Kiosk mode in Android

Question

I'm in the process of evaluating if and how a CF .NET enterprise application can be ported to run on Android devices. The application on Windows Mobile phones are run in kiosk mode where the application autostart in fullscreen-mode after booting and with the users unable to accidentally or willingly access any other parts of the phone. Is it possible for me to port this behavior to android and if so, how?

Answer 1

Is it possible for me to port this behavior to android and if so, how?

Only by creating your own firmware. SDK applications cannot block access to the home screen, and even SDK-based replacement home screens cannot block access to the in-firmware original home screen.

Answer 2

You can autostart applications on boot by listening to the android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED intent in a BroadcastReceiver and start your Activity from there. In the Activity you can register yourself as the new default homescreen[1] and handle the keys.

I think there are some instances that you can't handle without modifying the framework (like longpress on Home to show currently active Applications) - I could also be mistaken though.

But for a prototype that could be sufficient.

Have fun tinkering!

[1]:

<intent-filter>
 <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
 <category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME" />
 <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
</intent-filter>