📲 MUGSHOTTER FIELD
Android APK · Install guide
v1.0.20 · released 2026-05-29
Release notes: Smart ID: the card barcode contains only the ID number, so the app now lets you type the person's Name & Surname on the result screen (Date of Birth and Sex fill in automatically from the ID). Driver's licence scanning still reads the name automatically. Torch button unchanged.
SHA-256: a3d13d1aa3ab0c2b40b26665f16fd11bf4ddf48615870c7dc93a26262c9be2e7
Install in 5 steps
- Tap the Download button above from your Android phone. The file will land in
Downloads/. - Open your Files app (or pull down the notification shade) and tap
mugshotter-field-v1.0.20.apk. - If Android shows "For your security, your phone isn't allowed to install unknown apps from this source":
- Tap Settings on the prompt
- Find "Install unknown apps" for your browser / file manager (e.g. Chrome, Samsung Internet, My Files)
- Toggle it ON, then back-arrow to the APK
- Tap Install. Wait ~30 seconds. Tap Open when it finishes.
- On the Onboarding screen, paste your API key (mint one at /admin/account if you have a dashboard login). Tick the POPIA acknowledgement. Tap ACTIVATE UNIT.
Updating later
When a new APK is published, the app shows an UPDATE AVAILABLE banner on the home screen. Tap it to download the new build, then repeat steps 2-4 above. Your stored API key and recent capture stay intact — Android replaces the app without wiping its data.
What the app stores on your phone
- Your API key, encrypted with AES-256-GCM via the Android Keystore. Nothing else of yours is stored.
- Photos are sent over HTTPS and discarded after upload — nothing lands in your gallery.
- No analytics, no crash reporters, no background uploads, no location/contacts/SMS permissions requested.
Trouble installing?
Make sure you're on Android 9 or newer (the app's minSdk = 28). Older Samsungs may bury the "Install unknown apps" toggle inside Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps. If you're stuck, ping support with your phone model.
📱 MUGSHOTTER · iPhone & iPad
iOS — Install from Safari
Apple doesn't allow installing apps directly from a website the way Android does. But you can still get MugShotter on your iPhone's home screen without the App Store — Safari's Add to Home Screen gives you a branded icon that opens MugShotter chromeless, just like a native app.
Works on iPhone & iPad with Safari · iOS 16.4+ also gets push notifications.
Install in 3 steps
- Open
https://mugshotter.co.zain Safari on your iPhone or iPad. Not Chrome, not Firefox — Apple only lets Safari install home-screen apps. - Tap the Share button (the square with the up-arrow, at the bottom of Safari on iPhone or the top on iPad).
- Scroll the share sheet down and tap Add to Home Screen → Add. The MugShotter shield will appear on your home screen.
What works on iPhone
- Full dashboard: face match, plate lookup, BOLO management, incident logging, audit export, PDF rap-sheets and BOLO sheets.
- Camera capture for face / plate / vehicle photos (Safari's built-in camera input).
- Push notifications on iOS 16.4+ (after Add to Home Screen).
- Offline-friendly landing + legal pages.
What's Android-only (for now)
- SA Driver's Licence barcode scan — the encrypted PDF417 decryption pipeline needs the Android ML Kit's
rawBytes; browsers don't expose the equivalent. Smart ID Card OCR still works via "photograph card front". - Disk-scan auto BOLO check on a vehicle licence disk — same PDF417 reason as above.
Why not the App Store?
MugShotter is deliberately distributed direct from this website — no Play Store, no App Store. The dashboard is the same on every platform: you get the latest version the moment we deploy, no store review delays, and we don't share install metrics or any of your firm's data with Apple or Google. Your data stays in the POPIA-aligned audit chain.