Dedicated devices (COSU)
Hundreds of single-purpose devices across warehouses, stores and depots, grouped by site, updated on schedule and replaced quickly when one fails.
At a glance
What it is
Fleet management for single-purpose Android devices: rugged scanners, delivery handhelds and shift tablets, kept charged, updated and healthy across sites.
How to start
Tell us what you need in your own words. You talk to the developers who would build it and get a written, line-item estimate.
Get a project estimateLocking a single device to one app is the easy part, and our Android kiosk mode page covers it. Dedicated-device management is about the fleet: 300 scanners across six warehouses, 80 delivery handhelds shared between two shifts, 40 kitchen tablets at 20 outlets.
At that scale the questions change. Which devices did not charge overnight? Which site is still on last month's app version? Can the night shift sign in on the day shift's device? How fast can a supervisor swap a dropped scanner for a spare, without calling head office?
We design the device groups, update rings, maintenance windows, alerts and swap process, then build the console that makes them routine. Underneath, the management runs through the EMM you license, an Android Management API-based product, or a custom device-owner app for devices without Google Play.
Challenges
A handheld left off its cradle overnight dies at 11 a.m. Battery reports at shift start flag it before work begins.
One warehouse on version 4.2 and another on 4.0 means different screens, and bugs nobody can reproduce.
A system update that starts mid-shift takes a scanner out of use for half an hour.
A broken device waits days for IT because the spare has to be set up by hand at head office.
The next shift sees the previous user's session, or one person stays signed in on a device all week.
A device stops syncing and nobody notices until stock counts disagree.
What is included
Platform: Admin dashboard
Platform: Dedicated devices
Platform: Admin dashboard
Platform: Site supervisors
How it works
The console handles most of this loop by itself; people step in only when an alert asks them to.
Devices come off their charging cradles; the console already lists any that did not charge or check in overnight.
Staff sign in to the work app on any device in their group; the previous session was cleared at sign-out.
Each device reports battery, storage, network and app version to the console through the day.
A frozen app's data is cleared or the device rebooted from the console, without the device leaving the floor.
A damaged device is replaced with a spare from the site pool, which already carries the same policy and apps.
While devices charge, approved app and system updates install site by site, pilot group first.
Then it starts again at step 1: Shift starts
Pick rugged or business models whose makers publish an update commitment, and buy them from a reseller that supports zero-touch or Knox Mobile Enrollment.
Decide groups by site, role and shift, and a naming scheme such as site code plus number, so reports make sense from day one.
A few ready spares at each site turn a broken device into a quick swap instead of a lost shift.
Name the pilot devices, the order of sites and the peak weeks, such as the festive season, when system updates are frozen.
Cold rooms, mezzanines and loading bays often have poor coverage, so the work app must queue data offline.
List the device data collected, who can see it and how long it is kept, in line with your DPDP Act notices.
Platforms
Rugged handhelds, tablets and phones on Android Enterprise, POS terminals running Android, TV displays where supported, signage screens, and the fleet console.
Android phones, tablets and rugged handhelds with Google Play services, managed through Android Enterprise: company-owned devices as fully managed, dedicated (kiosk) or work-profile devices, and personal phones through a work profile only.
Countertop and handheld billing terminals running Android-based software, locked to approved billing and payment apps where the terminal maker or supplier allows device-owner or SDK control.
TV screens and set-top boxes running Android TV for menus, lobbies and signage. The Android Management API does not support them at the time of writing, so control relies on a device-owner app or the maker's tools, confirmed model by model.
Commercial displays and media players showing menus, offers and notices, with scheduled playlists, content updates and remote health checks through the player software.
Back-office panels for operations, support and finance teams: orders, users, content, reports and permissions.
Technology
Management APIs do the device work; a relational database keeps a reliable history for each device; a cache and queue absorb thousands of status updates without slowing the console.
Device management
A Google cloud API for device-management products: your console sets the rules, and a Google app on each Android device applies them.
Used for
Device management
Built-in Android APIs that let one trusted app control a company device: kiosk lock, silent app updates and restrictions, even without Google Play.
Used for
Mobile
Apps built specifically for Android, with full access to the phone's hardware, background location and company-managed devices.
Used for
Backend
A structured way to build back ends on Node.js, so large business systems stay organised, testable and easy to hand over.
Used for
Data
A reliable database for the records your business runs on: orders, payments, bookings and stock, kept accurate and easy to report on.
Used for
Data
Keeps frequently used data in fast memory, so apps stay quick on busy days and live features like order tracking feel instant.
Used for
Web
Builds interactive screens in the browser, such as dashboards, admin panels and portals, that respond instantly as your team works.
Used for
Cloud & DevOps
Cloud hosting for your app, website and data, with data centres in India and room to grow when traffic rises.
Used for
Plain-English glossary
Product preview
Sample screens: names, prices and figures are examples, not client data.
Work
Device management & kiosk solutions
An illustrative kiosk product for retail chains: locked Android tablets for catalogues and price checks, a staff launcher, and a console to enrol, update and monitor every device.
Runs on
Built with
Industries
Cost drivers
More sites mean more groups, update rings and report views. The number of distinct set-ups matters more than the raw device count.
Rugged scanners, phones and tablets each need testing for lockdown, charging behaviour and scanner or printer integration.
Configuring an EMM you license is lightest; a console on the Android Management API suits a fleet product sold to other businesses; a custom device-owner app suits devices without Google Play.
Sign-in, sign-out and session clearing for shared devices is work inside your own app.
Alerts by SMS, email or WhatsApp, and links to ticketing or asset systems, each add effort.
Staging, labelling and installing devices at each site, and training supervisors on swaps.
Estimates are written from your scope, with the effort and assumptions behind each line item.
How pricing worksProcess
Devices, sites, shifts, Wi-Fi coverage and current failure points, from a walk-through of at least one site.
You getFleet design: groups, rings and naming
Lockdown, update windows and the helper apps each group needs, tested on each device model.
You getGroup policies and test results
Fleet dashboard, alerts, swap flow and any integrations, released fortnightly.
You getFleet console
One site runs through a full cycle of shifts, including a deliberate swap and an update ring.
You getPilot report
Sites move over in batches with spares in place, supervisors trained and alerts tuned.
You getRollout tracker and runbook
Services
The disciplines a project like this draws on.
Back-office dashboards built around your team's daily tasks: order queues, approvals, catalogue management, payouts, reports and audit logs.
Native Android apps in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, designed for entry-level phones, patchy networks and the background limits of popular Android brands.
Software shaped around how your business runs, from approvals and inventory to billing and reports, replacing spreadsheets and disconnected tools.
Secure, documented REST and GraphQL APIs, plus integrations that connect your apps to payment, logistics, GST, messaging and business systems.
More specific pages
Dedicated device (COSU) management for
FAQ
A kiosk is one kind of dedicated device, usually facing customers. Dedicated devices also include staff tools such as warehouse scanners, delivery handhelds and kitchen tablets. Both use Android's lock task mode; the difference is in how they are run. Staff devices are shared across shifts, need sign-in, and are swapped and updated as a fleet, which is what this page covers.
Yes. The usual approach is sign-in and sign-out inside your work app, which clears the previous user's session and data at the end of each shift. A custom device-owner app can also create managed secondary users on devices that support multiple users, but app-level sign-in is simpler to run and works on more devices. The console records who used which device and when, which helps when equipment goes missing.
The policy can install system updates automatically, only inside a daily maintenance window, or postpone each one for up to 30 days, and on Android 9 or later it can freeze updates for up to 90 days around busy periods such as festive sales. How quickly updates arrive still depends on the device maker, and makers can exempt urgent security updates from postponement. We keep a few pilot devices on each new version first, so problems show up there before they reach the whole fleet.
From the console, the device can be locked, put into lost mode on supported Android versions, or factory reset. With zero-touch or factory reset protection tied to company accounts, a reset device cannot simply be set up as someone else's, and a zero-touch device re-enrols into your management if it turns up. Recording who signed in last usually tells you where to look first.
Often, yes, but differently. Many POS terminals and some industrial devices run Android-based software without Google Play, so the Android Management API and zero-touch enrolment do not apply. We then use the device maker's management tools or SDK, or build a custom device-owner app set up through the maker's provisioning method or, where the setup screens support it, a QR code, with updates from your own server. We check what each model allows before committing to features.
Only where the management mode supports it and you have a clear purpose. For most warehouse and store devices, the site group and last check-in are enough. Lost mode can report location for a missing company-owned device. Anything more, such as live location of delivery handhelds, belongs in the work app with a visible notice to staff and a lawful basis under the DPDP Act, 2023.
Related
Next step
Tell us your device models, sites and shifts, and what goes wrong today. We will propose a fleet design and a line-item estimate.
