To install the Warehouse Insight Android app, you first install and configure Warehouse Insight inside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, print the installation report it produces, and then use that report on the handheld to install the client, point it at your Business Central environment and sign in. The Android app is the last step, not the first. This guide explains each stage in order, what needs to exist before the scanner is unboxed, and where the knowledge base carries the exact screens for your device.
Where do I get the Warehouse Insight Android app?
The Android client is an APK file that Insight Works hosts, and the Warehouse Insight Installation Report in Business Central carries the download link for the version that matches your installed extension. The Android scanner install article is the canonical reference for getting the client onto a device, and the latest version for Android devices topic in the community forum explains how the report keeps the handheld version in step with Business Central. For testing on a PC without a scanner, the knowledge base describes running the same APK in an Android emulator.
The reason the download is not step one is that the app does nothing until Business Central knows about the device. The installation report printed from Business Central carries the barcodes the handheld needs: the first barcode opens the APK download in the device browser, and the configuration barcode points the installed client at your environment. Most warehouses never type a URL on the scanner at all.
What has to exist in Business Central before the scanner is set up?
Four things: a configured warehouse, the Warehouse Insight extension, a device configuration, and a login the scanner can use.
A configured warehouse. Warehouse Insight executes the documents Business Central generates. If the Location Card does not yet have Require Receive, Require Put-away, Require Pick or Require Shipment set the way you intend, fix that first; the handheld will faithfully present whatever documents the location produces. Microsoft’s warehouse management overview maps those settings to the basic and advanced configurations, and its location card setup guidance covers the Location Card itself, including the Bin Mandatory toggle on the Warehouse FastTab.
The extension. Warehouse Insight is installed from Microsoft Marketplace and brings the shared IWorks Common extension with it. The mobile warehouse management for Business Central app page describes the product; the knowledge base covers extension installation, including the assisted setup that follows it. For on-premises environments, the knowledge base also documents the Warehouse Insight web service installation that the handhelds communicate through.
A device configuration. The assisted setup in Business Central asks for install options, languages, a location code, and a login name and web service key. It creates a device configuration for that location and prints an installation report with the barcodes the device needs. That configuration is where menus, columns and scan behaviors are later defined, and every device that enrolls against it reads the same configuration. Each device configuration code must be tied to a location code, as the device configurations article notes.
A login. On Business Central online, the app authenticates with OAuth against a Business Central identity. Microsoft’s licensing documentation states that “the Dynamics 365 Business Central Device license allows multiple users to simultaneously use a device that is covered by the license. For example, it might be a point of sales, shop floor, or warehouse device” (licensing in Business Central). A device license is therefore the usual fit for a shared scanner, while a named user license works for a scanner assigned to one person. On top of that Business Central identity, Warehouse Insight supports its own Insight Works user logins for individual workers, covered below.
How do I install and configure the Android device, step by step?
The sequence below is the general shape of the process. The exact screens differ by device and version, so keep the knowledge base open alongside it: the device installation article covers the four required steps (Wi-Fi, software, scan wedge, connection) for Business Central online.
- Check the device. It must be an Android device with Wi-Fi that reaches Business Central (the internet for Business Central online, the local network and web service for on-premises), and it needs a scan engine or camera. iOS devices are not supported. The knowledge base carries the current Android version requirement.
- Run the assisted setup in Business Central. Provide the install options, languages, location code and credentials. Confirm the device configuration was created.
- Print the installation report. Its first barcode opens the APK download; its configuration barcode enrolls the device. Keep it at the bench where devices are being set up; it is the fastest way to enroll the second through tenth scanner.
- Install the client on the device. Scan the step 1 barcode into the device browser, or open the APK URL from the report, and install the APK. Allow the permissions the app requests on first launch.
- Configure the scan wedge. The app receives scans through an Android intent, not as keyboard input. In the scanner’s own settings utility, turn off keystroke output, turn on intent output with the action the knowledge base specifies, and remove any carriage return or tab suffix. Then, in the app, set Barcode Wedge to Android Intent. The Android scanner install article walks through the settings for a Honeywell device, and the knowledge base carries the equivalent steps for Zebra and Datalogic.
- Configure the device against your environment. Scan the configuration barcode from the report. The device now knows which Business Central environment and company it belongs to and which device configuration to load. If you set up against a sandbox first, the knowledge base explains how to switch a device from sandbox to production by printing a new configuration barcode from the production environment.
- Sign in. Complete the OAuth sign-in with the Business Central identity, then sign in as an Insight Works user if that option is enabled.
- Confirm the scanner behaves. Scan a known item barcode in Item Inquiry. If nothing happens, the scan is still going out as keystrokes rather than an intent; if a dialog closes on its own or a field is skipped, a suffix character is still attached. Both are fixed in the scanner’s configuration utility, not in Business Central.
- Enroll the rest of the fleet. Repeat steps 4 to 8 per device. Warehouses with more than a handful of devices can use the SureMDM managed device service described on the mobile device management for a Business Central WMS page, where one enrollment barcode installs and configures the app and updates are pushed over the air.
A first-hand detail on step 8: the suffix problem is the most common self-install failure with customer-supplied scanners. The barcode arrives with a carriage return attached, so the field accepts the value and the cursor jumps before the app validates it. Devices purchased preloaded from Insight Works arrive with the wedge settings correct.
What sign-in methods does the scanner support?
Two layers. The first is the Business Central identity. The knowledge base documents four OAuth login options for Warehouse Insight: the default OAuth method with an embedded login form that supports multi-factor authentication, a service-to-service method with no login prompt, a user impersonation method that supports badge scanning but not multi-factor authentication, and a legacy Windows method for web service access keys and on-premises installs. The service-to-service and user impersonation methods need a tenant-specific Microsoft Entra app registration; the default OAuth method does not.
The second layer is Insight Works user logins, which every login method supports on top of the Business Central sign-in. A worker identifies themselves with their own credentials or by scanning a badge barcode, and the device tracks that worker’s activity in Business Central. The practical effect, confirmed in the scanner sign-in methods forum topic, is that a device-licensed scanner can be shared by workers who have no Business Central license of their own, while transactions are still attributed to the individual. Each Business Central account used on a handheld also needs the permission sets the extension installs, listed in the user logins article.
| Sign-in layer | What it authenticates | Typical license | Where it is configured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Central identity (OAuth) | The device’s connection to the environment | Device license for a shared scanner; named user for a personal one | Login method on the device; Microsoft Entra app registration only for service-to-service or user impersonation |
| Insight Works user login | The individual worker on the shift | None additional | Insight Works users in Business Central; badge barcode for scan sign-in |
What goes wrong most often, and where is the fix?
Most install problems fall into four groups, and each has a knowledge base home.
- The app cannot connect or sign in. Check that the device is on a network that reaches Business Central, that the configuration barcode matched the intended environment, and that an administrator has granted consent to the app if the sign-in asks for it. A “missing event” message after sign-in usually means the assisted setup was not run with its download options turned on; the Warehouse Insight login error topic covers that case.
- Scans are not recognized. Almost always the scan wedge is still sending keystrokes rather than an intent, or a suffix character is attached, as described above. The knowledge base carries model-specific configuration articles for Zebra, Honeywell, Datalogic and CipherLab devices.
- The device shows the wrong location. Warehouse Insight works with one location at a time, and the device configuration carries the location code. The change locations on the handheld article explains how to print a configuration barcode per location and switch by scanning it.
- The app is out of date. After the extension is updated in Business Central, the handheld prompts to update; if it does not, Menu > Reload Config triggers the prompt, and the installation report still carries the download barcode for a manual update. See update the app on a device.
If none of those resolve it, the support page lists how to open a ticket and where the community forum lives.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I download the mobile app? From the link on the Warehouse Insight Installation Report in Business Central. Its step 1 barcode opens the APK download for the version that matches your extension; the Android scanner install article in the knowledge base covers the rest.
How do I configure an Android device for Warehouse Insight? Run the assisted setup in Business Central, print the installation report, install the APK on the device, set the scan wedge to send an Android intent, scan the configuration barcode, and sign in. The knowledge base has the exact screens.
What are the scanner sign-in methods? An OAuth sign-in with a Business Central identity for the device (four login methods are documented), then an optional Insight Works user login per worker, entered by hand or by scanning a badge barcode.
Does each scanner need its own Business Central user? No. A shared scanner is usually covered by a Business Central device license, and individual workers are identified through Insight Works user logins.
Can I test on a sandbox first? Yes. Configure the device against the sandbox, then follow the knowledge base topic on switching a device from sandbox to production.
Does the same process apply to WMS Express? The pattern is the same for WMS Express, the scaled-down configuration of the same platform. This is a completely free app from Insight Works for Business Central. Its setup wizard prints an installation report with barcodes to install the client, configure it and sign in; it runs on Android handhelds and on Business Central online only.