Bluetooth Printer Setup - Android

In this article you will learn how to add a bluetooth Zebra label printer to the Android version of Print Station.
 
NOTE: This is specifically for Android Print Station.  For information on adding a Printer to the Windows or macOS version please see the Local Installation for Windows or Local Installation for macOS articles.
 
Please ensure that you have a compatible Zebra, bluetooth 4.0 enabled printer.  In the instructions and video below we are using a Zebra ZD421.
 
TIP: As you may be on a different version of Android from a different manufacturer than we are using for this guide, some of the menu items/settings may be in a different location, or have slightly different names. Don't be alarmed if you can not find the exact same menu item, but please look for a similarily named item if yours is different.  For example: Bluetooth may not be under "Connections" but may be under "Connected Devices".
 
  • Turn on your printer and wait for it to become fully active.  If using a ZD421 model, this will be indicated by the status light of the printer being solid green .  Please note: The last icon may be solid red which indicates that your printer is not connected to a wireless network.  This is not an error and is completly normal as your printer is probably not connected to a wireless network.
  • On your Android device navigate to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth (or a similarly named menu item that takes you to bluetooth settings)
  • Ensure that Bluetooth is enabled, and scan for available devices.
  • After a 15s-60s your Zebra printer should pop up on the available devices list.  The name of your printer will be it's serial number which can be located on a sticker underneath or on the rear of your printer to confirm.
  • Tap on your printer in the available devices list.
  • Your printer should print out a label with the passkey/PIN which is displayed on your tablet.  This is to confirm that you are paring with the right printer incase you have more than one.
  • Tap "Pair" to confirm and connect your tablet to the printer.
  • Launch Print Station and navigate to the "More" tab.
  • Scroll down to "Printer Setup" and tap "Connect a printer" then tap "Bluetooth"
  • A pop up may appear asking to allow Print Station to access location data, and also to allow Print Station to connect to and determine the location of nearby devices.  Please tap "While using the app" and/or "Allow" on both these requests.  You will not be able to use a Bluetooth printer if you do not allow this.
NOTE: There is a minor bug in some versions of Android where upon tapping allow for these permission requests that the application (Print Station) does not get the permissions straight away.  To fix this you simply need to foce close Print Station by tapping on the recent/overview button on the Android navigation bar (this is usually either 3 vertical lines ||| or a square ▢ icon) and swiping Print Station up and off the screen.  After doing this please launch Print Station and navigate to More > Printer Setup > Connect a printer > Bluetooth.
 
  • Your printer should appear in the list of Bluetooth devices, displayed by it's serial number.
  • Tap on your printer and then tap on "Confirm Printer" on the lower left hand corner.
  • You will now be connected to your printer and Print Station should display "Connected to XXserialnumberXX (Bluetooth) at the bottom left corner.

If you are having trouble connecting to your printer, or your printer appears to be connected in Print Station but will not print, please see the Android - Bluetooth Printer Troubleshooting article. 

Below you can watch a short video of the complete process: