Android Kiosk Mode on Rockchip Devices (Lock Task, Device Owner, Boot to App)

Rockchip boards are everywhere in signage, POS terminals and HMIs, and most of those run a single Android app full-screen. There are two layers to this: app-level kiosk (works on any Android image) and ROM-level kiosk (when you control the SDK build).

App-level: device owner + lock task

1. Add a DeviceAdminReceiver to your app and declare it in the manifest with a device-admin XML policy.
2. On a freshly reset device (no accounts added), make your app the device owner:

   adb shell dpm set-device-owner com.example.kiosk/.AdminReceiver

3. In your app, whitelist it for lock task and start it:

   val dpm = getSystemService(DevicePolicyManager::class.java)
   val admin = ComponentName(this, AdminReceiver::class.java)
   dpm.setLockTaskPackages(admin, arrayOf(packageName))
   startLockTask()

4. Declare your activity as a HOME launcher (android.intent.category.HOME + DEFAULT) so it starts at boot, and set it as the persistent preferred activity with dpm.addPersistentPreferredActivity(...).

In lock-task mode the status bar, recents and home are blocked. Use setLockTaskFeatures() to re-enable only what you need.

ROM-level: bake it into the Rockchip SDK

When you build the Android image yourself you can go further:

• Ship your app as a privileged system app (PRODUCT_PACKAGES in your device makefile) and remove the stock launcher.
• Hide the navigation bar and status bar by default through product overlays or system properties exposed by your SDK version.
• Set the default rotation, density and disable the lock screen in device/rockchip/<product>/ configs.
• Auto-power-on after power loss is usually a PMIC or board setting, so check the hardware design as well.

Checklist for production kiosks

• Watchdog: restart the app if it dies (the HOME launcher role does most of this).
• OTA: sign your update packages and test A/B or recovery updates before shipping.
• Disable USB debugging in production builds (ro.adb.secure=1, user build).
• Display: confirm HDMI/LVDS/eDP timings in the kernel DTS for your panel; Android cannot fix a wrong panel timing.