Configuring background apps in Android Kiosk mode

Information about configuring apps that are allowed to run in the background without adding those apps to the kiosk launcher.

You can use security policies to configure background apps on devices that are locked to single app or multi-app kiosk mode. Background apps are hidden from the kiosk launcher and users cannot interact with them. Kiosk apps invoke these background apps to execute custom essential system functions. For example, you can add Android System Web View (com.google.android.webview) as a background app to render web content on some Android devices.

Note: Supported only on devices that are enrolled in Android Enterprise Device Owner mode.

Follow these steps to configure background apps for Android kiosk mode in MaaS360:

From the MaaS360 Portal Home page, navigate to Security > Policies.
Select an Android Enterprise policy.
Navigate to Android Enterprise Settings > COSU (Kiosk mode).
Provide the app IDs of the apps that you want to run in the background.

Non-exhaustive list of common use cases

Note:

Package names must be used with caution.
Verify the package name before you add the package name to the background app, because package names might vary depending on OS versions and device manufacturers.
Background apps might also show notifications and UI prompts.
If a background app presents notifications, users can use those notifications to launch that app.

Package name	Use case	Note
`com.android.systemic` `android`	Displays the Open With prompt.	System UI may show system prompts. If `android` is used, it must be allowed under App Compliance > System apps > Other System Apps to be allowed.
`com.android.chrome` `com.google.android.webview`	Web view based login pages are displayed.	Depending on whether the app uses Chrome custom tabs or WebView, the appropriate app is allowed to run in the background. The Chrome app might show notifications.
`com.wssyncmldm` `com.samsung.sdm`	Installs Over-the-Air software updates on Samsung devices.	When OTA notifications are displayed, users must take appropriate action. `com.samsung.sdm` is used only for Samsung devices with Verizon as the carrier.
`com.samsung.android.MtpApplication` `com.android.systemui`	Files are displayed when connected to a PC	System UI might show system prompts.
`com.samsung.klmsagent`	Displays the Samsung license prompt.