Full device remote control

Enable full device remote control on Android and Windows SDKs, allowing support agents to modify system settings or control apps on a user's device.

Full device remote control allows your support agents to take full control of a user's device, for example to change system settings or control other apps. This feature is only supported on the Android and Windows SDKs.

Configuring full device remote control

On platforms that support full device remote control, there may be extra steps required during your SDK integration:

Android

Due to recent Google Play Store policy changes these instructions have been updated. You must be using SDK version v2.16.0 or above. See the Google Play Store requirements for details on listing your app when using this API.

Full device remote control for Android, including unattended access, uses an Accessibility Service that must be enabled on the device to grant access.

This feature is supported in API 21 (5.0 Lollipop) and above.

Add a new service declaration to your application AndroidManifest.xml file:

<service
    android:name="io.cobrowse.CobrowseAccessibilityService"
    android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE"
    tools:node="merge" />

When added, your manifest should look something similar to this:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">
    ...
    <application>
        ...
        <service
            android:name="io.cobrowse.CobrowseAccessibilityService"
            android:permission="android.permission.BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE"
            tools:node="merge" />

    </application>
</manifest>

Enable the accessibility service the Cobrowse SDK will have added in the main device settings, eg. Settings -> Accessibility -> Your App Name. Note: this only has to be done the very first time.

Uploading to the Google Play Store?

Add the following resource via an XML file to enable a consent request to your users each time full device remote control is requested:

<bool
    name="cobrowse_automatically_accept_media_projection_prompt">false
</bool>

iOS

Due to limitations and restrictions set by Apple we can not support full device remote control. Agents are able to view the full device but not use any of the agent tools.

React Native

Please follow the Android documentation to implement full device remote control using React Native.

Xamarin / .NET Mobile

Please follow the Android documentation to implement full device remote control using Xamarin.

macOS

Full device remote control available after user consents to the macOS permission and consent prompt, no extra integration needed.

Windows

Full device remote control by default, no extra integration needed.

Detecting AccessibilityService state on Android

We have built some logic and APIs to detect if the Android accessibility service is running, and if not, to deep link the user to the settings to enable it.

Show the sample UI with:

Android

CobrowseAccessibilityService.showSetup(...);

React Native

import { CobrowseAccessibilityService } from 'cobrowse-sdk-react-native'
CobrowseAccessibilityService.showSetup(...);

Xamarin / .NET Mobile

CobrowseAccessibilityService.ShowSetup(...)

Check if accessibility service is already running with:

Android

CobrowseAccessibilityService.isRunning(...);

React Native

import { CobrowseAccessibilityService } from 'cobrowse-sdk-react-native'
CobrowseAccessibilityService.isRunning(...);

Xamarin / .NET Mobile

CobrowseAccessibilityService.IsRunning(...)

Deep link user to accessibility settings with:

Android

Intent intent = new Intent(android.provider.Settings.ACTION_ACCESSIBILITY_SETTINGS);
intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(intent);

Xamarin / .NET Mobile

Intent intent = new Intent(global::Android.Provider.Settings.ActionAccessibilitySettings);
intent.AddFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask);
StartActivity(intent);