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I am now to using Android Managment Api to create Kiosk devices for my company. I wanted to create Kiosk device with my kiosk App locked to screen and the screen will never dim (this achieved within kiosk App with the android:keepScreenOn="true" setting). System/App updates are supposed to be applied during the daily maintenance window of 2am - 4am. Below is the policy I created based on what I learnt.

  "applications": [
{
  "packageName": "com.achieversprofile.facaccess",
  "installType": "REQUIRED_FOR_SETUP",
  "lockTaskAllowed": true,
  "defaultPermissionPolicy": "GRANT"
}

],

  "systemUpdate": {
"type": "WINDOWED",
"startMinutes": 120,
"endMinutes": 240

},

The kiosk device was running well and App updates we released via google play were correctly updated. However, recently, there was a system update which was not automatically applied during the maintenance window.

The below system update screen was loaded to the foreground and after some time the kiosk device screen turned black as a result. May I know if there is anything else I need to add to my policy to enable system updates to be applied during the maintenance window as well? Or is there anything to set on the device? I am using Samsung A10.

System Update Notification

Raymond Wong
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  • FWIW I had the same problem, and this didn't work for me either. For a kiosk app, the only way I could force a software update was to change the `minimumVersionCode` to the latest application version (in a brand new policy), and selectively apply that policy **only** devices that are currently online. See my question here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59086669/kiosk-app-updates-when-device-not-online-at-consistent-times I found that applying the update to off devices would occasionally cause the devices to wipe themselves when switched on, which was absolutely not what I wanted. – S.Thomson Jan 27 '20 at 12:49
  • Hi, on reviewing the documentation, I noticed the following about SystemUpdate of Windowed type: "Install automatically within a daily maintenance window. This also configures Play apps to be updated within the window. This is strongly recommended for kiosk devices because this is the only way apps persistently pinned to the foreground can be updated by Play." Does it mean that only changes from Play will be updated? The system update I get seem to be from Samsung. – Raymond Wong Feb 03 '20 at 05:58
  • Hi @RaymondWong - I understand `SystemUpdate` to mean OS updates (e.g. from Samsung), and that Play app updates are bundled along with this update window. I think you should try `"installType": "KIOSK"` though. By the way, did you set up an arbitrary Gmail account for this, or did you manage to get the Android Management API working with a G Suite user? – karel Feb 11 '20 at 10:40
  • Hi @karel, thanks, I will try to change the installType, see if it works and keep the group posted. Btw, any idea how I can simulate a System Update like the one from Samsung? Else I will need to passively wait for the next update. I tried factory reset by wiping out all data but the OS remains updated. – Raymond Wong Feb 13 '20 at 01:32
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    Hi @karel, after I changed the installType to Kiosk, there is finally an update to test. For the development device (which screen is off when not in use), the update went in automatically during the update the window. However, for the production set which screen is always on and App pinned to foreground was not updated. The system update screen was in the background. Anyway to force an auto update even when the screen is on? – Raymond Wong Feb 23 '20 at 03:36
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    For me the system update doesn't work even when the screen is off. I've managed to get all store apps (ours included) to update during the window, but the system update is not working. I have a backdoor to the settings app from our kiosk app. Even if you manually go to the software updates screen, when you click install, it would do nothing. Managed to solve that by adding com.wssyncmldm with FORCE_INSTALL in the application config, along with the kiosk app. But still it doesn't work automatically. I can now manually install, I get a dialog where I need to confirm the update – ZolaKt Jun 19 '20 at 09:39

0 Answers0