Support

Android digital signage

Setup Android for digital signage

Android OS is an operating system that performs very well with digital signage. Android Digital Signage is found both on players as well as smart TVs.

Getting Started - Step 1 - Sign up

Sign up at my.playsignage.com

Go sign up at playsignage.com, using Facebook, Google, Microsoft, or simply a username and password.

Getting Started - Step 2 - Connect your player

Connect your player

Connect your player using a standard HDMI cable (Some TV’s have a player built-in)

Getting Started - Step 3 - Download

Download our APP

Find, download, and install our APP from Google Play Store to install Android Digital Signage – Click here to find the APP

Getting Started - Step 4 - Link your screen

Link the APP

Log in at my.playsignage.com, then go to Screens, hit Add screen, and use the code from the TV to link the APP to your account.

Getting Started - Step 5 - Design your content

Design your content

Go to Playlists, hit Create Playlist, and design your content.

Getting Started - Step 6 - Link playlist

Link your playlist

Go to Groups & Schedules, pick your playlist in the group’s base playlist and move your screen to the group.

Setup Android Digital Signage using an APK Go to start for Android digital signage app

If you can’t use Google Play Store on your player, you can download and install the APK file directly:

Please note, we do not recommend installing the APK as it will not be automatically updated, see how to update manually.

Launch APP on startup Go from Auto-Launch to start for Android digital signage app

To ensure that your player launches together with the Android operating system, we recommend setting it as a ‘launcher app’. Android should prompt you to choose the default launcher application when pressing the home screen, or you can configure it in Settings > Home.

Alternatively, if your Android device does not permit changing the home screen app, you can configure our app to launch on operating system startup by going to our app Settings and turning on the Launch player on the startup option.

[AndroidTV owners] If you are running an AndroidTV device (usually Sharp or Sony smart TV), you need to also install and configure the Launch on Boot application to start the player after the device has booted.

Options

Options can be accessed directly by the player or in settings for your player.

  • Launch player on startup - Toggle this ON to make sure our APP starts when your player starts up, for example after a power outage.
  • Show top menu bar - Toggle this ON if you want the top bar to appear when moving the mouse or using the remote for your player. Toggle this OFF if you want a kiosk experience where users can't exit the app by clicking the exit button on the top menu bar. You can still access the menu with "Ctrl + o" command.
  • Optimize for touchscreen - Toggle this ON if you are planning on using our APP on a touchscreen. This setting will make small adjustments to how our APP works in conjunction with a touchscreen.
  • Analytics - Toggle this ON if you need analytic data from this particular player. Read more about Analytics
  • Display Orientation - This option should only be used if your player operating system does not support changing the orientation as we recommend the adjustment on an operating system level instead.. You have the option of portrait (Clockwise) and portrait (Counter-clockwise).
  •  Website rendering engine - Our app comes with a pre-packaged Chromium engine and by default the websites are rendered using the prepackaged browser, however you can change this and use the system engine instead, then websites will be rendered using default browser that is configured as the webview engine in your Android device. The prepackaged browser works well for most users so there should not be a need to change it unless there are problems with specific website rendering. 
  • UserAgent - UserAgent is a piece of text that browsers use to identify itself to the web server. Certain websites will render a mobile view if they detect Android userAgent, altough the site is displayed on a big screen. With this option you can work around this issue and spoof a desktop computer's UserAgent. The UserAgent lets you pick Default, Mobile, Desktop, or Custom.
  • Reload player every day at - It is good practice to clear the cache on the player once every 24 hours. Here you can set a time that is not inconvenient, for example at night when no one is watching your TVs. Rooted devices will be rebooted, unrooted devices will simply restart our app.
  • Tags - If you are using tags they will be listed here. You also can find and add a tag.
  • Clear cache - In case you need to clear the cache manually you can do that here. For example, if you are changing your content continually and you experience something not working as expected, clearing the cache should help as it removed any old data stored on the players' storage.
  • Reload - Reloading your player is similar to clearing the cache. In addition, reloading will close and start the APP.
  • Status - Status tells you if the APP is connected to the cloud. Green means you are connected and red means you are not connected. If you see a red status you should check the internet and wifi connection to your player.
  • Device Time - The device time tells you the player's time and date. If the device time is wrong it will also be wrong in our APP and thus all time related scheduling will be off, so make sure to correct the time on the player operating system if you are having problems.
  • Resolution - The resolution is the resolution according to your player's operating system. If the operating system on the players tells us its running HD, your content on the TVs will be optimised for HD. Please note that many devices that are advertised as 4K can only decode video in 4K but run apps in a lower resolution. This means you may see a lower resolution reported by our app, but any 4K video that you use will be still played as 4K. If you are seeing a lower resolution, you can install a 3rd party "resolution checker" app on the device to confirm the resolution from another app as well.
  • Version - This is the version of our APP
  • Screen ID - Also referred to as UID. The UID is the unique ID for your player.
  • Disc Usage - Disc usage will tell you how much data have been used on the player's storage. We do not recommend more than max. 80% storage use.
  • Android Settings - This is reserved for developers only
  • Screen edges - In case you have a LED screen, video wall, or an older model TV you might have to adjust the edges so that they match your TV and the content.
  • Browser - Here you can easily access the browser used by the APP to check content, connectivity, etc.
  • Reset - If you need to unlink your player or perhaps link the player to another account you can use reset.

 

Permissions Go from Permissions to start for Android digital signage app

Upon the first launch, the app will ask for storage and Internet permission. These permissions are essential for our app to work with your Android digital signage player.

MDM for Android Digital Signage

MDM stands for mobile device management and is usually deployed to easily manage your media players, in this case, Android.

There are several options for MDM on the market, for almost any operating system, so it’s up to you to find the MDM that suits your needs best.

Check out Headwind MDM for Android.

I got my screen linked, what’s next?

We recommend checking out our 5-minute video guide on getting started, it covers most of the basics to get your android digital signage up and running fast.

What is the minimum Android OS version required?

The minimum version required is KitKat 4.4 (SDK version 19), however, we recommend using a device with at least Android Lollipop (5.0)

Does the installer say that the device doesn’t support Crosswalk Project Service? Link

Some device manufacturers ship the device with a modified Android version where the service has been removed. You can install it back, however:

If you are unsure which to choose, try 32bit first. After you have installed Crosswalk Runtime, you can install our app on your Android digital signage player.

I try to install it, but it says “App not installed”?

This error most commonly happens when trying to install a 64bit apk on a 32bit device. Make sure you have downloaded the 32bit version of the apk file (apkpure by default serves the 64bit version).

I see a message “Request was denied for security”

Android will show a toast message if the SSL handshake fails for a website starting with HTTPS. Almost always this is due to the player’s date, time, or timezone not being correct, so be sure to check these first. If the clock is synchronized, then it may also be due to an invalid or expired SSL certificate on the page you’re trying to load, try opening the same address in your laptop browser and see what kind of certificate errors it brings up.

Can I install the app on my smartphone?

Yes, you can even install the app on your phone to use it as a screen while you try out our software.

How do I set up the display in portrait mode?

See the Android section of our portrait guide.

How do I update the app? Link

If you installed the app via Google Play Store, it will be automatically updated however you can also start the update process manually:

  1. Open our app listing in Play Store.
  2. If there is an update available, you will see a button to update the app.

If you installed the APK file directly, you need to update the app manually:

  1. Download the new .apk (32bit / 64bit) file and save it on the device.
    1. 32bit short link: https://t.ly/dvLq (use this if you don’t know which one)
    2. 64bit short link: https://t.ly/yk_G
  2. Open the .apk file and Android will prompt you to update the existing app.
  3. Once the update finishes, open the Play Digital Signage app again (no need to link screen again, data is retained)

If you are using Android Debug Bridge (adb), you can install new .apk with a command:

adb install -r play-kotlin-3.6.0.apk (replace the file name with the latest .apk file)

The plugins don’t work

If one or more plugin doesn’t work on your Android, it’s possible that the PlaySignage app on your player device is out of date. Click here to learn more.

How do I access OPTIONS if I disabled the top menu bar?

In the APP options, you can hide the top menu bar if you for example are running a touch screen. To access the top menu bar, when hidden, you can use CTRL + O for options or CTRL + Q to close the APP.