Install Clients and Standalone Apps on Android Devices

The standard Digitise Apps Client and enterprise Standalone Apps can be installed directly to each Android device that wants to use them. Store Standalone Apps are made available from the Google Play Store.

 

If you want to install a Client or enterprise Standalone Apps to a device, you will first need to configure the device to allow non-market apps to be installed. This may vary from device to device, but generally requires you to give permission to download non-market apps to the app you want to use to download the Client or Standalone App install file. For example, if you will be downloading the install file from a web site, you would need to give permission to download non-market apps to the web browser you use to connect to the web site. Or if you will be using a file browser app to copy and run the install file, you would need to give this app permission to download non-market apps.

To give permission to an app to download non-market apps, you need to locate Install unknown apps within Settings and then find and tap the app, from the list of apps, and enable its Allow from this source setting. Note that if the app you want to use isn't included in the app list here, the app doesn't support downloading non-market apps and you will have to use a different app instead.

Since the location of Install unknown apps can vary under different manufacturers versions of Android, you may find it easiest to load Settings and then search for 'Unknown' (without the quotation marks) in the Settings Search bar.

Alternatively, you could try looking for the app under Settings → Apps & notifications → Advanced → Special app access → Install unknown apps. Note that Apps and notifications may just be called Apps or Applications in some versions of Android. You may be able to toggle the value of the Allow from this source setting directly from the menu system or you may have to specifically select the relevant app and then change the setting manually, depending upon how the device manufacturer has implemented the version of Android supplied with the device.

After installing a Client or Standalone Apps you can go back and disable downloading of non-market apps again if you don’t want to allow further such apps to be installed.

 

Both the Digitise Apps Client and enterprise Standalone Apps are provided as an install file with a ‘.apk’ extension. You can install an apk file by manually copying it to a device and then running it or by creating a web site from which it can be installed via a browser on a device (‘Over the Air’). You may also be able to use third-party MDM software, in which case you will need to refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for instructions.

Store Standalone Apps are provided as a '.aab' install file and in this case the file is submitted to the Google Play Store and installed to devices from there.

 

The Digitise Apps Product Download includes a ‘.apk’ for the standard Digitise Apps Client, DigitiseApps.apk, which allows you to sideload a version of the standard Digitise Apps Client to devices and install it. This file can be found in the \ClientInstalls\Android folder of the Product Download or can be copied to a subfolder of your Digitise Apps install folder if you select the Android Client component during the Digitise Apps installation.

By default, if you copy over the file from the Digitise Apps installation, the file will be copied to:

32-bit Operating Systems:

C:\Program Files\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Installs\Android

64-bit Operating Systems:

C:\Program Files (x86)\NDL Software\Digitise Apps\Installs\Android

If you want to install a pre-configured version of the standard Client or an enterprise Standalone App, you will be able to download the installation package from within the App Studio utility used to design and create your apps. The download will include a ‘.apk’ file. You can copy this file to a location of your choice.

With a pre-configured Client, the install file will be named: DigitiseApps-release.apk

With enterprise Standalone Apps, the install file will be called: <appname>-release.apk where <appname> is the Project name, minus any spaces.

  • When you request a build for a Standalone App, which you do in App Studio, you can specify a version number and then you select a codebase version. The codebase specifies the version of the Digitise Apps Client code to be incorporated in the Standalone App.

    The final version number of the finished Standalone App is a combination of the version number and the codebase version number you specify in the build request.

    This is the version number recognised by the device’s operating system and also used by an MDM package to determine whether a new version of the app is different to the currently installed version. Consequently, it is important to update the version number when requesting a new build for an upgrade to an existing app.

To manually install a standard Client, a pre-configured Client or an enterprise Standalone App to an Android device:

  1. Attach the device to a PC which has a copy of the appropriate .apk file, e.g. using a USB cable or via a wireless connection.

  2. Copy the file to the device.

  3. Run the .apk file, e.g. by tapping on it in a File Manager app.

  4. The Install package will load and you will be asked to confirm that you want to install this app. Tap Install to continue; or Cancel to abandon the install.

  5. If you tapped Install, the Client/app will be installed.

  6. When it has finished, if you want to configure the Client or Standalone App now, tap Open. Alternatively, you can tap Done to close the install and configure the Client/app later.

You can also use the installation method described here to update the Client or Standalone App should a newer version become available.

 

A standard Client, pre-configured Client or enterprise Standalone App can be installed or updated on your Android devices via a browser.

If you already download non-market applications to your devices in this way, you can add the Client or Standalone App to your existing OTA web site. If not, you will need to configure a web site within IIS that your users will be able to access from a browser on their devices. The web site requires the following mime type:

.apk = application/octet-stream

You need to copy the relevant ‘.apk’ install package file to the web site folder.

Then to download and install the Client/app to a device, simply load a Browser on the device and point it at the ‘.apk’ file.

Remember you will need to configure the device to allow the downloading of non-market apps, as described at the beginning of this topic, if you have not already done so.

 

If you list a store Standalone App on the Google Play Store, your users can download and install the app in the standard manner for the Play Store.

 

 

Once you have installed the Client/app on a device, you may need to configure it, for example to connect to your App Server. For details, see Configure the Digitise Apps Client on Android Devices and Configure Standalone Apps on Android Devices.

  • When you first load the Android Client, if you have an SD card in the device, you will be asked whether you want to store your Digitise apps and their data on the storage card. If you opt to use the SD card, the application resources and data will be visible to all other apps running on the device. For example, this means that any images used in your Digitise apps will be visible in the photo Gallery app and could accidentally be deleted. Database files would also technically be visible to other apps but the data is stored within them using a strong encryption cypher (AES 256-bit).

See also:

Upgrade Android Devices

Run Clients and Standalone Apps on Android Devices