Transition to only supporting https
IMPORTANT! We are starting the restructuring to supporting only https, not http. We will do what we can to make the restructuring as painless as possible, but it is important that you are prepared 👇.
Why do we restructure?
Https makes PinToMind a safer, more secure and better solution. So far it has been flexible to support both http and https, but now we have reached a point where we can not facilitate http in the further development of our product.
What is HTTP and HTTPS?
When looking at the address-field in your browser, you will see that all web-addresses start with either http or https, as in https://pintomind.com.
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⚠️ HTTP = An open, non-encrypted connection for transmitting data over the Internet. The weakness is the risk of eavesdropping and data going astray due to the connection not being encrypted. This is on its way out as a standard.
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🔐 HTTPS = An encrypted connection between servers and browsers / clients. This is safe and secure. Https is new standard, and can be seen as an extension and improvement of http. Https uses so-called certificates as keys to unlock and make the encrypted data transmitted readable.
What consequences will the restructuring have for you?
We have made thorough preparations prior to the transition, and the vast majority of our customers will probably not even notice that it is happening. The benefit in the end of the restructuring is that PinToMind will be a safer, more secure and better solution for everyone in the future.
The first and easiest thing to notice is the transition to https in the administration of app.pintomind.com. All modern browsers have support for https, — this will be a transition that will have few or no negative consequences for anyone.
The post-types URL / Webpage-post and Image online post have to use https-addresses - see explanation below.
Old hardware that does not support https will continue to work, but it cannot be used for new post-types and functionality that will be coming. We will try to support this hardware for as long as it is practically possible, but it is a good idea to start planning on replacing old hardware.
We recommend that you contact your IT-manager or IT-department for help with checking and preparing your hardware for https. You have to have a look at your hardware and see what you might have to do in connection with the restructuring.
Check Webpage-posts and Image online posts
Look at specifically these two types of posts:
If you in posts like these have added addresses to webpages and images with an http-address, these will not be displayed after the transition to https.
We recommend that you already now log in to your account and check the web-addresses in this type of posts. If any of the addresses start with http, change it to https instead.
If the image or the webpage does not support https (you can find out by testing the address in any browser), we recommend that you contact the webpage that you get the content from, and ask if they have support for https. It is very unusual that services do not offer https today, and everyone should offer this upon request.
In addition we know that there can be changes with Facebook-posts. Facebook is about to start requiring the use of https on all hardware displaying content from their services. For the time being Facebook-posts will continue to be able to be displayed on all screens, but it is likely that screens that cannot display https will loose the ability to display these posts during the winter. We will update about this, but likely on short notice.
This is what you have to do regarding hardware
- Check which hardware you are using: Log in to your account and go to MENU> SCREENS. Click on the link View devices at the top right. Or follow this link: https://app.pintomind.com/screens/devices/1.
- Find your hardware in the list below, and prepare for the transition to https as described there.
Samsung Smart Signage-screens that use Tizen (SSSP) - which we call SSSP4, SSSP5 and SSSP6, will these days automatically be updated with a new player that uses https. We arrange this automatically by having the screens load a new version of players you have installed earlier - and before you know it you are over to https. The screens will also be updated to use the new more secure connection instead of screen-code.
Older Samsung Smart Signage-screens without Tizen - called SSSP1, SSSP2 and SSSP3, which we recommended until 2016, are about to become outdated, and struggle with https and further updates. The screens will continue to be able to be used the way they are used today, but we recommend measures to give them new life:
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Alternative 1: For screens approved by Samsung a Samsung set-back-box will be the best solution. You then get the latest version of software from Samsung, and can display your PinToMind-content in the same way as on brand new Samsung screens. See more information on https://pintomind.com/hardware/
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Alternative 2: For other screens we recommend Ugoos which connects to the back of the screen and uses the Android player-app. See more information on https://pintomind.com/hardware/
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Alternative 3: Replace the screen. Maybe it is time for a bigger screen? Choose between Samsung and Sony - see https://pintomind.com/hardware/
We recommend that screens that are displayed on Windows change to use the player-app that we have made. The app uses the newest Windows-updates in order to provide the best display possible. If you previously have installed the Visual Basic Script that we made earlier, you will have to replace this with the player-app.
Android, Chrome and Sony that are displayed with our player have support for https, and are already ready for https. For these the transition is small - or they are already using https. You can read more about the different solutions here: Android, Chrome and Sony
For Philips Signage Solution-screens of the type D-Line, Q-Line and P-Line, we recommend to change from http to https in the address-field under settings for browser, which you will find in the set-up-guide. Our experience with these screens, is that some support https, others don’t. If the screen displays an error-message after changing from http to https, we recommend Ugoos, which connects to the back of the screen. See more information on https://pintomind.com/hardware/
PinToMind GO
The Go-apps both for Android and iOS support https, and should be able to handle the transition well. If you have shared a link to Go on a website or intranet or something, you have to check that this is using https.
Ask us!
Change to https now, and contact us to receive help and recommendations regarding what you should do. We can do this together! 💫