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Android Booth App

Overview​

Package the booth as a single Android-deliverable application that embeds the existing web application.

  • A customer can install one Android app and launch directly into the booth flow.
  • The embedded web app can detect that it is running inside the Android host runtime.
  • Handles app launch, resume, basic offline behavior, and permission bootstrapping.
  • Exposes a versioned host capability surface to the embedded app (e.g. Printer Bridges).

Flow: Android App Provisioning​

  1. Install: Customer installs the Android booth app on the device (e.g., tablet/phone) that will run the event booth.
  2. Launch: The app opens directly into the photobooth runtime.
  3. Permissions: The runtime requests any necessary permissions (e.g., Bluetooth permissions required for printer use).
  4. Ready State: The embedded web app loads with native Android APIs available.

Technical Architecture​

WebView Bridge​

The Android app uses a JavaScript bridge to communicate between the web app and native Android code:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Android App                                │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │              WebView (PWA)                          │    │
│  │  - Loads PWA from Cloudflare Pages                 │    │
│  │  - Detects bridge via window.FrameingoBridge       │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
│                          │                                   │
│                   JS Bridge (window.FrameingoBridge)        │
│                          │                                   │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐    │
│  │       Native Kotlin Code                           │    │
│  │  - Bluetooth service (ESCPOS protocol)            │    │
│  │  - Image processing                                │    │
│  │  - Printer connection management                   │    │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Bridge Contract (packages/shared)​

interface FrameingoBridge {
  print(request: PrintRequest): Promise<PrintResult>;
  connectPrinter(): Promise<PrinterStatus>;
  disconnectPrinter(): Promise<void>;
  getPrinterStatus(): Promise<PrinterStatus>;
  isAvailable(): Promise<boolean>;
}

Printing Implementation​

  • Uses ESCPOS-ThermalPrinter-Android library for ESCPOS command generation
  • Communicates via native Bluetooth (not Web Bluetooth)
  • Supports image printing with configurable quantity
  • Auto-connects to first paired Bluetooth printer

Project Structure​

apps/mobile/
├── app/
│   ├── build.gradle.kts         # Gradle build config
│   └── src/main/
│       ├── AndroidManifest.xml  # Bluetooth permissions
│       ├── java/.../
│       │   └── MainActivity.kt  # WebView + bridge
│       └── res/                 # Android resources
└── settings.gradle.kts           # Gradle settings

Deployment​

The Android app is distributed via direct APK installation (not Play Store). Build with:

cd apps/mobile
./gradlew assembleDebug

APK location: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk