage application updates and be required to have Play accounts associated with each device which "are used to identify a single device that is not tied to a single user for simplified, per-device app distribution rules in COSU-style scenarios"[3]. To automatically get your DPC app on devices your "DPC must be publicly availble on Google Play, and the end user can install the DPC from the device setup wizard by entering the DPC-specific identifier."[3] You'll also need to upload the user application to Google Play[4], which may be an issue for some who don't want their apps on Play. Going this route gives you features you need, but can be complicated and also ties you and your customer pretty tightly with Google/Play services and their workflow.
You can also look at enterprise mobile deployment platforms like Mason[5]. In your case, you can create a custom Android OS in a few minutes with your app locked in kiosk mode (+ other features like disable camera/sms, remove apps and hide settings, etc.) and then deploy it to all of your devices remotely. Mason also supports OS and app updates controlled by you if your requirements change.
DISCLAIMER: I work for Mason
[1] https://developer.android.com/work/cosu.html
[2] https://developer.android.com/work/cosu.html#create-dpc
[3] https://developers.google.com/android/work/requirements/cosu
[4] https://developers.google.com/android/work/play/emm-api/samples#push_install_an_app_on_a_device
[5] https://bymason.com/
I went to the same problem before. I spent at least 3 days doing research. I tried to find many solutions but I found zero.
How I solve is
1. Up To JellyBean
- Use System Alert Dialog (And make it transparent and small size like 2 * 2 And display in some corner(User can't see it)). User can't press home button If there is system Alert dialog
2. After JellyBean, This method doesn't work. The user can press the home button even though there is System Alert Dialog.
so what I did is, start the service on stop and start the same activity again and again(within sec). So user can't see any difference.Don't forget to make activity as single task so that even though you start same activity from service, again and again, new activity will not create (So Ugly way )
- You can simple make screen full screen. make sure in kiosk mode try to check if the screen is in full-screen mode. if not make it full-screen mode(its not hard to do)
- other way is to make launcher app but when ever you pressed home button it always asked to choose launcher app. if user mistakenly choose default/ other launcher app, this solution doesnt work
Good luck
Make your application as a launcher application by defining in manifest file.
After that go to setting of your mobile device and change default launcher application to your application.
Related
I'm working on an application which contains a transparent screen and I need other applications such as Google Maps to run behind it, is there a way to run 2 apps simultaneously ?
Currently when I open my app all I see behind it is the menu displaying all opened apps, but can't figure out how to keep apps running behind mine.
I'm working on an application which contains a transparent screen and I need other applications such as Google Maps to run behind it
Given the fact that other developers write those other applications, you have no reliable way to knowing exactly what the user can see through the transparent portion of your UI. That will vary based on device, version of the other app, etc.
Currently when I open my app all I see behind it is the menu displaying all opened apps
What is visible through your transparent portion of your UI is whatever activity happens to be behind it.
can't figure out how to keep apps running behind mine
The decision of what other apps do is up to the developers of those other apps, not you.
is there a way to run 2 apps simultaneously ?
You are certainly welcome to start some activity (e.g., a map), and then some time later start some other activity (e.g., the one of yours with the transparent pane). What the other app does, when you do this, is up to the developers of the other app, not you.
I'm looking for some help from developers who are know android development. We have a client who wants to use an Android tablet as a means of collecting data when someone walks into their office. The problem is that they don't want any of the background functions or access to the net on the device (it's there to log people in so it should not move from that function with out some other credentials to "unlock" the device.)
With apple I know you can lock the screen on to a page/app but not sure about android? Can't find any thing online that would tell me it can be done on android.
With Android you can replace the launcher (home screen) app, and if that app doesn't give you access to launching other things, then you cannot do other things. The first time you press the home key after installing another launcher candidate, Android asks you which home screen application to run (the original or your new one) and allows you to set your answer as the default, eliminating the question in the future.
This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Is it possible to configure an Android install to run a single app?
So, basically, I'm currently working on an android application that is intended for use on dedicated tablets inside of classsrooms. While using this app, we don't want the students to back out and go messing around, ignoring what they're supposed to be doing. Is there a way to:
a) Have an app launch on startup, so there's no initial access to the home screen
b) Lock the app so it can't be backed out of, and will be the only thing to run
The only way to achieve what you're looking for is:
Modify Android at the firmware level
Make your app the homescreen replacement.
Option 2 is considerably easier. Basically, you tell Android that your app is the replacement home screen, and then set it as the default on each device. That way, whenever the device is unlocked, your app will be shown, and pressing the home button will only launch your app. This essentially stops the device from opening up any other apps, unless it is done via notifications, which you can take away by making your app full screen. The only possibility left to leave your app now is via recent apps, or a service that launched apps on a device shake or something. You can get around this by making sure that no other app was launched prior to yours, or clearing the recent apps manually. The service can be gotten around by simple not installing any app that does that.
You can look into the default home screen app, which is open source and available at:
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Launcher2.git
I've done a fair amount of research on this and the options are not pretty:
1) Write your own Android home screen
This one is involved but seems doable. Theoretically you could choose to write a home screen that only includes a link to your app and doesn't allow any other icons.
Try this link
2) Create you own lock screen
This may give you more control over the device, but the only options historically have been to use unpublished APIs that have been now been changed to disallow this.
A little background first. I'm developing an application for corporate devices running on the Android platform. It won't be distributed on the Play store and thus, is unavailable to the general public. The devices are owned by the company and its only purpose is to run this application. So accessing the home screen/notifications/application history/ app drawer are unnecessary and in fact we want to focus the user experience directly on this application.
The current problem I'm facing is preventing access to the notification tray. Simply making the application full screen is not a solution. We do actually need to see the status bar. It's the easiest way to provide network,gps and battery status information to the user.
So far my research has only turned up one solution, which is to go full screen (again, not a solution for this problem,I need the status bar to be visible). I know there's a number of lock screen apps that are able to do this so there must be a way. I just haven't found it yet.
I am not sure, but probably that you can't just lock notification bar from the application level. Android app is isolated from the Operating System and another apps, so it is not able to lock OS features.
Solution that came into my head is to make app fullscreen and create Your own status bar with battery level, current time and network status. It is not hard.
Another solution would be to prepare Your own Android distribution :)
Moreover probably You would like to override all buttons (home, back, search) so user is not able to leave your app.
Very likely is not going to be possible on a Stock device, you'd have to root and potentially install your own version of the OS to allow for this behavior. The system was purposefully made to disallow applications from having this type of behavior. The creators of the OS had the general public in mind as users, and they wanted to prevent applications from being able to "lock" the user out of portions of the device.
Much easier solution like #Jacek states is go full screen and make your own View to display whatever info that you do want from the Notifications bar, AFAIK there are public APIs to access all of that information.
HI ,
I need to keep track of installed applications which are used most and least in android device... can anyone help me how to do this programmatically in android...??
My question some thing like , I need to capture the event/Intent which will/may happen when the apllication is launched every time...(like BOOT_COMPLETED will be brodcasted when device booted).
This does not seem possible (unless the launcher/home screen or applications cooperate, e.g. through instrumentation: but that would be strange in production code!). See also this related question.
Edited to add: indiscriminate capture of application launch intents is not AFAIK permitted. Were Android to add such functionality, the security implications would be significant (particularly if interception or modification were allowed!). What you are describing could be (partially) achieved by replacing the home screen.
Some degree of usage information is collected already - from the launcher go to settings - about phone - battery use.
I think this resets every time you go on a charger, and don't know if its visible to ordinary apps.