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How to enable Screensaver for Android devices locked in Kiosk mode

Hexnode UEM transforms Android devices into image/video streaming screens while in kiosk mode. The Screensaver feature lets users to display images/play videos, with audio as screensavers for Android devices locked in kiosk mode.

The supported formats are JPG and PNG for images, MP4 and Matroska (MKV) for videos, and MP3 and OGG for audios. This feature is supported on devices running Android 5.0+, except on Android 10 Go edition.

Steps to enable Screensaver while in Android Kiosk mode

Pre-requisites

Ensure that either Single App/Multi App kiosk mode is enabled on the device.

  1. Login to your Hexnode UEM portal.
  2. Navigate to Policies.
  3. Select an existing policy or create a new one by clicking on New Policy.
  4. Provide a policy name and a suitable description.
  5. From Kiosk Lockdown > Android Kiosk Lockdown, select Kiosk Screensaver and click on Configure.


Android screensaver kiosk
  • Enable Screensaver – Check this option to enable screensaver. You can upload the files to be set as a screensaver only if this option is enabled.

Add Folders/Files


Adding folders/files
  • Folder/File Path – Provide the file path on the target device, for example, /storage/emulated/0/hexnodemdm

General

Settings Description
Include sub-folders Check this option to include the files within the sub-folders.
Limit to Choose the number of sub-folders to be included from the specified folder. This can take values from 1-9.
Order by Choose the ordering by which media files should be arranged.
  • Name: Select this option to sort files alphabetically.
  • Type: Select this option to arrange by media type. It will be sorted by images first, followed by videos in the folder.
  • Random: Selecting this option arranges the media files randomly.
Play custom background music Check this option to play a custom background music.
Fit to full-screen Check this option to fit the image/video to the display screen. Normally, images/videos get cropped if their aspect ratios are different from the display screen.

Video


Adding video
Settings Description
Play videos in the folder Check this option to play the videos in the folder.
Mute video volume Check this option to mute the video.
Trim clips Check this option to trim video clips. The duration to be trimmed is to be specified in MM:SS format.

Image


Adding image
Settings Description
Display images in the folder Check this option to display images in the folder.
Display duration Provide the time duration to display the image, in seconds.

Transition


Apply transition
Settings Description
Animation scale Choose the animation scale to be applied for transition. The value could be Off, 0.5x, 1x, 2x and 3x.
Animation effect Choose the animation effect to be applied for transition. It could be Fade/Slide/Zoom.
Background color Choose the background color of the transition.

Add Videos


Configure Video Settings
  • Upload the videos to be set as the screensaver.
  • Select the uploaded file and click on Configure.


Video Screensaver settings
Settings Description
Loops Provide the number of sequences to play the video repeatedly.
Fit to full-screen Check this option to fit the video to the display screen. Normally, videos get cropped if their aspect ratios are different from the display screen.
Trim clips Check this option to trim video clips. The duration to be trimmed is to be specified in MM:SS format.
Mute videos Check this option to mute the video.
Play custom background music Check this option to play a custom background music.

Add Images


Configure Image Settings
  • Upload the images to be set as the screensaver.
  • Select the uploaded file and click on Configure.


Image Screensaver settings
Settings Description
Loops Provide the number of sequences to display the images repeatedly.
Fit to full-screen Check this option to fit the image to the display screen. Normally, images get cropped if their aspect ratios are different from the display screen.
Display duration Provide the time duration to display the image, in seconds.
Play custom background music Check this option to play a custom background music.
Animation scale Choose the animation scale to be applied for transition. The value could be Off, 0.5x, 1x, 2x or 3x.
Animation effect Choose the animation effect to be applied for transition. It could be Fade/Slide/Zoom.
Background color Choose the background color of the transition.

Audio

Configure the audio settings for the files uploaded.


Audio settings
Settings Description
Mute videos Check this option to mute the video.
Play custom background music Check this option to play custom background music.
Music Upload the audio file to be played in the loop.

Display

Configure the display settings for the screensaver.


display settings for Android kiosk screensaver
Settings Description
Fit to full-screen Check this option to fit the image/video to the display screen. Normally, images/videos get cropped if their aspect ratios are different from the display screen.
Shuffle Check this option to shuffle media files.
Turn off screensaver in battery saver mode

(Supported on devices running Android 5+)

Check this option to turn off screensaver in battery saver mode.
Screen orientation Choose to set the screen orientation to either Portrait/Landscape mode. You can also choose to set the default mode.
Brightness Choose the brightness mode.
  • Keep current brightness – Check this option to use the current brightness on the device, while screensaver is enabled.
  • Set brightness – Check this option to set the brightness level for the screensaver. Moving the slider towards the right increases the brightness and vice-versa.
    Note:

    • This setting does not affect the device brightness set for the kiosk but affects the kiosk screensaver.
    • The slider position set here might not accurately represent the device end slider position. The brightness scale and the display brightness curve, which varies with the device model, cause this inaccuracy.

Start screensaver after Provide the number of seconds of inactivity after which the screensaver should start.
Sleep after Provide either the number of seconds/number of loops, after which the device should switch to sleep mode from screensaver.

Associate the policy with target devices

You can associate the policy to devices via two methods.

If the policy has not yet been saved.

  1. Navigate to Policy Targets.
  2. Click on +Add Devices.
  3. Select the devices and click OK.
  4. Click on Save to apply the policies to devices.

Apart from devices, you can also associate the policies with device groups, users, user groups, or domains from Policy Targets.

If the policy has been saved, you can associate it by another method.

  1. From Policies, check the policies to be associated.
  2. Click on Manage → Associate Targets and select the devices.
  3. Click on Associate to apply policy to the devices.





Note:

  • Once the files are uploaded, and the screensaver is configured, a table listing the uploaded files appears.
  • On devices running Android 11+, ‘Manage All Files’ permission is required for the Hexnode UEM app to access device storage.
    • This permission should be granted to the Hexnode UEM app during enrollment.
    • Mange All Files permission on Hexnode UEM app

    • When the Hexnode UEM/Hexnode for Work app is updated, ‘Manage All Files’ permission may not be granted. Hence, to avail file management and distribution functionalities, the user should grant this permission when the Hexnode UEM app prompts while opening the updated app.
    • Manage All Files Permission during update

    • If the screensaver or digital signage is configured with the kiosk policy and the ‘All Files Access’ is denied to the Hexnode UEM app, the kiosk activation fails. To activate kiosk mode, grant permission when the prompt ‘Kiosk Activation Failed’ appears on the device.
    • Permission to activate kiosk mode

    • Alternatively, you can also give ‘All Files Access’ for the Hexnode UEM app from the device settings page.



Kiosk screensaver
  • It displays the file name, file type, number of loops and the status of the file.
  • The status can be toggled off if the specified file is not to be used in the screensaver.
  • Kiosk Lockdown of Devices