Smartphone Support Policies and Purchasing Recommendations

 

Apple iOS Devices

• TrackAbout’s iOS Version Support Policy

• TrackAbout's iOS Support Policy Explained

• Recommendations

• Supported iPads

 

Google Android Devices

• Android Version Support Policy

• TrackAbout's Android Support Policy Explained

• Android Device Buying Guide

Bluetooth Scanners

 

Apple iOS Devices

TrackAbout’s iOS Version Support Policy

Updated August 2nd 2024. This policy is reviewed quarterly.

The TrackAbout iOS app is currently supported on Apple devices running iOS 15.8.2 or higher, including iOS 16 and iOS 17.

Recommendations

• For workflows involving the scanning of a large number of assets (over 100) in a single record, we recommend using iPhone models with at least 4 GB of RAM.

  iPhone 11 and all later models meet this requirement, except the iPhone SE (2nd Generation), which has only 3 GB of RAM. iPhone SE (3rd Generation) comes with 4 GB of RAM.

Supported iPads

The TrackAbout application will work on iPad, but the design is not currently optimized to take advantage of the larger tablet screen.

TrackAbout's iOS Support Policy Explained

What is TrackAbout's reasoning for supporting certain versions of iOS?

Apple releases new major versions of iOS (e.g. iOS 16 to iOS 17) each year. See Wikipedia History of iOS for the exact schedule.

TrackAbout must choose how far back to support major versions of iOS. As time passes, it becomes increasingly expensive and eventually impossible to continue supporting apps on old versions of iOS. Apple forces the hand of developers by dropping support for older versions of iOS from their developer tools.

iPhones and iPads are consumer technology, and the pace of change in the consumer space is rapid. Whereas rugged enterprise devices are typically expected to have a useful service life of 5 years, consumer technology generally has a life-span of 2-3 years.

TrackAbout is sensitive to the needs of its customers and does not wish to unduly prohibit use of the app by paying customers who haven't yet or cannot update their devices to the latest version of iOS.

Therefore, TrackAbout's iOS Version Support Policy balances these competing realities by:

• Supporting the last two major releases (back to the most recent dot version of the older OS).

• Prompting users periodically to upgrade from within the TrackAbout app when a newer iOS version is available.

• Increasing TrackAbout's minimum requirements 6 months after Apple releases a new OS. New versions of iOS typically reach greater than 80% adoption within 6 months of release.

 

 

 

Google Android Devices

Android Version Support Policy

Updated August 2nd, 2024. This policy is reviewed quarterly.

The TrackAbout Android app is currently supported on Android devices running Android OS version 7.1 or higher.

Android Device Buying Guide

There are many Android devices on the market at many different price points. It's very difficult for TrackAbout to reliably recommend specific models and keep those recommendations up-to-date. So how do you choose?

We are going to discuss several important factors to consider when purchasing. If you are purchasing rugged devices, we recommend finding a trusted supplier, such as Peak Technologies https://www.peaktech.com (North American operations only).

Minimum Android Hardware Requirements

• A rear-facing camera with 2 megapixels or greater

• Minimum 1 GB RAM

• Bluetooth (for printing or external scanners)

Rugged Android Devices

If you want or need a ruggedized device, especially one with built-in scanning hardware (instead of using camera barcode scanning), then you need to choose a device that has been tested and certified with TrackAbout. See TrackAbout Certified Devices.

Intrinsically-Safe Devices

If you need explosion-proof devices for use around combustible materials, you do not have a lot of choices. Look first at vendor Bartec https://www.bartec.de/

Consumer Devices

• First, you must meet the Operating System and Hardware requirements listed above.

• Do not buy the cheapest devices you can find. You get what you pay for. Cheap devices will not perform well and will frustrate users.

• Used devices will have no warranty repair support.

• We recommend buying devices in the mid-tier of price or above.

• Do not buy an Android device that is more than one year old, as it will stop getting Android OS updates in another year or so, and at a certain point, will not be able to run the TrackAbout app due to aging out of TrackAbout's supported Android version policy.

Consumer-Grade Safe Bets

The current generation Samsung Galaxy devices are typically safe bets because they meet all the above criteria. They are flagship (top of the line) products with great specs and a great camera, which makes for excellent scanning.

Devices sold directly in the Google Store are generally safe bets.

TrackAbout does not routinely test Android devices, so we can't make other more specific recommendations here.

Known-Bad Consumer-Grade Devices

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 — Our test device had severe camera auto-focus problems that made scanning very frustrating. There are widely reported problems with auto-focus on the Note 4. We attempted modifying "Metering Modes" under camera settings, trying Matrix or Spot settings, but it did not help.

Mobile Device Management

We recommend finding a MDM vendor who can help you deploy and manage your mobile device fleet. MDMs will help you lock down devices for security, and monitor OS and App upgrade compliance. If you desire, you can use an MDM to deploy the TrackAbout app installer after downloading the latest version from TrackAbout's APK share web site https://apkshare.z20.web.core.windows.net/

BYOD

For security and compliance reasons, we do not recommend a BYOD strategy for field workers.

As a company, you'll have no control or visibility into whether your employees are keeping their operating system and app updated. Minimum hardware and OS requirements may not be met, causing loss of compatibility or function.

Every device behaves a little differently, and you likely don't want to be troubleshooting the variety of different problems that arise from a disparate fleet of devices.

Personal security software may cause problems (user-installed anti-virus and VPN apps).

In short, not having to buy devices sounds great from a cost-savings perspective, until you have to start paying to solve the problems listed above.

Android OS Version

You must make sure the device meets TrackAbout's requirements (above) for minimum OS version. The higher the version number, the better.

Monthly Android OS Security Updates, and Major Version Updates

Google releases monthly operating system security patches and annual major OS version updates. It's important for your security and the security of your company that you choose a phone that will receive these updates. Bargain devices tend to not receive the updates. Some carrier-sold devices do not regularly receive updates. Devices sold directly by Google in their Store will always receive timely updates. Flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy series sold by network carriers will likely receive updates. Ask when buying or do some research to find out.

CPU + Camera

Scanning QR and barcodes using the smartphone's camera requires a powerful CPU. A bargain phone will likely have a poor camera and a sub-par CPU. Most mid-tier devices made in the last couple of years will probably have acceptable camera and CPU performance, but you should buy one and test it, and return it if it doesn't perform well enough. Compare the performance to a high-end Android or iPhone running TrackAbout.

Battery

Most Android devices get 3 to 4 hours of screen on time (SoT) under typical usage scenarios before needing a recharge. Barcode scanning makes heavy use of the camera to take rapid images of the target barcodes. Those images are fed to the CPU for image recognition processing (finding the barcodes). Barcode scanning can therefore drain a battery faster.

• Opt for a phone with an over-sized battery when possible.

• A phone with replaceable batteries could be a good choice, but are rare these days.

• Provide workers with car chargers or portable battery recharge packs for use in the field so they can keep going all day.

• Be aware of Rapid or Quick Charge capabilities and buy compatible chargers.

Buy One and Test

What kind of environment are your workers in? Outdoors? Indoors in low-light? Some cameras do not perform well in low-light, they may have auto-focus problems which impacts scanning. It's important that you try out a phone in your environment before purchasing in quantity.

Useful Service Life

Consumer-grade smartphones have a useful service life of about 2 years. After 2 years, one of two things will happen. (1) The battery will age and fail to hold a reasonable charge. Batteries can sometimes be replaced, but it may not be cost-effective. (2) The device will no longer receive security updates. In either case, the device should be replaced.

Rugged-grade Android devices may have a longer service life of 4-5 years. However, they will likely not receive security updates.

Bluetooth Scanners

Some customers have purchased Bluetooth barcode scanners, paired them to smartphones, and then have sought support with TrackAbout when their device either did not work, or when it does work, their scans appear in the site as having been manually entered (typed in).

Prior to version 7.335.0 of the TrackAbout Android app, these devices were unsupported. There are not supported on iOS on any version.

When Bluetooth scanners connect to a smartphone, they generally pretend to be USB keyboards. This connection type is called the "Bluetooth HID profile" (see Wikipedia for USB-HID).

These scanners work by acting like a keyboard. So if you highlight a text box in the app and scan a barcode into it, the app thinks someone typed that barcode.

Most of the screens in the TrackAbout app that accept barcode scans from camera or supported external scanners do not present a text box to scan into. The TrackAbout app expects the scan data to be sent directly to the app, not using a text box.

TrackAbout does not support these types of external scanners prior to version 7.335.0 of the TrackAbout Android app.

TrackAbout does offer full support for a number of third-party scanning solutions that come with separate DataWedge applications. These DataWedge apps feed scans to the TrackAbout app in a way the app expects, and they work properly and those solutions are generally preferred over a generic Bluetooth scanner.

Please contact Support if you'd like to setup a Bluetooth HID scanner on Android.