Android Kiosk app

Information on how to set up and configure the Kiosk application on Android devices.

What is the Kiosk app?

The Kiosk app is a custom home screen. It provides a simple user interface for opening previously configured applications or web links. The main user interface is a grid of shortcuts. Additionally since version 1.3.0 it includes a simple internal web browser.

On Samsung devices with KNOX management features it is possible to force the user to use a specific home screen app. On other devices the user is able to switch away from the Kiosk home screen through device Settings.

Requirements

The device must have Android 4.0.3 or newer (Kiosk version 1.3.0). The mySync client must be installed and provisioned.

The Kiosk app (or a compatible variant) must be set up on server as an installable application.

Basic setup steps

1. Install the Kiosk app on device with the application management tools. After installing the device diagnostics and the device editor will show that the device supports Kiosk Policy.
2. Configure the device's Kiosk Policy: Enable the policy, enter the package name of the installed Kiosk app, add shortcuts and customise the appearance.
3. Save your changes. If the device is a Samsung device, execute the 'Activate all device settings' command.
4. On a Samsung device the Kiosk app will open and the user is unable to exit it with the home button. On other devices the user must configure the Kiosk app as the default home screen manually either via a menu opened when pressing Home, or through device Settings.
5. The Kiosk app will retrieve updates automatically. Any further changes to the shortcuts or customisations in the Kiosk Policy will be applied automatically without the need to execute 'Activate all device settings'.

Shortcut configuration

The Kiosk Policy editor has a grid showing your configured shortcuts. Press the 'New' button to add a new shortcut. Click an existing shortcut to edit it.

• Title: Enter a title for the shortcut. This is the title shown in the Kiosk's shortcuts view.
• Type: Select a shortcut type.
• Parameters: Enter configuration values. These depend on the type of shortcut.
• Icon source: Select an icon for the shortcut.
• Icon URL: If the icon source type is URL, enter a URL to a PNG or JPEG image.
• Icon app package: If the icon source type is app package, enter the package for the app whose icon will be used. It must be installed on the device.

Shortcut types

• Web link: A web link which is opened in a normal web browser on device. The user may have to select a browser if multiple browsers are installed and a default is not yet selected.
• Web link in the internal browser: A web link which is opened in the internal browser of the Kiosk app. This browser has very limited features. You can make the browser locked so the user cannot exit the browser. You may need to configure other policies to prevent the user from using the status bar, home button or other features to exit the browser.
• App: Opens an app. You need to configure at least the package name. Optionally you can specify the activity.

Using the Kiosk app

The shortcut view

Click any of the shortcuts to open the shortcut.

Invalid shortcuts (such as a web link with a missing URL or an app shortcut with a package or activity name that is not installed) are not shown.

The menu (accessible from the toolbar or with the device's menu button) has some tools.

• Update kiosk content: Manually update the kiosk policy to update the shortcuts and customisations.
• Send activities via email: Send an email using external email app containing a list of all installed apps and their activities to a recipient of your choice. This list is useful for the configurer to figure out if you need to enter a specific activity name for some app shortcut.

The internal browser

The user can use the device's Back button to go back in browsing history (unless disabled in Kiosk Policy) and to exit the browser when reaching the first page in history (unless locked in Kiosk Policy).

By dragging down a the top of the page the browser will refresh the page. This may be needed if there is a network or server error resulting in an error page.

The user can long-click the web page view to open a menu. The menu contains the options Back, Refresh and Exit. The Back and Exit may be limited by the parameters set in Kiosk Policy.

If the unlock password is set and the user attempts to exit the browser, a popup is shown with an Unlock option. If the Unlock option is selected, the user can attempt to enter the Unlock Password. Upon success the user is led to the shortcut view.

Kiosk installer file

The standard Kiosk APK file is available at: https://dl.mysync.fi/android/kiosk/

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