Android Management API - Single App in Kiosk Mode - How to hide status and navigation bar?

Question

What I would like to achieve?

For internal purposes only / within our enterprise only, I would like to have Android tablets, which run only one single app (made with Ionic/Angular) which even appears after restarting the tablet and the user is not able to leave it.

I think the technical description of what I would like to achieve is called a dedicated devices (formerly called corporate-owned single-use, or COSU).

How would I like to achieve it?

I would like to achieve this with Android Management API, which looks like a great choice for a MDM (Mobile Device Management) solution.

Here Google shows how to achieve this with an Android Management API policy.

The Problem?

I am not able to get rid of the status and navigation bar.

For testing purposes I tried to achieve this with the regular YouTube app. With "statusBarDisabled": true, I was able to disable the status bar, so the user can not interact with it, but it is still visible.

And same goes for the navigation bar with

"persistentPreferredActivities":[  
   {  
      "receiverActivity":"com.google.android.youtube",
      "actions":[  
         "android.intent.action.MAIN"
      ],
      "categories":[  
         "android.intent.category.HOME",
         "android.intent.category.DEFAULT"
      ]
   }
]

I was able to hide the home and recents buttons, but the back button is still there and the whole navigation bar is visible.

---

The following image visualises the problem:

Anyone an idea how I can get rid of the status and navigation bar completely?

---

This is how my whole policy looks like:

import json

policy_name = enterprise_name + '/policies/policy1'

policy_json = '''
{
"safeBootDisabled": true,
"statusBarDisabled": true,
"keyguardDisabled": true,
"screenCaptureDisabled": true,
"factoryResetDisabled": true,
"cameraDisabled": true,
"blockApplicationsEnabled": true,
"systemUpdate": {
"type": "WINDOWED",
"startMinutes": 120,
"endMinutes": 240
},

"policyEnforcementRules": [{
"settingName": "persistentPreferredActivities",
"blockAction": {
"blockAfterDays": 0
},
"wipeAction": {
"wipeAfterDays": 3,
"preserveFrp": true
}
}],

"applications": [
{
"packageName": "com.google.android.youtube",
"installType": "FORCE_INSTALLED",
"lockTaskAllowed": true,
"defaultPermissionPolicy": "GRANT"
}
],
"persistentPreferredActivities": [
{
"receiverActivity": "com.google.android.youtube",
"actions": [
"android.intent.action.MAIN"
],
"categories": [
"android.intent.category.HOME",
"android.intent.category.DEFAULT"
]
}
]
}
'''

androidmanagement.enterprises().policies().patch(
name=policy_name,
body=json.loads(policy_json)
).execute()

Abana

I guess not that many people using Android Management API. . . – Abana

Did you find a solution for that? I'm having the same problem with the new installType KIOSK configuration. – Eidetic

Same here. And the weird thing for me is that, it actually was working for me last week but it suddenly stopped working when I tried to re-provision the device today with the same policy and app. And with kioskCustomLauncherEnabled, I am able to hide those navigation buttons (but I would prefer KIOSK installType if possible) – Boak

@H.T.Koo How are you able to hide these buttons? – Buster

Answer 1

The two bars you've highlight are actually part of the youtube app NOT part of the android OS/UI. So you can't hide those using the device management API.

Seagraves

Hey @flint, thanks for your answer. But they are definitely not part of YouTube. The YouTube app itself e.g. has no bar at the bottom with just a back button nor and empty grey bar at the top. But we just handled it within the app instead with the API. – Abana