Install and connect the BizPrint Android app to your station

This page shows you how to install the BizPrint Android app and connect it to your station, so an Android phone, tablet or Sunmi device can receive print jobs. It is for merchants and staff who print from an Android device. An iPhone or iPad cannot be a station, but you can send print jobs from one to a printer connected to your station. To print from a computer, use the BizPrint desktop app instead. See Install the BizPrint desktop app on Windows, Mac or Linux.

The Android app prints receipts, invoices, packing slips, kitchen tickets and labels, with your logo and layout. It prints to receipt printers, label printers and full-page office printers over Wi-Fi or your network, Bluetooth or USB, and to the built-in printer of Sunmi devices. If you are not sure which app fits your setup, read Desktop app or Android app: which BizPrint station should you use?.

Before you start

• Have a BizPrint account and a station in the BizPrint dashboard. If you do not have a station yet, follow Create a station in the BizPrint dashboard.
• Use an Android device with Android 8.0 or later.
• Have the login details of your BizPrint account ready. If you prefer to connect with the station’s Public Key and Secret Key instead, you find them in the BizPrint dashboard on the page for your station.
• If the BizPrint app is already on the device, update it from Google Play to the latest version before you follow these steps.

Install the app

1. Open Google Play on your Android device.
2. Search for BizPrint. You can also open the app’s page directly at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cpf.bizprint.
3. Tap Install. If the app is already installed, tap Update instead, if Google Play shows it.
4. Open the app when the installation finishes.

If you used the app on this device before, it keeps your connection and opens on its main screen instead of the setup assistant. To connect it to a different station, see Change the station later.

Connect the app to your station

The first time you open the app, a setup assistant guides you through four steps. Step 1 connects the app to your station. You can sign in with your BizPrint account, or enter the station’s keys.

Sign in with your BizPrint account

1. Tap Get started on the Print from your store to any printer screen. Step 1, Connect your station, opens.
2. Tap Sign in. The Sign in screen opens inside the app.
3. Sign in with your BizPrint account. The app never stores your password.
4. Choose the station that prints on this device. The app returns to Connect your station and checks the connection on its own.
5. Wait until each line of the check has a tick:
   • Server reachable
   • Keys accepted
   • Listening for print jobs
6. Check the station name under the check, next to This is the station that will print here.
7. Tap Continue. It works only after every line of the check has passed.

If it is the wrong station, tap Use a different station before you tap Continue, and choose again. To leave the Sign in screen without signing in, tap Close at the top left.

Enter keys instead

Use this if you prefer to connect with the station’s keys.

1. Tap Get started on the Print from your store to any printer screen. Step 1, Connect your station, opens.
2. Tap Enter keys instead. The Server and keys screen opens.
3. Open a web browser on the same Android device. Using the same device lets you copy and paste the keys instead of typing them.
4. Sign in to the BizPrint dashboard.
5. Tap Stations in the menu.
6. Tap your station in the My Stations list. The station page shows its Public Key and Secret Key, each with a copy button.
7. Tap the copy button next to the Public Key.
8. Switch to the BizPrint app.
9. Tap Public key.
10. Paste the key.
11. Tap OK.
12. Switch back to the web browser.
13. Tap the copy button next to the Secret Key.
14. Switch to the BizPrint app.
15. Tap Secret key.
16. Paste the key.
17. Tap OK. When both keys are in, the app checks the connection on its own and shows your station’s name with This is the station that will print here.
18. Go back to the setup assistant with the back arrow at the top of the screen.
19. Tap Continue. It works only after every line of the check has passed.

Caution

Treat the Secret Key like a password. Never email it, post it in a chat, or share it with anyone who does not need it. Copy it straight from the dashboard into the app.

If the device already has printers from another station

If the device already has printers from a different station, the app asks Use [station]’s printers on this phone?. Tap Use station printers to use the printers of the station you just connected, or Keep this phone’s printers to keep the printers you already set up on this device and add them to that station. Nothing is deleted from either station.

If the check does not pass

The app shows a message under the check. Tap Edit keys to fix the keys, then Check again. If you signed in, you can also tap Use a different station to sign in again.

• These keys don’t match a station. Copy both again from the dashboard. Copy both keys again with the copy buttons. Pasting extra spaces, or only part of a key, is a common cause.
• Can’t reach the server. Check this phone’s internet or Wi-Fi. Connect the device to the internet, then tap Check again.
• This app version is no longer supported. Update BizPrint. Update the app from Google Play.
• Connected to the server but not receiving print jobs. Try again. Tap Check again.

Allow printing in the background

Step 2, Keep printing in the background, lists what BizPrint needs so orders print even when the screen is off.

If you print to a Bluetooth printer, also tap Allow next to Bluetooth before you tap Continue, and allow it when Android asks. If you do not use Bluetooth, leave it.

1. Tap Allow next to Notifications.
2. Allow notifications when Android asks. BizPrint shows a notification while it runs.
3. Tap Allow next to Battery. Android opens its battery settings, and the app shows a short tip at the bottom of the screen.
4. Follow the tip. Depending on your Android version, it tells you to find BizPrint and choose Unrestricted, to turn on Allow background usage and then choose Unrestricted, or to choose Don’t optimize.
5. Return to the BizPrint app.
6. Tap Continue.

Each row shows Allowed when it is done. To learn why these matter, see Keep the BizPrint Android app running so it can print.

Add a printer and print a test page

Step 3 shows one of two screens:

• Add a printer, if your station has no printers yet. Tap Add printer and follow Add a printer to the BizPrint Android app.
• Set up your printers, if your station already has printers, for example from another device or from before you reinstalled the app. Each one shows Set up on this phone. Tap each printer this device prints to and tell the app how to reach it. See Add a printer to the BizPrint Android app.

Then:

1. Tap Continue. If you want to add printers later, tap Skip for now instead.
2. Tap Print test page on Step 4, Print a test page. The test page is not an order. To test a different printer, tap Change printer.
3. Look at the test page. It should print clearly and fit the paper.
4. Answer Did it print correctly?:
   • Tap Yes, looks good when it is right. The app shows This printer is ready for orders.
   • Tap No, fix settings when it is not. The printer’s settings open, so you can change the paper and other settings. See Change paper, cut and layout settings for a printer in the BizPrint Android app.
5. Tap Finish.

To run the assistant again later, tap the BizPrint logo at the top right of the main screen, then tap Run setup again.

Check that it worked

1. Look at the top of the app’s main screen. It shows your station’s name, with Connected under it.
2. Look under Printers. Each printer you set up is listed there.

If it shows Not connected, read this before you reconnect. When the app reconnects, BizPrint can send it print jobs that are still pending, and they print automatically. This happens when Archive offline print jobs is off. Before you reconnect, look at the printer for printouts, check job statuses in the BizPrint dashboard, and do not reprint anything that is still pending. See Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline.

Then tap Connect on the Not connected card. If it keeps failing, check that the device is connected to the internet, and check both keys as described in Change the station later.

Change the station later

To connect the app to a different station, or to sign in again:

1. Tap the BizPrint logo at the top right of the main screen.
2. Tap Run setup again.
3. Tap Get started.
4. Tap Use a different station on Connect your station to sign in and choose the station. To enter keys instead, tap Edit keys.
5. Wait for the check to pass.
6. Tap Continue.

To change the keys by hand:

1. Tap the BizPrint logo at the top right of the main screen.
2. Tap Server and keys.
3. Tap Public key or Secret key.
4. Paste the new key.
5. Tap OK.

The Secret key field never shows the saved key. If you leave it blank and tap OK, the app keeps the current key. The app checks the connection again after each change.

Set up WooCommerce for your Android printers

In the BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce, add your Android printers to a printer location. Both output formats, HTML and Plain Text, print on the Android app. Follow Set up a WooCommerce printer location for an Android station with BizPrint.

Related pages

• Add a printer to the BizPrint Android app
• Set up a WooCommerce printer location for an Android station with BizPrint
• Keep the BizPrint Android app running so it can print
• Fix common problems with the BizPrint Android app

Need help? Contact BizPrint support at https://getbizprint.com/support/.