I've struggling for a while to find an efficient way to check why certain devices are not supported by an application I'm developing.
From time to time I get a support call saying that a new update of the app is not supported.
I'm aware to the fact that sometimes I add some features/permissions to the manifest and I can't always support all devices.
The problem that in most support calls I don't have access to an actual device as reported.
What I did by now is sending several sample apps with various features/permission permutations in order to see which can be installed and which are not.
Any other ideas?
Is there any online service which I can send an APK to and it will make sure to run it on a specific device?
Tried, without success, but is there a way to imitate a specific device using the emulator?
Thanks
According to Google, if you're using the <uses-feature> the play store should check the user's device for you, before allowing them to install / update.
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Since the process of applying for EMM integration takes an unjustifiably big amount of time and the whole process is described as "incredibly painful" by those lucky ones that went through it, I want to know whether is it absolutely needed to become an EMM in order to have a working Device Policy Controller app (DPC).
If you faced this problem, please share the experience.
I am developing for COSU devices and want to go into a kiosk mode. I am aware of existence of ways of how to do it, but they all implement a bunch of workarounds - this is not an option - I want a controllable, safe and robust way of doing this. I don't care about not having the ability for remote managing also.
You can use Google's new Android Management API to manage Android devices without building a DPC or registering as an EMM.
You just want to write an app that uses Device Policy Owner? That's fairly simple, assuming you own the devices. Just install your app, adb shell in, and run the dpm command to set your app as owner. If you're buying in bulk from a manufacturer you can get them to do it for you in the custom image you install (although you may need to explain what you want, it isn't a common usecase).
Of course everything has its limits. This will work, unless the user manages to do a factory reset. Which you can prevent via the UI, but can generally be reached from recovery modes or from unlocking the bootloader. So its safe from casual intrusion, but if someone really wants to get at your device and they have physical access and time, they can.
It is definitely possible to write your own DPC without registering with the EMM community.
The most convenient option for provisioning the devices is via NFC. for example using a second device, as it is quite simple to write a provisioning application.
See Implementing Kiosk Mode in Android (part 3 and 4)
for a good example.
I had a few problems with some Android 5 devices, but since 6.0 it works quite well.
I like to have single android app in our managed devices, we want only that app to be used on the device with necessary restriction, such that,
Single use - Device will have only one app, user can't use other apps, like browsing, youtube or anything,
the initial setting like notification sound, GPS always on, notification and ring sound maximum level can't be modified.
user can not power off the device.
this setting can only be changed by our servers.
i think i have 2 option,
1) Using samsung knox sdk on samsung devices,
Here's MDM proving feature of Samsung Knox Standard!
2) General Android way, Set up Single-Purpose Devices, COSU solution
Android Developer's site.
Wanted to know your's view on this, may be if you guys have done any of the two or any other ways, i could use some of the guidelines or a path.
Thanks for reading, and please comment if i was unable to articulate the subject or it needs editing.
You can use Google's new Android Management API, it seems to suit your needs.
It is a new cloud API that allows to manage Android devices from a server, without having to build an on-device agent (a device policy controller).
I have broad experience of using Samsung Kiosk Mode from Knox Standard SDK which is free and Pro-Kiosk mode from Knox Customization SDK (which has more functions but is not free).
So I can tell you for sure that all 4 points that you have mentioned can be achieved by using Knox Standard SDK.
Singe Purpose: https://seap.samsung.com/api-references/android-standard/reference/android/app/enterprise/kioskmode/KioskMode.html
LocationPolicy (you can turn on GPS and restrict changing): https://seap.samsung.com/api-references/android-standard/reference/android/app/enterprise/LocationPolicy.html
Yes. It is possible but I forgot the exact implementation.
Yes, as well.
Only downside of using this SDK is:
You are tied to Samsung (which I personally okay with, since Samsung has such market penetration and you could get service almost anywhere in the world and in enterprise world it is critical)
About Android native functionality: never tried it
Update March 7, 2019: Now I am playing around Device Owner, we use it for Kiosk mode, works well and works on android Device with Nougat and earlier.
Is it possible to know whether an android phone has OTG support without rooting? If so how? I am asked to check some information before developing an app for android.
Yes, you can download a USB On-The-Go checking application from Google Play.
This one below for instance doesn't require root, although it does require that you follow the exact plugging and unplugging steps.
Before I give you the link thought, I must warn you that this app asks for way too many permissions and can display very intrusive ads that can draw themselves on top of other apps. If you install this, definitely uninstall it and get rid of it as soon as you're done with it.
Another thing you could do is just google for the exact model name. That kind of information is usually included in the specs, in the pdf specs, in wikipedia, or in some tear-down blog. If the specs won't even tell you the usb version number at the very least, then you'll know to keep on looking.
I have seen many solutions to check if our own app is minimized,running or background.but is there a way to check if another app package is running or minimized so that based on that we can run a code.like an app-locker.Here we need to turn off network for a certain apps according to the user selection on installed apps in device, so when that selected apps are on foreground, network should be disabled when the selected apps are closed or minimized.then enable the network.
Will it be compliant with Google play if we make such an app? because somewhere i read they don't allow apps that interfere with other apps.so confused.
TL;DR: Google doesn't want you to do this, and you shouldn't try.
The old hack that relied on ActivityManager#getRecentTasks() to find out which app is in the foreground was disabled starting in Android 5.0.
App lockers that work on Lollipop are using a new hack involving ActivityManager#getRunningAppProcesses(). How it works is described in this answer. This hack is reportedly broken on Android M.
There's a new UsageStats API from which you might be able to glean a bit of info, but it requires a permission that can only be granted by a system activity. It's documented that this system activity may not be present on all devices. Samsung and LG are among the manufacturers that have reportedly removed this activity from their Lollipop devices, so only system apps will ever be able to use UsageStats.
The bottom line is that Google has shown their commitment to preventing what you're trying to do. Even if you find a temporary solution, you can bet that it will stop working in a future Android version. Eventually, Google will close all the loopholes and your app will be permanently broken. So it's probably a waste of time to write a new app that depends on this capability.
I want to control installation of my app on each device by sending its ANDROID_ID to a server and control it there. But according to this link in android developers blog this isn't a suitable approach to do that.It says:
the requirement is to identify a particular installation, not a physical device. Fortunately, doing so is straightforward.
I want to know how this way is possible for my needs?
Edits:
let me explain this more clear. I want to get user a registration code and let the user to install my app on 3 different devices by using this code and control this by a server.
First of all, on rooted devices there is not much you can do. When one tempers with the ROM he can make two different devices identical: every API call aiming at finding a difference can be altered to return the same value. So if you want a solution that is absolutely safe, you're screwed.
With normal users seeing the problems in the Android API, I would suggest a hash of every device identifier you can find: IMEI, IMSI, ANDROID_ID, MAC address, Device type, manufacturer... This way you will surely grant 3 installations to normal users.
It's always better to have some free-riders than to have angry customers who cannot install the app on 3 devices because of some Android API bug that gave them the same device ID for their devices.