Android TV kiosk shows “Access denied” after enabling Hexnode kiosk modeSolved

The “Access denied” message in Android kiosk mode usually appears when a required app package or system component is being blocked by the kiosk lockdown policy. For Android TV boxes, some vendor-specific or system packages may still need to run in the background even when the device is locked to a kiosk app. If those packages are not allowed, the device may show an access denied prompt. Try the following:

1. From the Hexnode portal, run a Scan Device action on the affected Android TV device.
2. Open the device details and check the Applications sub-tab.
3. Look for blocked packages listed for that device.
4. Copy the package identifiers of the blocked apps.
5. Add those packages as apps in Hexnode using the app name and package ID.
6. Edit the kiosk policy and add those packages under Kiosk Lockdown > Background Apps.
7. Save and associate the updated policy with the device.

After the policy applies, leave the device idle or in use for several minutes and check whether the access denied message returns. If it appears again, scan the device once more and check whether any new blocked packages are listed. Add those additional packages to the background apps list as well.

That makes sense. We added a couple of blocked package IDs to the policy and the message stopped for a while. After more testing, a different access denied message appeared again. Do we just keep scanning and adding whatever new package shows up?

Yes. On some Android TV or touchscreen box builds, the required background packages may not all appear at once. A package may show as blocked only after the related service tries to launch. The recommended approach is:

• Trigger the issue once.
• Run Scan Device.
• Check the Applications sub-tab for newly blocked packages.
• Add only the newly identified package IDs to the policy.
• Avoid adding duplicate entries that are already present in the background apps list.
• Reapply the policy and test again.

Once all required background packages are allowed, the kiosk should stop showing the access denied prompt.

We also noticed the display goes to sleep while the kiosk app is running. Is there a setting for keeping the Android TV screen awake in kiosk mode?

Yes, there is @timo-liam. You have to enable the Keep Screen On option in the kiosk policy. Go to the kiosk policy and navigate to Kiosk Lockdown > Peripheral Settings > Display, then enable Keep Screen On.

This prevents the Android TV kiosk screen from going to sleep while the policy is active. For remote access, note that behavior can vary by Android TV setup and enrollment mode. Attended remote access may require permission to be granted on the device, while unattended remote control is available only for supported Android Enterprise device owner deployments.