Connect and manage readers on Android

After authenticating, open the card reader page to pair a supported reader. These examples run in your activity.

Card reader page

Once the merchant is logged in, open the reader settings to:

Connect to new readers.
View the saved reader’s battery level, serial number, and firmware version.
Connect to the last saved reader if it is inactive.
Update firmware of the reader if available.
View the saved reader’s name and connection status.

 	SumUpAPI.openCardReaderPage(MainActivity.this, 4);

To integrate with the Activity Result API, use SumUpCardReaderPageContract:

val cardReaderPageLauncher = registerForActivityResult(SumUpCardReaderPageContract()) { result ->
        // Card reader page result
    }
cardReaderPageLauncher.launch(null)

Preparing the SumUp card terminal for checkout

Call prepareForCheckout() before a payment to connect the reader in advance and reduce checkout time.

The merchant must be logged in and a reader must already be paired.

SumUpAPI.prepareForCheckout();

Air and Solo readers normally stay connected over Bluetooth after a payment. Use prepareForCheckout() to reconnect if the reader was turned off or moved out of range, or if your app lost focus.

Retrieve connected card reader’s data

You can check the connection status and retrieve details about the saved card reader using the following methods:

isCardReaderConnected(): Returns a boolean indicating whether a card reader is currently connected.
getSavedCardReaderDetails(): Returns SavedCardReaderDetails with the reader’s serial number, type, and last known battery percentage, or NoSavedReader if no reader is saved.

Supported reader types

When the result contains SavedCardReaderDetails, its reader type is one of these constants:

SOLO
SOLO_LITE
AIR
THREE_G
PIN_PLUS
UNKNOWN — returned only if the SDK encounters an issue and cannot identify the reader type.

The lastKnownBatteryPercentage is not real-time. It reflects the battery level recorded during the last transaction. As a result, this value may not match the current battery level exactly if the reader has been idle or charged since the last payment.

Verify the connection

Use SumUpAPI.isCardReaderConnected() to check the connection after pairing.

Next step

Accept a reader payment.