question

rosetta avatar image
rosetta asked Al Connelly commented

Offline Communication with Clover Mini

We have a use-case where we need our Android application to talk to the clover mini in an offline environment. Ideally we'd be able to do so using one of the following:

1) Bluetooth 2) WiFi Direct 3) USB 4) NFC

We understand that there are examples of a windows device communicating with the Clover mini via USB -- are there are beta libraries or examples that you can provide that would allow us that kind of functionality?

We also understand that secure NFC is enabled during the transaction process, but otherwise disabled. Is there a way to enable NFC communication at other times on the Clover device so that we can use it for our communication needs?

Thanks!

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1 Answer

Jacob Abrams avatar image
Jacob Abrams answered Al Connelly commented

NFC, bluetooth and Wi-Fi direct are all off the table, they are either disabled or locked down on Clover Mini.

Your android application is running on a tablet or phone? You could have that device create a Wi-Fi Hotspot for Clover Mini to connect to, then they will be able to communicate over that network. Alternatively a Wi-Fi router or ethernet router will still enable devices on the same local area network to communicate with each other even if there isn't internet connectivity to the router.

USB communication is currently being used to enable semi-integrated payments via USB Pay Display. Theoretically we could open up that channel for non-payment related communications but that would need some significant changes on our side.

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rosetta avatar image rosetta commented ·

Thank you, Jacob. For our particular use-case, the handheld android device is unlikely to have a sim card -- in fact it will most likely be an LDU device, and I believe those devices will not be able to create a WiFi hotspot, unless we do some configuration on the LDU device to enable it as a WiFi hotspot.

In our production environments, we are not guaranteed router devices and so we must plan for the worst case. I did not mention this in my original question, but we will be using 3G enabled Clover devices and so the main problem is that our android device will not have internet connectivity

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rosetta avatar image rosetta commented ·

To provide more background, we are creating a demonstration retail application that may showcase the ability of a handheld device to execute a transaction with the Clover device, and so we are essentially performing a demo transaction between an application on the android device and the clover device.

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Jacob Abrams avatar image Jacob Abrams ♦♦ commented ·

What is an LDU device?

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rosetta avatar image rosetta commented ·

LDU is a 'Live Demo Unit' -- these devices would not have a provider or data plan.

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brokenoval avatar image brokenoval commented ·

Hey @jacobabrams - we're looking into this too and opening up the USB comminication for intra app communication (like your USB pay display) would be outrageously useful. The Station to tethered customer facing Mini is probably the most popular merchant set ups I've seen in operation. Would be very interested to hear any updates on this functionality.

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