Pairing a Field Scanner
Each Field Scanner has a label with a QR code. Pairing connects your phone to that scanner, and only your phone streams from it.- Point your phone’s camera at the scanner’s label and tap the link. Or open Admin, find Field Scanner, and tap Pair a scanner to scan the label inside Forager.
- Sign in if Forager asks. If you close Forager while signing in, scan the label again.
- Android asks whether Forager may connect to the scanner, for example FS-001. Tap Allow.
- Forager shows Paired with FS-001. Tap Done. Forager switches to the Field Scanner, and the Admin card shows Searching, then Connected once the scanner is streaming.
If something goes wrong
Forgetting a scanner
In Admin, under Field Scanner, tap Forget and confirm. The phone goes back to its own radios, and you’ll need the scanner’s label to pair again.Field Scanner mode
Once a scanner is paired, the switch on the Field Scanner card, next to the scanner’s name, turns Field Scanner mode on and off: on, the app reads from the scanner instead of the phone’s radios. With it off, the phone uses its own radios and stays paired, so turning it back on needs no label. The switch is greyed out until a scanner is paired.What the Admin card shows
The Field Scanner notification uses its own wording for the same states: Scanning for Field Scanner…, Connecting…, and Connected to FS-001.
Staying connected
- All day in a pocket. While Field Scanner mode is on, Forager runs as an active app, so the phone keeps it running in the background and the scanner stays connected with the phone locked. Tap the Field Scanner notification to open the app. Turning Field Scanner mode off removes the notification.
- Link drops. If the scanner goes out of range or restarts, the app reconnects as soon as it is back, even with the phone locked in a pocket. On Android 12 and later, Android wakes Forager when the paired scanner comes back in range.
- Bluetooth switched off and on. The app reconnects by itself once Bluetooth is back on.
- Signing out. The pairing belongs to the phone, not the account: it stays when you sign out and sign back in.
- A different scanner. Tap Pair a different scanner and scan the new scanner’s label. Your current pairing stays until the new one succeeds. The old scanner is then released if it’s in range; if not, it keeps this phone as its owner until someone scans its label.
Channel lists
When the app knows which building you are in, it tells the scanner which Wi-Fi channels that building’s surveyed rooms use, so each sweep spends its time on those channels. Every eighth sweep still covers every channel, so new access points are still found. Until the building is known, the list covers all of your company’s buildings.Permissions
The app needs Nearby devices and Location permission, with Use precise location turned on. Allow only while using the app is enough for location: reconnecting in the background does not need more. Camera is needed only to scan a label inside Forager. Scanning with the phone’s own camera app works without it. Notifications (Android 13 and later) is optional. It shows the Field Scanner notification; without it the scanner still stays connected, and Android lists Forager among its active apps instead.Troubleshooting
- Stuck on Searching. Check that the scanner is on and in range and that Bluetooth is on, then bring the app to the screen.
- “FS-001 was paired to another phone.” Someone paired the scanner with their phone, so yours is no longer paired. Scan its label to pair it again.
- No Field Scanner notification. Allow notifications for Forager in the phone’s settings, then come back to the app. The notification appears when the app is back on screen.
- Connected but no data. Check the gaps count under the status line. If it keeps climbing, move closer to the scanner; if records stop entirely for 30 seconds, the app drops the link and reconnects on its own.