The till on an Android tablet
CreekPOS Till for Android tablets and handhelds: installing it, connecting it to your shop, selling offline, receipt printers, the camera as a barcode scanner, and updates.
What it is
CreekPOS Till is the till app of CreekPOS Online for Android tablets and handhelds with Android 9 or newer. It has the same Sell screen as the till app on a computer, with the same products, prices, customers and receipts, and it counts as one of your plan's tills (see Connecting a till).
A tablet works sideways or upright; a phone-sized handheld stays upright. The screen stays on while a shift is open. The app does not need Google's services. It needs an up-to-date Android System WebView: on a device where it is too old, the app says so; update it from the store and open the app again.
Installing
- On the tablet, open the Download page in the browser and download CreekPOS Till.
- Open the downloaded file. The first time, Android says it may not install apps from this source: open the settings it offers, allow installing from this source, go back and tap install.
- If Android warns that the app is unknown, open the details and choose to install anyway. Then open the app.
Some tablets have a security switch that blocks every app from outside the store. Switch it off for the install and back on afterwards: the installed till keeps working.
Some tablets also put apps to sleep to save the battery. In Android's battery settings, let CreekPOS Till run without limits, so sales waiting to be sent are not held back.
Once the app is on Google Play, install it from there instead.
Connecting to your shop
- Open the app and sign in with your shop's e-mail, as in the web app.
- A manager opens Settings → Tills and presses Connect this computer on the This computer card (give the till a name if you like). The app makes a 6-digit pairing code and pairs itself with it: there is nothing to type.
- Press Sell. Cashiers sign in with their own accounts.
Like every till, the tablet is listed on Settings → Tills with its status; Revoke removes it for good.
Selling offline
Open the Sell page once with the internet on, so the till keeps its copy of the products and prices. After that, when the line drops, it keeps selling: every receipt gets its final number from the till's own series (T1-000001, T2-000123…), and the sales wait on the tablet. They are sent in order as soon as the line is back, also after the app was closed or the tablet restarted. If Android closes the app in the middle of a sale, the cart is still there when you open it again. More in Selling offline.
Never uninstall the app while sales are waiting. They exist only on this tablet until they are sent, and uninstalling deletes them. The app tells you how many sales are not sent yet. To update, install the new version over the old one (Updates); if something is wrong, contact us first. If Android ever asks whether to keep the app's data, keep it.
Printers and the drawer
Set the printer in Devices in the till's menu, as on a computer:
- USB receipt printer: on the tablet's USB-C port with an adapter. The first time it prints, Android asks whether the app may use it: allow it, then print again.
- Bluetooth receipt printer: choose it on the Devices page. The first time, allow Nearby devices when Android asks.
- Network printer: by its address, as on a computer.
The cash drawer opens through the receipt printer. Scales and two-line customer displays do not connect to the tablet.
If a permission was refused for good, the app shows a message with Open settings, which opens the app's page in Android's settings.
The camera as a scanner
On the Sell page the camera reads barcodes. Allow the camera the first time; nothing the camera sees is kept. A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner that types like a keyboard works too: it types into the scan box, and on a touch handheld the box keeps the focus without opening the on-screen keyboard.
Updates
The app from our Download page looks for a new version when it starts or comes back to the front, at most every 6 hours. When there is one, it shows CreekPOS Till … is available with Download and Later (Later asks again after a day). Download opens the file in the browser; open it to install over the app. The sales waiting to be sent, the till's numbers, its connection to your shop and its settings stay. Android installs an update over the app only when it comes from us.
Once the app is on Google Play, Google Play updates it.
