Softpay runs a continuous background process that validates the security of the operating environment. For the best transaction experience, integrators should ensure Softpay is running and ready before a payment is needed.
How Softpay readiness works
Softpay maintains a secure session that must be active before a transaction can be processed. If the app has been stopped — by Android power management, battery optimization, or device standby — it must perform a cold start to re-establish the secure environment. This involves validating device integrity, encryption hardware, and network connectivity, and can take from 1–2 seconds up to considerably longer depending on the device.
If a transaction is requested before this process completes, the terminal will appear busy or return an error.
Start Softpay as early as possible
Rather than launching Softpay only at the moment of payment, trigger it as early as possible in your flow — ideally when the device wakes or the POS app opens — so the terminal is ready by the time the cashier needs to take payment.
AppSwitch SDK: Call ClientManager.connect explicitly when your POS app starts, then use Client.readiness to confirm the terminal is ready. Creating a client alone does not establish a connection — you must call connect or process an action to trigger initialization. Note that login and configuration are one-time operations and should not be repeated before every transaction.
Cloud API (same-device): Fire the App ID intent (io.softpay.action.APP_ID) as soon as the device wakes or the POS app opens. This wakes the Softpay process, triggers initialization, and returns the App ID your Cloud API calls need. It acts as a lightweight warm-up that also confirms the app is installed and responsive.
Keep Softpay alive in the background
Prevention is better than warm-up. Configure devices to avoid killing the Softpay process:
Exclude Softpay from battery optimization (Settings → Apps → Softpay → Battery → Unrestricted)
Disable Adaptive Battery where possible
On Samsung devices: remove Softpay from sleeping and deep sleeping apps, and add Softpay to Never sleeping apps (Settings → Battery and device care → Battery → Background usage limits → Never sleeping apps → tap + → select Softpay → Add). See Samsung's guide to sleeping apps for step-by-step instructions.
Samsung consumer devices are particularly aggressive with power saving and frequently kill background processes. Getting these settings right is essential.
See Preparing Your Device for Softpay for full device configuration guidance.