Android agent — Installation

Requirements

• Android 5.0 (API 21) or higher. Verified up to Android 15.
• Screen in landscape orientation (the agent forces landscape).
• ~200 MB free on external storage for content cache (more depending on playlist weight).
• Internet connection — Ethernet or WiFi.

Install the APK

The APK is called promotienda.rds.apk and is provided by Promotienda.

1. Enable on the device Settings → Security → Unknown sources (or the equivalent for your Android version: allow installing APKs from the source you'll use).
2. Download the APK from the link Promotienda gave you.
3. Open it from the file manager to start the installation.
4. Grant the permissions requested at first launch:
   • Storage — to save downloaded videos and images.
   • Location — the agent sends GPS coordinates to the server (only if available).
   • Display over other apps — for the settings dialogs.

On Android 6+ some permissions are only requested when first needed.

First boot

When you first open the app it tries to authenticate against the server with the default configuration and shows a neutral background until it has an assigned playlist.

To configure the device:

1. Tap 4 times on any part of the background within 3 seconds.
2. A password dialog appears. There are two levels:
   • Admin — full access to settings (server URL, sync intervals, storage path).
   • User — read-only: device info and basic config.
3. After entering the password you have 30 seconds before settings close on inactivity.

The device's Back button also opens the password prompt.

Auto-start

The APK registers a BOOT_COMPLETED receiver — when the device restarts (power outage, scheduled reboot, etc.) the agent will start automatically without intervention.

Enabling it as a Home app (required on Android 10+)

Since Android 10 (API 29) apps cannot launch Activities from a broadcast receiver / background service. The BOOT_COMPLETED receiver starts the service, but the kiosk Activity is blocked and the device stays on the launcher after restart.

The standard solution for a kiosk is to declare the APK as the device's Home app. Only required once per device.

Automatic wizard (from v2.1): when you open the app for the first time on a device where it isn't yet the Home app, a dialog appears:

Set as Home app So the kiosk starts automatically every time the device is turned on, configure it as Home. [ Later ] [ Configure ]

Press Configure and Android settings will open directly on the Default home app screen. Choose "Digital Signage RDS" and confirm.

Manual wizard (if you pressed Later or the dialog didn't appear):

1. Settings → Apps → Default apps → Home app (on some OEMs: Settings → Apps → "Home app" or Settings → Home)
2. Choose "Digital Signage RDS" from the list
3. Accept the confirmation

From then on, Android launches the kiosk directly at boot (skipping the launcher). The HOME button also always returns to the kiosk — useful to prevent the user from leaving.

The automatic dialog reappears on every launch while the kiosk is not set as the Home app. If you dismiss it with Later, it shows up again the next time the app opens or the device reboots.

Enabling the accessibility service (full-screen captures)

Right after the Home dialog, if the device is Android 11+ and the screenshot accessibility service isn't enabled, a second dialog appears:

Enable remote captures To let the RDS panel request screenshots at any time (even when the app isn't foreground), enable the "Digital Signage RDS" accessibility service. [ Later ] [ Enable ]

Press Enable → accessibility settings open → Downloaded services → Digital Signage RDS → Enable. Confirm the system permission warning.

Without this service:

• Captures only happen while a kiosk Activity is foreground.
• If the kiosk has crashed or a system dialog is showing, the panel receives an image of the last visible frame — not the current screen.

With the service enabled, captures always work, include system UI / error dialogs / lockscreen, and survive Activity crashes (Android automatically re-binds the accessibility service).

As with the Home dialog: if you dismiss it with Later, it reappears on every launch until the service is enabled.

Verifying auto-start

After a reboot, the agent logs:

[BOOT      ] BroadcastReceived: android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED
[BOOT      ] MainActivity launch requested
[BOOT      ] AutoStartUp service start requested
[SYSTEM    ] Digital Signage RDS …

If you see the BroadcastReceived line but the kiosk doesn't appear, you're almost certainly missing the Home app step. View logs in the panel: Actions → Logs.

Installed version

The agent version is visible in Settings → version. It's also reported to the server on every heartbeat and shown in the version column of the device list.

Minimum supported version for Android: 2.0.0. Lower versions show an End of Life banner in the panel.