On your Android payment terminal, you can install and use Android apps. Here's an overview of the requirements these apps must meet, and how you can test them.
App specifications
Make sure that your app meets the following specifications:
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APK file size:
To distribute the app to your terminals, we need to have the app's Android Package (APK). The maximum APK file size is 200 MB on the live environment, and 700 MB on the test environment to allow for debugging apps. -
Operating system and SDK version:
The app must run on a specific Android version, and the AndroidManifest.xml that is included in the APK must have aminSdkVersionfield. This field specifies the minimum API level required for your app to run, and allows us to verify that your app is supported on the terminal.
For example, AMS1 running on Android 10 will supportminSdkVersion29 or earlier, but notminSdkVersion30 and later.
The required Android version and minimum SDK version depend on the terminal model and region, as indicated in the following table.
Work in progress: currently not all models are available in all regions. You can check terminal availability for your region in your live Customer Area.Terminal Region OS version minSdkVersionBuild.MODELAMS1 AU/NZ, BR, EU/UK, JP, SG/HK/MY, UAE, US/CA Android 10 SDK 29 AMS1S1E and S1E Barcode AU/NZ, BR, EU/UK, JP, SG/HK/MY, UAE, US/CA Android 7.1.2 SDK 25 Saturn1000_EliteS1E2L AU/NZ, BR, EU/UK, JP, SG/HK/MY, UAE, US/CA Android 10 SDK 29 S1E2L/S1E2-LS1F2 EU/UK, SG/HK/MY, UAE Android 9 SDK 28 Saturn1000F2AU/NZ, BR, JP, US/CA Android 10 SDK 29 SATURN1000S1F2 Barcode EU/UK, SG/HK/MY, UAE Android 9 SDK 28 Saturn1000F2AU/NZ, BR, JP, US/CA Android 10 SDK 29 SATURN1000S1U2 AU/NZ, EU/UK, JP, SG/HK/MY, UAE, US/CA Android 10 SDK 29 S1U2 -
App version :
TheversionCodeof every release of your app in the Customer Area must be unique.
Also, keep in mind the allowed permissions and the restrictions.
Allowed permissions
To keep the payment terminals as secure as possible, we allow only a carefully chosen set of app permissions. These permissions may differ from those on other Android devices that the app is deployed to.
These are the allowed app permissions:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION | Allows access to location in the background. |
| ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION | Allows access to approximate location. |
| ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION | Allows access to precise location. |
| ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION | Allows access to any geographic locations persisted in the user's shared collection. |
| ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Allows access to information about networks. |
| ACCESS_WIFI_STATE | Allows access to information about Wi-Fi networks. |
| BATTERY_STATS | Allows the app to collect battery statistics. |
| BLUETOOTH | Allows the app to connect to paired Bluetooth devices. |
| BLUETOOTH_ADMIN | Allows the app to discover and pair Bluetooth devices. |
| BROADCAST_STICKY | Allows the app to broadcast sticky intents. |
| CAMERA | Allows access to the camera device. |
| FLASHLIGHT | Deprecated flashlight permission - Covered by CAMERA. |
| FOREGROUND_SERVICE | Allows the app to use Service.startForeground. |
| GET_ACCOUNTS | Allows access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service. |
| INTERNET | Allows the app to open network sockets. |
| READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE | Allows the app to read from external storage. |
| READ_PHONE_STATE | Allows read-only access to phone state, including the current cellular network information, the status of any ongoing calls, and a list of any PhoneAccounts registered on the device. |
| RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED | Allows the app to receive the Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED that is broadcast after the system finishes booting. |
| RECORD_AUDIO | Allows the app to record audio. |
| SET_ALARM | Allows the app to broadcast an Intent to set an alarm for the user. |
| USE_BIOMETRIC | Allows the app to use device-supported biometric modalities. |
| USE_FINGERPRINT | This permission was deprecated in API level 28. Apps should request USE_BIOMETRIC instead. |
| VIBRATE | Allows access to the vibration feature. |
| WAKE_LOCK | Allows using PowerManager WakeLocks to keep the processor from sleeping or the screen from dimming. |
| WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE | Allows the app to write to external storage. |
If your app includes a permission that is not on the preceding list, the app will be marked as invalid when you upload it.
Restrictions
Android payment terminals come with certain limitations that you need to take into account:
- Launcher apps with the CATEGORY_HOME intent are not allowed.
- In the AndroidManifest.xml, the testOnly flag is not allowed.
- Creating your own accessibility service is not allowed.
- There is no debug mode on the terminal.
- The terminals do not have a browser installed.
- The terminals do not have Google Play services installed.
- Downgrading the version of an app you installed is not allowed. You can either upgrade the version of your app or uninstall it.
- Terminals support the following Webview versions:
- Terminals on Android 9: 91.0.4472.88.
- Terminals on Android 10 and software version 1.107 and earlier: 74.0.3729.186.
- Terminals on Android 10 and software version 1.109 and later: 91.0.4472.88.
Debug and test
For security reasons, we cannot enable USB debugging via Android Debug Bridge (adb) on our payment terminals. Therefore, it is not possible to debug your application directly on the terminal.
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To debug your Android app, install the app on a regular (non-payment) Android device that supports USB debugging, and debug the app using adb.
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Upload the app to us, install the app on a test terminal, and carry out integration tests by sending Terminal API requests to the terminal through local or cloud communications.
If a bug occurs, you can ask our Support Team to check the logs from the terminal.
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For final integration testing, repeat the previous step using your live Customer Area and a live terminal.