Android 5.0's new features such as screen pinning and managed provisioning, has now enabled Webconverger to make a port without too much fuss, instead of say building a ROM.
At the time of writing, the current release is beta software and we are looking for interested testers!
Why Android? Pros:
- Better touch screen experience
- In future we should be able to leverage Android's native IMEs and easily support Korean, Japanese & Chinese inputs
- Android hardware is generally cheaper than PC hardware
- Android hardware is easier to deploy, especially in the DOOH use case. You could deploy on an ANDROID >=5.0 TV!
- TODO: Android is a better platform for pushing configuration updates, by leveraging Google Cloud Messaging
Cons:
- Not as fast as a desktop Intel PC setup
- Touch screen keyboards aren't as good as a PC keyboard for form entry (data entry use cases)
- Android 5.0 (Lollipop) devices are not widespread yet
- The NFC provisioning setup is a little clumsy, but it does work. If you want it, ask us!
- Installing from the Play store and running the App without provisioning works OK, until you get stuck on the lock screen. Note: This does not happen when provisioned!
- Updating and supporting the platform forever (one off subscriptions) like we do with the PC cannot be achieved since we are at the mercy of Google and the chosen update path of the hardware vendor
If you have an Android 5.0 (or above) device, check it out in the Play store. Thare are other Web kiosk apps in the Google play store, though they are not Opensource like our effort is. Futhermore now you can simply manage both Android and PC devices from our configuration service! That's a first!