Full device screen sharing

Full device screen sharing enables agents to view screens from applications outside of your own, view settings and inter-application browsing.

Full device screen sharing allows your support agents to view screens from applications outside of your own. This is often useful where support agents need to check the state of system settings, or need to see the user navigate between multiple applications.

If you do not want this feature, you may completely disable "Full Device upgrade" in your account settings.

Full device screen sharing is supported by all SDKs. Check below to see if any extra steps are required for your platform:

Redaction, annotation, and remote control are disabled when in full device mode via our Web SDK. If you require full desktop redaction, annotation, and remote control, please see our MacOS and Windows SDKs, which will require a downloaded utility on the end-user's computer.

The Cobrowse.io SDK for Web includes an optional "full device" toggle in the bottom right when running an active session. This feature enables the end-user to share their entire screen on their laptop/desktop, or select individual apps or browser tabs to share (browser dependent).

This is great if the end-user navigates to browser tabs outside of your website, where the Web SDK's JavaScript snippet is not installed, or if the end-user needs to share a PDF, or their entire desktop.

No extra integration work is required to use full device mode via our Web SDK.

Due to browser limitations, this feature is not available on IE11, or in the mobile browsers such as Mobile Chrome and Mobile Safari. Please see our native Android and iOS SDKs for full device capabilities on mobile.

The Cobrowse.io SDK for iOS allows full device screen capture, but this requires adding a Broadcast Extension when integrating the iOS SDK. Please follow the directions below.

Add a Broadcast Extension target

Open your Xcode project
Navigate to File > New > Target...
Pick "Broadcast Upload Extension"
Enter a name for the target
Uncheck "Include UI Extension"
Create the target, noting its bundle ID
Change the target SDK of your Broadcast Extension to iOS 12.0 or higher (Note: it should still work as far back to iOS 11.0)

Set up Keychain Sharing

Your app and the app extension you created above need to share some secrets via the iOS Keychain. They do this using their own Keychain group so they are isolated from the rest of your apps Keychain.

In both your app target and your extension target add a Keychain Sharing entitlement for the "io.cobrowse" keychain group.

Add the bundle ID to your plist

Take the bundle ID of the extension you created above, and add the following entry in your apps Info.plist (Note: not in the extensions Info.plist), replacing the bundle ID below with your own:

<key>CBIOBroadcastExtension</key>
<string>your.app.extension.bundle.ID.here</string>

Add CobrowseIOExtension dependency to your project

The app extension needs a dependency on the CobrowseIO app extension framework. It is available for installation via several dependency managers.

Add the new package dependency to your project

https://github.com/cobrowseio/cobrowse-sdk-ios-binary.git

Make sure your app target uses CobrowseIO package and your extension target uses CobrowseIOExtension package, respectively:

Xcode 13.3 and newer might not copy CobrowseIOExtension.framework extension dependency into resulting IPA builds. If that happens to you, follow the steps below:

Add a new script build phase to your app target:

Configure the new script:

a) Set the phase name you like (e.g. Copy Cobrowse.io broadcast extension framework)

b) Set Shell to /usr/bin/ruby

c) Copy and paste the script content:

require 'fileutils'

cbioExt = "CobrowseIOAppExtension.framework"
cbioExtFrameworkSource = "#{ENV['TARGET_BUILD_DIR']}/#{cbioExt}"
cbioExtFramework = "#{ENV['BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR']}/#{ENV['FRAMEWORKS_FOLDER_PATH']}/#{cbioExt}"

if (!Dir.exist?(cbioExtFramework))
    FileUtils.copy_entry cbioExtFrameworkSource, cbioExtFramework
    FileUtils.rm_rf "#{cbioExtFramework}/Headers"
    FileUtils.rm_rf "#{cbioExtFramework}/Modules"
end

if (ENV['PLATFORM_NAME'] == 'iphoneos')
    codeSignIdentityForItems = ENV['EXPANDED_CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY_NAME']
    if (!codeSignIdentityForItems || codeSignIdentityForItems.length == 0)
        codeSignIdentityForItems = ENV['CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY']
    end

    `codesign --force --verbose --sign "#{codeSignIdentityForItems}" "#{cbioExtFramework}"`
end

d) Uncheck "For install builds only", "Based on dependency analysis", "Show environment variables in build log", and "Use discovery dependency file":

Add the new target to your Podfile

Add the following to your Podfile, replacing the target name with you own extensions target name:

# Replace YourExtensionTargetName with your extension target name
target 'YourExtensionTargetName' do
    pod 'CobrowseIO/Extension', '~>2'
end

By default CocoaPods links both CobrowseIO.framework and CobrowseIOExtension.framework with your app target which leads to several warnings shown at runtime, such as Class CBIOSession is implemented in both CobrowseIOAppExtension.framework and CobrowseIO.framework. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined. To get rid of these warnings, add the following script to your Podfile:

post_install do |installer|
  # Replace YourAppTargetName with your app target name
  target = 'YourAppTargetName'
  aggregate_target = installer.aggregate_targets.find { |aggregate_target| aggregate_target.name == "Pods-#{target}" }
  aggregate_target.xcconfigs.each do |config_name, config_file|
    config_file.frameworks.delete('CobrowseIOAppExtension')
    xcconfig_path = aggregate_target.xcconfig_path(config_name)
    config_file.save_as(xcconfig_path)
  end
end

Make sure to run pod install after updating your Podfile

Add the extension framework to your Cartfile

binary "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cobrowseio/cobrowse-sdk-ios-binary/master/cobrowse-sdk-ios-extension-binary.json" ~> 2.0

Remember to run carthage update after modifying your Cartfile.

Link the CobrowseIOAppExtension.framework to your extension target that can be found at ./Carthage/Build/iOS.

Download the latest .zip

Visit https://github.com/cobrowseio/cobrowse-sdk-ios-binary/releases and download CobrowseIOAppExtension.xcframework.zip.

Link the CobrowseIOAppExtension.framework to your extension target.

Please be sure to use the same release for both CobrowseIO and CobrowseIOAppExtension.

Implement the extension

Xcode will have added SampleHandler.m and SampleHandler.h (or SampleHander.swift) files as part of the target you created earlier. Replace the content of the files with the following:

Swift

import CobrowseIOAppExtension

class SampleHandler: CobrowseIOReplayKitExtension {

}

Objective C

// SampleHandler.h

@import CobrowseIOAppExtension;

@interface SampleHandler : CobrowseIOReplayKitExtension

@end

// SampleHandler.m

#import "SampleHandler.h"

@implementation SampleHandler

@end

Build and run your app

You're now ready to build and run your app. The full device capability is only available on physical devices, it will not work in the iOS Simulator.

If you've set everything up properly, after clicking the blue circular icon you should see the following screen to select your Broadcast Extension.

Troubleshooting

If full device screen capture on iOS is not working, please check the following:

Please verify you are testing on a physical device, and not the iOS simulator.
Please verify you have added the Bundle Id of your Broadcast Extension to your main app's Info.plist as described in our documentation. If you have not, then no options will appear in the list after clicking the blue circular record button.
Please verify you are not running any other screen recording or screen mirroring software at the same time, as this will interfere.

The Cobrowse.io SDK for Android will allow full device screen capture, including home screen, device settings, and everything else, just by toggling "full device mode" during an active session.

These instructions also apply to .NET Android implementations.

No extra integration work is required to use full device mode via our Android SDK.

The SDK uses a service with the foreground type attribute set to mediaProjection. You are required to fill in a declaration form on Google Play and provide a video of your app using this permission. See the Google Play Store requirements for details on listing your app when using this API.

If your app does not use the full device screen capture, you can remove usage of the Media Projection API. In your application AndroidManifest.xml file:

remove FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION permission declaration
remove foregroundServiceType attribute from CobrowseService declaration

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

    <uses-permission
        android:name="android.permission.FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION"
        tools:node="remove" />

    <application>

        <service
            android:name="io.cobrowse.CobrowseService"
            android:foregroundServiceType=""
            tools:replace="android:foregroundServiceType" />

    </application>
</manifest>

You must be using SDK version v2.32.0 or above.

Notes for unattended access

For unattended full device access, we strongly recommend:

Please initiate sessions with push notifications, rather than our default sockets. This will enable unattended access, even when your app has been backgrounded a long time, or force closed. More info at Initiate sessions with push.
Please turn off "Require User Consent" prompts at https://cobrowse.io/dashboard/settings. Otherwise, a user must always accept the consent prompt on the device before a session can start.
Be wary of battery optimization policies. On some devices you may need to add your app to a battery optimization whitelist to prevent it from killing the push notifications. More info here: https://dontkillmyapp.com/
This requires enabling the Accessibility Service when integrating the Android SDK. Please see the full device remote control docs.

Troubleshooting

If the screen is black during full device screen capture, please make sure your views are not marked as secure. More info here: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/WindowManager.LayoutParams#FLAG_SECURE
If you are using Android Enterprise, please ensure your enterprise settings do not disallow screen capture.
If you get compile error android:foregroundServiceType not found, please update your Android project to use compileSdkVersion 29.

Please follow the iOS and Android documentation to implement full device capabilities on React Native.

Troubleshooting

For React Native on iOS, some clients have reported that Xcode does not automatically create the {{extensionname}}.entitlements file in the extension directory, which is necessary for the "io.cobrowse" keychain sharing to work.
If you're not using use_frameworks! within CocoaPods, Xcode 13.3 and newer might not copy CobrowseIOExtension.framework extension dependency into resulting IPA builds. If this happens to you, please follow the guide under iOS -> SPM to create the script to copy CobrowseIOAppExtension.framework into the IPA on each build.

Please review the iOS documentation for full device capabilities first.

This documentation specific to .NET iOS is supplementary, and covers the differences only.

Add a Broadcast Extension project

In Visual Studio for Mac:

Open your .NET solution
Right click on the solution, select Add > New Project...
Navigate iOS > Extension
Pick "Broadcast Upload Extension"
Enter a name for the target, e.g. YourApp.iOS.BroadcastUploadExtension
Select your iOS app to add the extension to
Create the location for the extension and press "Create"
Visual Studio for Mac will create two extension projects for you: YourApp.iOS.BroadcastUploadExtension and YourApp.iOS.BroadcastUploadExtensionUI. The second project is not required and you can safely delete it.
Change the target SDK of your Broadcast Extension target to at least iOS 10.0

Visual Studio for Mac might not have project templates for iOS extensions in .NET. You can install DotNetTemplates from NuGet.org and then run the following command:

dotnet new ios-broadcast-upload-extension -n YourBroadcastProjectName --applicationId com.youprojectid.myapp.myapp

Set up Keychain Sharing

Your app and the app extension you created above need to share some secrets via the iOS Keychain. They do this using their own Keychain group so they are isolated from the rest of your apps Keychain.

In both your iOS app and your extension project add a Keychain Sharing entitlement for the "io.cobrowse" keychain group.

Add the bundle ID to your plist

<key>CBIOBroadcastExtension</key>
<string>your.app.extension.bundle.ID.here</string>

Add the Cobrowse.io AppExtension NuGet

The app extension needs a dependency on the CobrowseIO app extension framework. Add the following NuGet to the extension project (not to the iOS app project):

- .NET iOS

Implement the extension

Visual Studio will have added SampleHandler.cs file as part of the extension project you created earlier. Replace the content of the file with the following:

using Cobrowse.IO.iOS.AppExtension;

namespace MauiSample.iOS.BroadcastUploadExtension
{
    [Register("SampleHandler")]
    public class SampleHandler : CobrowseIOReplayKitExtension
    {
        protected SampleHandler(NativeHandle handle) : base (handle)
        {
        }
    }
}

Make sure Info.plist points to the correct class

Open Info.plist of the extension project and make sure that NSExtension section looks like this:

<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    ...
    <key>NSExtension</key>
    <dict>
        <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key>
        <string>com.apple.broadcast-services-upload</string>
        <key>NSExtensionPrincipalClass</key>
        <string>SampleHandler</string>
        <key>RPBroadcastProcessMode</key>
        <string>RPBroadcastProcessModeSampleBuffer</string>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

Are you looking to customize the full device consent prompt? See these docs:

Full device consent dialog

PreviousFull device capabilities NextFull device remote control

Last updated 6 days ago