ANDROID CLIENT USER GUIDE
Customers on Android phones and tablets interact with support reps primarily through the BeyondTrust customer client application, called BeyondTrust Support.
They may also see prompts and messages in the context of the public site or support portal. This section details the customer-facing elements of a BeyondTrust remote support session on a mobile device.
Support Android devices with Remote Support
With BeyondTrust Remote Support, support representatives can help users of Android-powered devices resolve issues. This guide provides instructions for supporting Android devices through BeyondTrust Remote Support.
Note
BeyondTrust Android support is limited to phones, tablets, and Zebra devices. Other Android-powered devices are not certified or tested for compatibility.
Depending on the version, vendor, and device implementation, some features may not be available, may require additional confirmation, or may appear different from the screen shots provided.
When supporting devices, full screen sharing and control is possible. The remote user can also chat and share their device's screen in a view-only support session. The representative can transfer files to the remote device and view its system information.
Web-based click-to-chat is available on Android devices. Click-to-chat allows you to easily chat with the remote user without requiring them to download or run the BeyondTrust Remote Support client app. To use click-to-chat, the remote user must be using an up-to-date browser supported by BeyondTrust.
Important
To support Android devices, your B Series Appliance must be equipped with a valid SSL certificate signed by a certificate authority. Android devices will not accept a self-signed certificate when downloading the BeyondTrust customer client. Once you have applied a CA-signed SSL certificate to your B Series Appliance, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support. Your support representative will create a new software build that integrates your SSL certificate. With this updated build installed on your B Series Appliance, you can support Android devices.
App developers can use the BeyondTrust Embedded Mobile App Support SDK to embed BeyondTrust's remote support technology into Android applications. This allows you to support your mobile applications remotely by offering in-app remote screen viewing, custom special actions, custom system information, and file transfer to help resolve application or training issues your users are experiencing. The SDK is not covered in this document. If you develop your own apps and are interested in supporting those apps, contact BeyondTrust Technical Support.
Permissions required
The Android customer client for BeyondTrust requests a series of permissions during installation. The client prompts for certain permissions upon installing, but others are requested only when needed. Google Play lists the permissions used by apps, including the BeyondTrust Android customer client, but this list of permissions may not provide a satisfactory level of detail for all users. The following table offers a list of all permissions, as well as an explanation for each one.
| API Permission Name | Permission Definition | Permission Explanation |
|---|---|---|
android.permission.ACCESS_SURFACE_FLINGER | Allows an application to use SurfaceFlinger’s (involved with the display frame processor) low level features. | The representative may request screen sharing of the device's screen in order to provide more efficient support. This permission is necessary for the app to share the device's screen to the representative console. |
android.permission.KILL_BACKGROUND_PROCESSES | Allows an application to call killBackgroundProcesses(String). | A representative that is viewing the device's screen, may wish to perform actions on behalf of the user, such as keystrokes or touch events, in order to provide more efficient support. This permission is necessary for that functionality to work. |
android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS | Allows access to the list of accounts in the Accounts Service. | The app uses this permission in an effort to find the device user's name when the support session is presented to a representative. Previous versions of the app used the phone number, but that is not as user-friendly or as personal. Given that the user name could be stored in multiple locations, the app first attempts to locate it in the You contact; if unsuccessful it looks for a Google account on the device. If finding the user’s name is not possible, the app will look at the SIM card and attempt to gather some generic information about the device (this happens only when dealing with non-consumer devices). |
android.permission.READ_CONTACTS | Allows an application to read the user’s contacts data. | The app uses this permission in an effort to find the device user's name when the support session is presented to a representative. Previous versions of the app used the phone number, but that is not as user-friendly or as personal. Given that the user name could be stored in multiple locations, the app first attempts to locate it in the You contact; if unsuccessful it looks for a Google account on the device. If finding the user’s name is not possible, the app will look at the SIM card and attempt to gather some generic information about the device (this happens only when dealing with non-consumer devices). |
android.permission.INTERNET | Allows applications to open network sockets. | The app connects to a B Series Appliance in order to receive all requests from the technical representative and to send data such as chat messages, screen sharing updates, file transfers, and system information. |
android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE | Allows an application to write to external storage. | The representative can request the app to write data to the user's SD card as a way of sharing data files and applications that the user may need. |
android.permission.INJECT_EVENTS | Allows the app to deliver its own input events (key presses, etc.) to other apps. | A representative that is viewing the device's screen may wish to perform actions on behalf of the user, such as keystrokes or touch events, in order to provide more efficient support. This permission is necessary for that functionality to work. |
android.permission.WAKE_LOCK | Allows using PowerManager WakeLocks to keep the processor from sleeping or the screen from dimming. | Since the app keeps a constant connection to the B Series Appliance during a session and the user may be requested to respond to a chat message from the representative, the app requests a wake lock during the session to keep the device from going to sleep. |
android.permission.READ_FRAME_BUFFER | Allows an application to take screen shots and more generally get access to the frame buffer data. | The representative may request screen sharing of the device's screen in order to provide more efficient support. This permission is necessary for the app to share the device's screen to the representative console. |
android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE | Allows read only access to phone state, including the phone number of the device, current cellular network information, the status of any ongoing calls, and a list of any PhoneAccounts registered on the device. | The app, upon the representative requesting it, will gather some system information including the phone state and transfer the data to the representative console so that the representative can better access the issue of the customer. |
android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE | Allows an application to read from external storage. | The app, upon the representative requesting it, can read data from the user's SD card as a way of capturing device and application data and logs that may be needed to diagnose issues. |
android.permission.READ_PROFILE | Allows an application to access the device user’s personally-identifying data. | The app uses this permission in an effort to find the device user's name when the support session is presented to a representative. Previous versions of the app used the phone number, but that is not as user-friendly or as personal. Given that the user name could be stored in multiple locations, the app first attempts to locate it in the You contact; if unsuccessful it looks for a Google account on the device. If finding the user’s name is not possible, the app will look at the SIM card and attempt to gather some generic information about the device (this happens only when dealing with non-consumer devices). |
android.permission.CAMERA | Required to be able to access the device's camera. | The representative may request remote camera sharing and video annotations using BeyondTrust InSight. This permission is required to perform this functionality. |
android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Allows applications to access information about networks. | The app shows a specific error message if the user attempts to connect to a B Series Appliance and the Wi-Fi and mobile data connectivity are disabled. This permission is required to perform this functionality. |
android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE | Starting with Android 9.0, this permission gives the application a higher priority for system resources and enforces that the app creates a notification while the service is in use. | The app uses this permission while it is connected to a B Series Appliance to ensure that the connection is consistently maintained by the host operating system. Without this permission, the app could be ended at any time by the host operating system, leading to service interruptions. |
android.permission.CAPTURE_VIDEO_OUTPUT | This permission is used to capture the screen on older versions of Android. It requires special levels of access and is usually only allowed on 3rd party devices such as Samsung and Zebra devices. | The app uses this permission on certain devices to allow it to capture the screen for use in remote support sessions. Without it, the representative would be unable to see the remote device. |
android.permission.CLEAR_APP_USER_DATA | This permission allows the app to clear the user-specific data from another app on the device. This permission in only granted on certain devices. | The app uses this permission in a remote support session as part of the system information tool. The representative can use that tool to view the installed apps on the remote device and clear the user data from the app, resetting it to its default state. This can be useful as a method for fixing an app that is misbehaving. |
android.permission.REAL_GET_TASKS | This permission allows the app to obtain information about other processes running on the device. This permission in only granted on certain devices. | The app uses this permission in a remote support session as part of the system information tool. The representative can use that tool to view the running processes on the remote device and end those processes as needed. This can be useful as a method for fixing an app that is misbehaving. |
com.samsung.android.knox.permission.KNOX_REMOTE_CONTROL | This permission, which is specific to Samsung devices, allows screen capture and input injection. | The app uses this permission in support sessions running on Samsung devices to allow the representative to remotely control the device by seeing their display injecting input from their console to solve the user’s issue. |
Download the support client and Jump Client apps
To receive support, customers can download the BeyondTrust Support Client and BeyondTrust Jump Client apps for free from the Google Play Store.
- Have the customer search in Google Play, from their Android device, for the BeyondTrust Support and BeyondTrust Jump Client. Select the application.
- Alternately, customers can go directly to these links:
- Click Install.
- Once the application has installed, the customer should open the application and accept the required permissions.
Note
For Android 11 and later, file transfer is available only with the BeyondTrust Support+ Client app. This is available by logging into the BeyondTrust Customer Portal.
The Support+ Client includes all the features of the Support Client. Devices can have both clients installed. If both clients are installed, users must select Support or Support+ when using a link to enter the support portal. Select Support+ to enable file transfer.
Updated 5 days ago