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Preparing Your Device for Softpay

  • Updated

In order to use Softpay on any given device it is important to ensure the following key setup requirements are covered:

  • Accurate Date & Time
    Ensure automatic time settings are enabled. Misaligned clocks can disrupt secure transactions and cause signature validation to fail.
  • Disable Screen Overlays
    Overlays (such as chat heads or third-party UI modifications) can interfere with NFC prompts and the app interface. These must be fully disabled.
  • Battery Optimization Disabled
    Power-saving features (including Doze and App Standby) may restrict network access or background operations. These should be turned off for the Softpay app.
  • Developer Options & USB Debugging Disabled
    For security and PCI compliance, the device must not have active developer settings, especially USB debugging, which can expose the system to unauthorized access.

 

 

Accurate Date & Time

The Softpay backend will verify the date and time for any transaction attempt and will not allow transactions where these values do not match the expected local time.

Following the steps below will help ensure the device is setup using the correct date and time.

  1. Open Settings on the Android device.
  2. Scroll down and tap System (or General Management, depending on the device).
  3. Tap Date & Time.
  4. Enable the following options:
    • "Use network-provided time" or "Automatic date & time"
    • "Use network-provided time zone" or "Automatic time zone"

If the device uses manually-set time or time zone the time can drift or be incorrect, which may result in time skew related errors and declines.

 

 

Disable Screen Overlays

Overlays are strictly forbidden when sensitive information is being shared. If an app overlay is detected when using Softpay, the payment will be aborted during any input of sensitive data such as a PIN code. If a payment is aborted as soon as the screen is touched during PIN entry, that is a clear indicator that an overlay has been detected by Android.

To ensure this does not happen, the following steps should be taken to verify no apps are allowed to draw over Softpay.

 

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to Apps & notifications (or just Apps, depending on the device).
  3. Tap Special app access.
  4. Tap Display over other apps.

On some devices, this might be under:

  • Advanced > Special app access
  • Apps > Special access > Appear on top
  1. You will see a list of apps with permission to draw over other apps.
  2. Disable "Allow display over other apps" for any apps that don’t need it — especially apps like:
    • Chat heads (e.g., Facebook Messenger)
    • Screen dimming or filtering apps
    • Floating tools or utility apps
    • Pop-up managers
    • Screen readers or other accessibility related apps
    • Pre-installed security suites

 

 

Battery Optimization Disabled

If the Softpay app is not prioritized by the OS power settings this can result in too large a gap between the required regular security checks the app need to carry out. If this happens transactions might fail and at worst the device might get blocked.

In order to prevent this it is recommended to set unrestricted access for the Softpay app in the device settings.

An example of how to do this for a Samsung Galaxy phone is as follows:

  1. On your Galaxy device running One UI 5 or later, head to the settings.
  2. Find the tap Apps.
  3. Find the app you want to change battery optimization for.
  4. In that page, tap Battery.
  5. Change from Optimized to Unrestricted.

Doing these steps ensures Softpay can operate in the background without interference, which ensures the required security checks can be carried out continuously.

 

 

Developer Options & USB Debugging Disabled

For security, compliance, and stability, the Softpay app requires that Developer Options and USB Debugging are fully disabled on the device.

Transactions will not be allowed using the Softpay app if either Developer Options or USB Debugging are detected and will result in any attempt to be instantly aborted.

The following steps explains how to ensure Developer Options and USB Debugging are disabled:

  1. Open Settings on the Android device
  2. Navigate to Settings > System > Developer Options
    (or use search: "Developer Options")
  3. Scroll down and toggle off "USB Debugging". This setting allows ADB (Android Debug Bridge) access.
  4. Toggle must be OFF, even if Developer Options are going to be disabled next.
  5. Go back and disable Developer Options

Note: Even if Developer Options are turned off, USB Debugging may remain active — this is critical to check. 

To confirm this has been done correctly return to Settings > About phone > Build number

  1. Tap Build Number several times to re-enable Developer Options (if needed)
  2. Confirm that USB Debugging remains off by checking inside the re-enabled Developer Options

Note: USB Debugging can often be programmatically disabled via device policies (Android Enterprise or EMM).

 

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