ArdaActivating
a device.
If a screen is showing Ready to activate and a code, it is switched on, connected, and waiting to be told which app to run. The code is how you tell it.
What ArdaForm is
ArdaForm is a platform that companies use to run their apps on dedicated devices: tills and point-of-sale screens, self-service kiosks, menu boards, signage, order and check-in screens, label and receipt stations. The device runs ArdaPlayer, ArdaForm's software, and the company that makes the app uses ArdaForm to send the app to its devices, keep it updated and look after them remotely.
Many different apps run on ArdaForm devices, made by many different companies. So the device itself does not know whose it is until somebody activates it. That is what the code is for.
You do not need an ArdaForm account if somebody else supplies your app, such as your till provider or your signage company. You will use their app, and they use ArdaForm behind it.
Where the code goes
Enter the code where you are adding a new device: the step that says Add device, Activate, Adopt or similar. Where that is depends on who your app comes from:
- Your app comes from a supplier: use their app, website or setup page, wherever they told you to add a device. If you are not sure, give them the code and they can do it for you.
- You build the app on ArdaForm: sign in at portal.ardaform.net and use Devices → Add device, or send the code from your own system to the API:
POST /v1/devices/activate.
There is nothing to press on the device. As soon as the code is accepted, the screen changes by itself.
What happens next
- The screen says Registered.
- It downloads the app and the data the app needs, such as products, prices and pictures. A progress bar shows how far it has got. The first time can take a few minutes on a big catalogue; later updates arrive in the background.
- The app starts. From then on the device starts straight into it, even after a power cut.
When it does not work
| No code, or "No connection" | The device cannot reach the internet. Check the network cable. On a device with Wi-Fi, pick your network on the screen itself, or set it up from a phone or laptop at ble.ardaform.net (Chrome or Edge, over Bluetooth). The code appears as soon as the device is online. |
| The code changed | Codes are renewed from time to time. Use the one on the screen now; an old one no longer works. |
| "No device is showing that code" | Check you typed it exactly as shown and that the screen still shows it. The device has to be online while you enter it. |
| Registered, but "Not in a space" | The device is activated, but whoever manages it has not given it an app yet. Ask them to place it. |
| It was working, and now shows a code again | The device was released or removed, so it has been wiped and is ready to be activated again, for the same app or a different one. |
Is the code safe to share?
The code is not a password and does not unlock anything on the device. It only lets the system it is entered into take this device, and only while the device is showing it. Once it has been used, it is gone. Giving it to the company that supplies your app is exactly what it is for.