Issues Pairing a Stand Reader

[ViniciusSossela]

Square Readers for magstripe are automatically detected by the Mobile Payments SDK as they are inserted or removed from a device's connection port and don't need to be paired.
https://developer.squareup.com/docs/mobile-payments-sdk/ios/pair-manage-readers

We have an iOS application running on STAND/KIOSK hardware.
It is working inconsistently, it frequently loses the PAIRING with the Stand, and it becomes really hard to pair our iPad/app again with the Stand Reader.... Is there something done by code that we can do to force the PAIR again with the Stand.?

[shawnAshton]

Same issue here. Adding my two cents to help get to a solution. @ViniciusSossela, have you found one? @cesar-sosa-hol, Is the square team aware of this?

Work Arounds:

• Manual: End User needs to force close the app by swiping it closed, then relaunch.

Untested idea

• programmatically restarting the app? This option is untested, but it would cause the user to need to sign in again (in our app).. which defeats the purpose of trying to re pair since manual closing works too.

Findings:

• Can be reproduced if the device is left idle for 15 minutes
  • screen can be off as it would do with no influence
  • screen can be on (kept on my intermittently scrolling the app)
• even though docs suggest calling the showSettings function, this does not activate the square stand (but it does show that it is paired on the settings page)
• Deauthorizing->Reauthorizing immediately before each transaction does not work, even though logs suggest it is in an authorized state
• having a background process that uses the sdk to keep it "alive" -> ios has strict rules that prevent background tasks unless certain conditions are met. A generic square stand app does not meet the criteria.
• Idea that didn't work: programmatically keeping the connection alive while the screen is on. (This requires the end users device to have the screen lock timer set to never. This causes security concerns though.)

  static Future<void> squareStandZombiePrevention() async {
    _timer?.cancel();
    _timer = Timer.periodic(const Duration(minutes: 1), (timer) async {
      await WakelockPlus.enable();
      final squareMobilePaymentsSdkPlugin = SquareMobilePaymentsSdk();
      await squareMobilePaymentsSdkPlugin.getAuthorizationState();
    });
  }

Related Context

• You are unable to use a debugger if connected to square hardware

[shawnAshton]

Update: the stand stops functioning 15 minutes after the app is opened regardless of it you interact with the app or not.

[shawnAshton]

@ViniciusSossela

It appears that this is fixed in the new SDK version that was released today.
https://pub.dev/packages/square_mobile_payments_sdk/versions/2025.7.1