Android 7.1.1 and later offer system-level support for retail mode so users may readily examine the devices in action. Android 8.1 revises this support to create demo users via Device Policy Manager. This allows much greater OEM customization to the standard retail mode.
Android 8.1 and later
Through Device Policy Manager, Android 8.1 supports demonstrating device functionality to users in retail stores. While Device Policy Manager's APIs can be used on versions prior to 8.1, demo-type users cannot be created with createAndManageUser prior to 8.1.
Implementation
Provisioning
Set Settings.Global.DEVICE_DEMO_MODE
to 1 prior to
provisioning to indicate that the device should enter retail mode. System
Server will use this flag to manage aspects of retail mode, such as power
profile. In addition, retail employees must grant device ownership to the
demo application. Once a consumer setup is complete, device owners cannot
be set.
Creating the demo application
Device owner apps do not need elevated privileges or pre-installation on the system image. They are mostly implemented like traditional apps, with the following differences:
- All device owner apps must extend the
DeviceAdminReceiver
component, which serves as the authorization token for all Device Policy Manager APIs. The component must hold theandroid.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN
permission, include the requested special policies as metadata, and filter theandroid.app.action.PROFILE_PROVISIONING_COMPLETE
andandroid.app.action.DEVICE_ADMIN_ENABLED
intents. - The
DevicePolicyManager#MAKE_USER_DEMO
flag, which is set to create special demo-type users, is a hidden API. This flag is a constant 0x4. - Device ownership can be assigned only via Managed Provisioning.
Device Policy Manager
Device Policy Manager APIs grant all Device Owner (DO) and Profile Owner (PO) rights, except for installing packages, which is automatically allowed. A PO affiliated with a DO can use an AIDL interface to access rights that are only granted to the DO. Functionality available includes:
- Create users. Users created through the DevicePolicyManager are automatically set as PO.
- Switch users.
- Set the permission policy to
PERMISSION_POLICY_AUTO_GRANT
which will automatically grant all runtime permissions. Permissions can also be granted more narrowly: a single permission to a single app. This does not apply to Appops permissions, which users must still grant on a per-user, per-app basis. - Add user restrictions. Restrictions relevant to retail mode may include,
but are not limited to:
DISALLOW_MODIFY_ACCOUNTS
DISALLOW_USB_FILE_TRANSFER
DISALLOW_DEBUGGING_FEATURES
DISALLOW_CONFIG_WIFI
DISALLOW_CONFIG_BLUETOOTH
DISALLOW_INSTALL_UNKNOWN_SOURCES
DISALLOW_CONFIG_MOBILE_NETWORKS
- Enable automatic system updates. Devices will automatically download and apply OTA updates.
- Set LockTask allowed packages.
- Factory reset the device.
- Disable the keyguard.
- Prevent setting passwords / fingerprints.
- Control Wi-fi network changes. When used with the
DISALLOW_CONFIG_WIFI
user restriction, device owner apps can control access to the wifi network selection setting. - Reboot the device.
- Install packages through PackageInstaller.
- Set a whitelisted set of Settings.Global, Settings.Secure, and Settings.System settings.
- Block packages from being uninstalled.
Examples and additional resources
- Android Developer definitions of users, profiles, and accounts
- Device Policy Manager API documentation
- Sample Device Owner app
Validation
CTS does not cover Retail Demo Mode because it is an optional feature. Testing should be conducted manually or with unit tests for the demo application.
Android 8.0 and earlier
Android 7.1.1 introduced retail demo mode and provided a simple API to play a demonstration video. This implementation was removed in Android 8.1.
Lifecycle

Figure 1. Retail demonstration mode option in Language selection
Setup Wizard (SUW)
Retail employees can enable retail mode directly from the first screen of any setup wizard by selecting the language Retail demo at the bottom of the list. This option is available for new devices shipped fresh from the factory. Once a consumer setup has completed, retail mode may no longer be available. Once selected, the device finishes SUW with an abbreviated flow.

Figure 2. Retail demonstration mode option in Language selection
Guest session
When the device enters retail mode, it switches to a new demo user and automatically starts the custom launcher specified in the overlay resource (described under Implementation). By default, this custom launcher plays the demo video on repeat until the user touches the screen to begin a guest session. At that time, the custom launcher starts the system launcher and then exits. OEMs can alter the custom launcher to additionally launch another service or activity on exit. See the Implementation section for details.
In order to maintain the integrity of retail mode, keyguard is disabled and certain actions from Quick Settings that could adversely affect retail mode are also disallowed, including:
- Airplane mode toggle
- Removing or modifying Wi-Fi access points (Settings)
- Changing carrier (Settings)
- Configuring hotspot (Settings)
- User switching
Additionally, access is also blocked to some global settings that can affect retail mode by disabling:
- Wi-Fi settings
- Cellular network configuration options, particularly hotspots
- Bluetooth configuration
- Backup & Reset, Date & Time, and Mobile Networks (they do not show up at all)
If the user is idle for some period of time (90 seconds by default), retail mode will show a system dialog to prompt the user to either exit the session or continue. If the user chooses to exit or if there's no response for five seconds, retail mode kills/wipes the current demo user, switches to a new demo user, and loops through the original video again. If someone turns off the screen using the power button, it comes back on automatically after a few seconds.
After exiting a demo session, devices mute themselves and reset some global settings, including:
- Brightness
- Auto-rotation
- Flashlight
- Language
- Accessibility
Exiting retail mode
In order to exit retail mode, retail employees must factory reset the device from the boot loader.
Examples and source
Find the custom launcher that plays a video in a loop within:
/packages/apps/RetailDemo
Implementation
Enabling RetailDemoModeService
Setup wizard sets a Global setting Global.DEVICE_DEMO_MODE=true
to
indicate that the device has entered retail mode. Upon seeing this setting,
RetailDemoModeService
creates and switches to demo user when user 0
is started, enables the custom launcher specified in an overlay resource, and
disables SUW. System Server and SystemUI also use this flag to manage aspects
of retail mode.
Setting custom launcher or video player
An OEM specifies a custom launcher by overriding the framework resource
config_demoModeLauncherComponent
specified in:
/frameworks/base/core/res/res/config.xml
For example, with:
<!-- Component that is the default launcher when Retail Mode is enabled. --> <string name="config_demoModeLauncherComponent">com.android.retaildemo/.DemoPlayer</string>
The retail demo DemoPlayer app located at
/packages/apps/RetailDemo
is the default custom launcher in the
Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The app looks for a video in
/data/preloads/demo/retail_demo.mp4
and plays it in a loop. When
the user touches the screen, the custom launcher disables its activity
component, which results in the default system launcher starting up.
The custom launcher must have its custom component marked as disabled by default so that it
doesn't show up in non-demo scenarios. In the demo scenario, System Server
enables the specified config_demoModeLauncherComponent
when
starting a new demo session.
Setup wizard also looks for the above video to provide an affordance to enter retail mode. SUW can be modified to look for some other OEM-specific sign that retail mode is supported if the video is not a part of the demo.
If there are system A/B partitions, the system B partition must contain the demo
video at /preloads/demo
. This gets copied to
/data/preloads/demo
on first boot.
To set retail mode-specific settings, use:
Settings.Global.retail_demo_mode_constants
. E.g.:
user_inactivity_timeout_ms=90000,warning_dialog_timeout_ms=10000
Note: 90000 milliseconds is the current timeout default but is configurable.
Finding sample images
This feature places sample photos in a special folder that is visible to any gallery app. The photos are available only in demo mode and cannot be modified by the demo user as they are in a protected directory.
Preventing Google accounts
Certain restrictions are set in the guest user, similar to managed
device/profile policies that prevent apps and users from performing certain
operations. One of these restrictions is DISALLOW_MODIFY_ACCOUNTS
.
With this restriction, AccountManager and Settings do not allow the addition of
accounts. Some Google apps react to this restriction and show an error message,
and others will not prompt for an account (such as YouTube and Photos).
OEM apps should also check if DISALLOW_MODIFY_ACCOUNTS
is set. But this is a
general problem not unique to retail mode. It is likely already solved for
enterprise use cases.
Customizing the system launcher
OEMs are free to choose their layout but should include apps that function well on the home screen and hotseat.
Customizing built-in apps for retail demo mode
Built-in apps may have their experience for retail demo mode customized by
calling the API UserManager.isDemoUser()
to see if the app is
launched in a demo environment.
Following demo video guidelines
Demonstration videos should be in portrait layout (or natural orientation of the device, if tablet) and can be any length greater than five seconds. Content should not result in burn-in, since it will be played 24/7 when on display.
Maintenance
Bringing the device out of retail mode
This can be done only by factory resetting from the boot loader.
Auto-OTA of system software
By default, when retail mode is enabled, device policy is set to over-the-air (OTA) update automatically. Retail devices will download, reboot, and install the update (respecting battery thresholds) without confirmation even if it is marked as optional.
Caution: If using System A/B partitions for OTA, once an OTA is received, the device cannot find original retail mode resources in the System B partition. So any subsequent factory reset will result in an inability to go back into retail mode.
Updating demo video via the web
The RetailDemo app in /packages/apps/RetailDemo
has the ability to
update the demo video if there is network connectivity. The URL to download the
video from can be configured by overriding the following string value in the
RetailDemo app:
<!-- URL where the retail demo video can be downloaded from. --> <string name="retail_demo_video_download_url"></string>
If different videos need to be used in different regions, then different
download URLs can be configured by using locale-specific string resources
res/values-*/strings.xml.
For example, if different videos need to
be used in the U.S. and the U.K., then corresponding download URLs can be placed
in res/values-en-rUS/strings.xml
and
res/values-en-rGB/strings.xml
, respectively.
In res/values-en-rUS/strings.xml
:
<string name="retail_demo_video_download_url">download URL for US video goes here</string>
And similarly in res/values-en-rGB/strings.xml
:
<string name="retail_demo_video_download_url">download URL for UK video goes here</string>
This video will be downloaded at most once per every device reboot. When the video on the device is being played, RetailDemo app will check in the background if the download URL is provided and the video at the URL is newer than the one being played.
If so, RetailDemo app will download this video and start playing it. Once this video is downloaded, the downloaded video will be used for playing in the demo sessions going forward. None of the checks happen again until after next reboot.