I work for a repair shop that recently decided to implement a square chip/card reader. Up to this point, we have been manually entering credit card numbers into our internal silverlight app running on a pc on our domain.
We ordered the square point of sale system that includes chip reader, ipad, stand, the whole bundle.
We looked at the square pos api, which targets iOS and Android platforms, but also has a Web api for non-native apps. The api is supposed to be able to switch control from our browser based app to the square app to allow a customer to swipe their card, and upon completion, the api switches control back to our app.
Since the system is based on web api calls, we envisioned initiating the sale from our app running on our pc by calling the api, and control would be passed to the square app on the ipad.
However, when we contacted square about this system, we were advised that our app and the square app had to be running on the same device (the ipad in this case).
But it's a web api. Geographical separation shouldn't matter.
Has anyone implemented a similar architecture with a square device? Or does anyone have a potential workaround?
The web request must be initiated from the same device because it uses native App linking/ Intents to switch between the browser and the Square Point of Sale app. You can not currently initiate a transaction on a different device. The "web" in "web API" means that you are starting from a website (as opposed to a native application), not in that the request goes over the web.
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Is it possible to develop Android 11 widgets that appear on the Power Menu, exactly like Google Pay's card list?
So far I have discovered that there are a few useful guides on Device Controls, a feature that is very well suited for domotics and automation. For example the official article on Device Controls shows a fully fledged Power Menu with credit card swiping and domotics control.
I am interesting in developing a custom open source widget to browse fildelity (barcoded) cards. I have seen that the Quick Access Wallet feature is the one to use to display payment methods as swipable cards, but I have good reasons not to follow that road. First, it is designed for payment applications who hold NFC permissions, and secondarily it will disable Google Pay as default payment application for those who use it (and those who use another payment service will experience the same problem).
And Device Controls are templated and suited to be displayed in the Google Home's designated area.
So I'd like to ask if there are Android APIs to implement a fully customized widget to appear in the power menu. Of course I can kindly ask user for any permission necessary.
I start from the assumption that Google Pay itself is an application developed on top of Android framework, and has little to no special permission/policy-exception/whitelist from the OS, along with other payment applications.
I'd like to ask if there are Android APIs to implement a fully customized widget to appear in the power menu
Not in Android 11, at least in terms of public APIs.
I start from the assumption that Google Pay itself is an application developed on top of Android framework, and has little to no special permission/policy-exception/whitelist from the OS, along with other payment applications.
That is a very generous assumption. IMHO, do not assume that you can do anything that is being done by Google or the manufacturer of the device you are trying.
having an issue with Square POS Web API on Android.
We are trying to implement a kiosk app and the kiosk browser is Android based.
If run in Chrome browser the Square app loads fine with no error however if loaded in an Android browser (eg Dolphin) it fails with the following error.
Point of Sale API must be started with startActivityForResult() in the same task. It looks like the caller either used startActivity() or used startActivityForResult() from a finished activity or with the FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK flag.
How can we fix this so the app can be used in kiosk apps that use android browser?
Square POS Web API only works with Chrome intents. Therefore you must use the Chrome browser with your Android device. We are in the process of updating our documentation to reflect this information, sorry for any confusion!
Can i know is it possible to communicate with Beacon without having any Mobile app on device?
Thanks in advance
Both Android and iOS devices need some kind of app installed to interact with your beacons. Some phones have such apps pre-installed, but the options are limited. The two such apps with the widest distribution are:
Google Chrome App (Android/iOS)
Google's Chrome app will interact with beacons supporting Eddystone-URL (also known as physical web), which transmit a URL that can be displayed within Chrome when the app detects it.
This works on both Android and iOS devices with Chrome installed. For newer Android phones, this is a relatively high percentage of devices. For iOS, it is a very small percentage, as the app is not installed by default. This makes it of very limited use on iOS.
The other real drawback to relying on Chrome for beacon detection is the hoops users have to jump through to opt-in, and the way the beacon notifications are buried. Until users opt-in, they will see no notifications on beacon detections. Once they do, they will see a very generic notification "Physical web beacons are nearby", and only once the user taps on that are the specifics about the web page associated with the beacon transmitted URL displayed.
Passbook (iOS)
Apple's passbook app will bring up a passbook entry (usually used for tickets, coupons, etc.) associated with a set of iBeacon identifiers if the user comes within range of the beacon. In order to use this, however, the user must first download the passbook entry to his or her iPhone. Only once this is downloaded and opened will the app respond to associated beacons.
EDIT April 2020: For a time prior to December 2018 Google supported app-less notifications based on beacon detection using their Google Nearby product. This was discontinued in December 2018 due to predictable abuse and spam that it generated. While you may find some outdated documentation online about this ability, understand that this feature no longer works. As of this writing, my understanding is that this answer is still correct.
You should checkout Eddystones from Google. They can push you URLs even without app.
If you want to interact with beacons and do custom stuff (notifications, http requests, etc) you will need an app.
I'm exploring the end user experience for a beacon prototype but I'm struggling to find any end-user scenarios that involve the app becoming active / opening up on the screen when within range.
I can get the app to send a notification and this is the most likely experience on both Android and iOS but does anyone know if it is possible to get the app to open up?
It's unlikely that I'd want real customers to have their experience interfered with in this way, I think it's ok if the app is already running and is open but not if it's running but not open.
Thanks
On Android this is possible. The reference app for the Android Beacon Library demonstrates how to do exactly this.
On iOS, it is not possible due to OS security restrictions. See here for details. The best you can do is send a local notification to the user when the beacon is detected, then if the user gestures to it, bring up the app.
We have a mobile version of our web site which works well on all mobile screen resolutions and sizes. Now, we would like to build a very simple app for Blackberry and Windows Phone 7. The app would be trivial - after you click on its icon, it opens a web browser and send you to our mobile web site. Just like a Windows OS shortcut that you place on your desktop.
Can you tell me if Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 policies allow such app be published? For example, Apple rejected us.
I can't speak for Blackberry, but Requirement 2.10 from the WP7 Application Certification Requirements:
Your application must have distinct,
substantial and legitimate content and
purpose other than merely launching a webpage.
So the answer seems to be no on the WP7 marketplace. Is there a reason you want to create an app like that anyway? On WP7, users can pin a tile to their home screen that will launch the website they've pinned. You could simply encourage users to do that on their WP7 and you'll get the same effect (except your site won't appear in the app list).
Seems this is okay for BlackBerry. See section 4.b of the App World FAQ.
Very strange. Our company has placed a similar application on Android Market and the Appstore and they have been resolved and now they available at stores. Also, I had a similar application for Windovs Phone, and it was also allowed.
P.S. Our application is not just a browser window, it has custom control panel in bottom. Also it has the communication protocol with the site - such a sending pictures from camera and phone and access to phone contacts.