Common Issues in Android Kiosk Management

1. When single app kiosk mode is launched, the app does not start automatically, and a blank page is displayed in the kiosk mode.

Cause(s):

• The selected app may not be installed on the device end.

Solution:

• Make sure the app is installed on the device before the kiosk policy is applied. Once the app has been installed on the device, you can associate the kiosk policy with them.

  Enterprise apps added in the kiosk policy will get silently installed without any user interaction on Samsung Knox, Kyocera business phones, LG GATE, rooted Android devices, devices with Hexnode MDM as system app or system agent app and devices enrolled as Device Owner. The app will get launched automatically in the kiosk mode post successful installation.

2. An application is added as a Mandatory app in the same kiosk policy, but a blank page is displayed inside the single-app kiosk mode.

Cause(s):

• The device may be enrolled as “Generic Android” and in such a scenario, an application will not get automatically installed in the device without user interaction. In the case of enterprise apps, the user will have to click on the app icon inside the kiosk mode to initiate the installation process, whereas, in the case of store apps, the user will have to exit the kiosk mode to install the application.

Solution:

• Install the required applications in the device before the kiosk policy is applied to the device. This will ensure that the application opens up automatically inside the single-app kiosk mode.
• In the case of Samsung Knox, Kyocera business phones, LG GATE, rooted Android devices, devices with Hexnode MDM as system app or system agent app and devices enrolled as Device Owner, the enterprise app will get automatically installed in the device upon policy association without any user interaction. Also, ensure that you have enabled the installation from Unknown Sources in the device settings before policy association. Once the application is successfully installed, it will open up automatically inside the single-app kiosk mode.
Note:

• There might be a delay in the app installation depending on the network speed of the device. A blank screen will be displayed in the device till the application gets installed successfully

3. In multi-app kiosk mode, some of the added apps are missing when tried to access from inside the kiosk mode.

Cause(s):

• The applications added inside the kiosk policy may not be installed in the device.

Solution:

• For store apps, make sure that all the applications added to the kiosk policy are installed in the device before associating the policy to the device.
• For Samsung Knox, Kyocera business phones, LG GATE, rooted Android devices, devices with Hexnode MDM app as system app or system agent app and devices enrolled as Device Owner, the enterprise apps which are added inside the kiosk policy will get silently installed in the device upon policy association.
Note:

• There might be a delay in the app installation depending on the network speed of the device. Once the application gets installed successfully, it appears on the kiosk home screen and the user can use the application accordingly.

4. In single app kiosk mode, the user is not able to exit from the kiosk mode using the kiosk exit password.

Cause(s):

• The kiosk mode is manually exited by tapping on the top-left corner of the screen. If the status bar is not disabled, the user might find difficulty in tapping the screen, as the status bar gets launched in between.

Solution:

• Ensure that you have configured the option “Exit manually from kiosk mode while an app is open” under Policies > Kiosk Lockdown > Android Kiosk Lockdown > Kiosk Exit Settings. You can tap on the top-left corner of the screen as many times as it is set under the option “Number of taps to display the popup to enter the exit passcode” to display the popup where the user can enter the exit password. The kiosk mode is disabled when the user types in the correct password.



You will have to disable the status bar in the device for this feature to function:

• For Samsung Knox and Android Enterprise devices, you can navigate to Policies > Android > Advanced Restrictions and enable the option “Hide Status bar”.



• For all rooted devices, you can navigate to Policies > Kiosk Lockdown > Android Kiosk Lockdown > Peripheral Settings > Display and enable the option “Disable System bars” to disable both the status bar and navigation bar together.

5. When in kiosk mode (single app or multi-app), the device loses connection with the MDM server and gets stuck in the kiosk mode.

Causes(s):

• The device might have lost connection to the Wi-Fi network or the mobile data network to which it was connected and the user is not able to access the network settings without exiting the kiosk mode.

Solution:

• If the option “Exit manually from kiosk mode while an app is open” under Policies > Kiosk Lockdown > Android Kiosk Lockdown > Kiosk Exit Settings is enabled; you can tap on the top-left corner of the screen the specified number of times as set inside the policy to open the popup windows and enter the kiosk exit password.



• If the option “Auto-app launch delay” is set, you can press the home button (if not restricted) to go to the kiosk home screen and tap the specified number of times as set inside the kiosk policy to open the popup window and enter the kiosk exit password.

6. System app added in the multi-app kiosk policy is not being displayed inside the kiosk home screen.

Cause(s):

• The wrong app package might have been selected by the user from the app selection window. A particular system application will have a unique package that is associated with it.

Solution:

• You can find the package name of any application installed in your device from the Hexnode portal:
  1. Navigate to Manage Tab and select your device.
  2. Go to the Applications Tab and find the application for which you need to find the name.
  3. The package name of the app will be listed under the Identifier column.

  Once you have identified the package name, you will be able to add the correct system application inside the kiosk policy.