Implementing Android Player
This section describes configuring Android player. It provides information of the configuration file and the options available and recommendations as to which settings to use for development and testing.
Additionally, Watchdog is a solution to recover the player from crashes. An application needs to register itself with the watchdog service and then periodically send messages to the service that it is alive. In case the watchdog service does not receive a keep-alive message within a stipulated time, the service attempts to reboot the device for a clean recovery (if it has the sufficient privileges) or restart the application.
Installing Android Player
To implement Android Player for AEM Screens, please install Android Player for AEM Screens.
Visit the AEM 6.5 Player Downloads page.
Setting up Environment for AEM Screens 6.5.5 Service Pack
Set the SameSite attribute for the login-token cookies from Lax to None from Adobe Experience Manager Web Console Configuration on all AEM author and publish instances.
Follow the steps below:
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Navigate to Adobe Experience Manager Web Console Configuration using
http://localhost:4502/system/console/configMgr. -
Search for Adobe Granite Token Authentication Handler.
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Set the SameSite attribute for the login-token cookies from Lax to None.
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Click Save.
Ad-Hoc Method
The Ad-Hoc method allows you to install the latest Android Player (.exe). Visit AEM 6.5 Player Downloads page.
Once you download the application, follow the steps on the player to complete the ad-hoc installation:
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Long-press on the top left corner to open the admin panel.
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Navigate to Configuration from the left action menu and enter the location (address) of the AEM instance you wish to connect to and click Save.
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Navigate to the Device Registration link from the left action menu to check the status of the device registration process.
Implementing Android Watchdog
Due to Android’s architecture, rebooting the device requires that the application has system privileges. To do this, you need to sign the apk using the manufacturer’s signing keys, otherwise watchdog will restart the player application and not reboot the device.
Signage of Android apks using Manufacturer Keys
To access some of the privileged APIs of Android such as PowerManager or HDMIControlServices, you need to sign the android apk using the manufacturer’s keys.
Follow the steps below to sign the android apk using the manufacturer’s keys:
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Download the apk from Google Play or from AEM Screens Player Downloads page
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Obtain the platform keys from the manufacturer to get a pk8 and a pem file
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Locate the apksigner tool in android sdk using find ~/Library/Android/sdk/build-tools -name “apksigner”
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<pathto> /apksigner sign --key platform.pk8 --cert platform.x509.pem aemscreensplayer.apk
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Find the path to the zip align tool in android sdk
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<pathto> /zipalign -fv 4 aemscreensplayer.apk aemscreensaligned.apk
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Install aemscreensaligned.apk using adb install to the device
Understanding Android Watchdog Services
The cross-Android watchdog service is implemented as a cordova plugin using AlarmManager.
The following diagram shows the implementation of watchdog service:
1. Initialization At the time of initialization of the cordova plugin, permissions are checked to see if we have system privileges and thus the Reboot permission. If these two criteria are met, a pending Intent for Reboot is created, otherwise a pending Intent to restart the application (based on its Launch Activity) is created.
2. Keep Alive Timer A keep alive timer is used to trigger an event every 15 seconds. In that event, you need to cancel the existing pending intent (to reboot or restart the app) and register a new pending intent for the same 60 seconds in the future (essentially postponing reboot).
3. Application Crash In case of a crash, the pendingIntent for Reboot registered with AlarmManager is no longer reset and thus it executes a reboot or restart of app (depending on permissions available at the time of initialization of the cordova plugin).
Bulk Provisioning of Android Player
When rolling out the Android player in bulk, there is a need to provision the player to point to an AEM instance as well as configure other properties without manually entering those in the Admin UI.
Follow the steps below to allow bulk provisioning in the Android player:
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Create a configuration JSON file with the name
player-config.default.json.
Refer to a Example JSON Policy as well as a table that describes the use of the various Policy Attributes. -
Use an MDM or ADB or Android Studio file explorer to drop this policy JSON file to the sdcard folder on the Android device.
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Once the file is deployed, use the MDM to install the player application.
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When the player application launches, it will read this configuration file and point to the applicable AEM server where it can be registered and subsequently controlled.
note note NOTE This file is read only the first time the application is launched and cannot be used for subsequent configurations. If the player is launched before the configuration file was dropped, simply uninstall and re-install the application on the device.
Policy Attributes
The following table summarizes the policy attributes with an example policy JSON for reference:
Example JSON Policy
{
"server": "https://author-screensdemo.adobecqms.net",
"device": "",
"user": "",
"password": "",
"resolution": "auto",
"rebootSchedule": "at 4:00 am",
"maxNumberOfLogFilesToKeep": 10,
"logLevel": 3,
"enableAdminUI": true,
"enableOSD": true,
"enableActivityUI": false,
"enableNativeVideo": false,
"enableAutoScreenshot": false,
"cloudMode": false,
"cloudUrl": "https://screens.adobeioruntime.net",
"cloudToken": "",
"enableDeveloperMode": true
}
Bulk Provisioning of Android Player using Enterprise Mobility Management
When deploying the Android player in bulk, it becomes tedious to manually register every single player with AEM. It is highly recommended to use an EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solution such as VMWare Airwatch, MobileIron or Samsung Knox to remotely provision and manage your deployment. AEM Screens Android player supports the industry standard EMM AppConfig to allow for remote provisioning.
Naming Android Player
You can assign a user friendly device name to your Android player, thereby sending the assigned device name to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). This capability not only allows you to name your Android player but also allows to you to easily assign appropriate content.
Follow the steps below to configure the name in Android player:
- Navigate to settings --> About device
- Edit and set your device name to name your Android player
Implementing Bulk Provisioning of Android Player using Enterprise Mobility Management
Follow the steps below to allow bulk provisioning in Android Player:
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Ensure your Android device supports Google Play services.
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Enroll your Android player devices with your favorite EMM solution that supports AppConfig.
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Log into your EMM console and pull the AEM Screens Player application from Google Play.
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Select managed configuration or related option.
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You should now see a list of player options that can be configured, such as server and bulk registration code.
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Configure these parameters, save, and deploy the policy to the devices.
note note NOTE The devices should receive the application along with the configuration and point to the correct AEM server with the selected configuration. If you chose to configure the bulk registration code and kept it the same as configured in AEM, the player should be able to automatically register itself. If you had configured a default display, it can also download and show some default content (which can later be changed as per your convenience).
Additionally, you should check with your EMM vendor on AppConfig support. Most popular ones such as VMWare Airwatch, Mobile Iron, SOTI, Blackberry UEM, IBM Maas360 and Samsung Knox among others support this industry standard.
Using the Screens Remote Control
AEM Screens provides Remote Control functionality. Learn more about this feature here: Screens Remote Control