Bespoke Android App Developers: Captive portal

Bespoke Android App Developers: Captive portal

An Android captive portal is a web page that is displayed to users when they connect to a public Wi-Fi network that requires authentication or acceptance of terms and conditions before access is granted to the Internet.

When a user connects to a Wi-Fi network with a captive portal, their device is redirected to the captive portal page automatically, and they are presented with the login or acceptance page. The captive portal page is hosted on a web server, and it can be customized to fit the needs of the organization that operates the Wi-Fi network.

The Android operating system includes a built-in captive portal detection feature that automatically detects when a user connects to a Wi-Fi network with a captive portal. Once detected, the system presents the captive portal page to the user automatically. The captive portal detection feature uses HTTP requests to determine whether the Wi-Fi network has a captive portal.

Overall, the Android captive portal feature helps users to connect to public Wi-Fi networks securely and easily while also ensuring that the network operator can enforce authentication or terms and conditions.


An Android captive portal is a web page that is displayed to users when they connect to a public Wi-Fi network. The purpose of the captive portal is to provide a way for users to authenticate themselves or agree to certain terms and conditions before being granted access to the internet.

When a user connects to a Wi-Fi network with a captive portal, they will be redirected to the captive portal page automatically. The captive portal page may ask the user to enter a username and password, or it may require the user to agree to certain terms and conditions before being granted access to the internet.

Captive portals are commonly used in public places like airports, coffee shops, and hotels to provide a secure and controlled environment for users accessing the internet over Wi-Fi. They can also be used by businesses to offer free Wi-Fi to customers while also collecting data about their customers for marketing purposes.

Android devices are designed to detect captive portals and automatically display the captive portal page when a user connects to a Wi-Fi network with a captive portal. This makes it easy for users to connect to public Wi-Fi networks while also ensuring that their data is secure and their privacy is protected.

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