Lock an iPad or Android tablet to one app
iPad kiosk software and Android tablet kiosk software start the same way. Install this interactive kiosk software, then keep the tablet on SmartKiosk. iOS kiosk software on iPad uses Guided Access or Single App Mode. Android uses screen pinning or lock task mode. A visitor asks for a gate, a room, or a shop, and the screen shows the answer. Leave the app free to quit and the next person meets the home screen, the camera, or Settings.
The operating system has a light lock and a durable one. Guided Access on iPad and screen pinning on Android are started by someone standing at the device. Single App Mode and lock task mode are for a screen that should reopen the app after a restart, with nobody beside it.
Guided Access on iPad
Apple's Guided Access is a temporary session on one app. You can block regions of the screen, the hardware buttons, and the keyboard. The iPad does not need a management server.
Open Settings, then Accessibility, then Guided Access. Turn it on and set a passcode. Face ID or Touch ID can pause the session or end it.
Open SmartKiosk. Triple-click the top button, or the Home button on an iPad that still has one. If the Accessibility Shortcuts panel appears, tap Guided Access. A session already saved for this app can start from those settings. On a first run, circle the areas that should ignore a finger, open Session Settings, and switch off the controls you want blocked. Volume is in that list. Tap Start.
Triple-click, authenticate, and tap End when the iPad has to come back to you. On iPadOS 18 and earlier, Apple's pause gesture is a double-click. Crash Detection and Emergency Services stay off for the whole session, so end Guided Access before anyone needs an emergency call from that iPad. The passcode stays on the device. Hand it only to people who may unlock the lobby tablet. A staffed desk can live on this for a trial day.
Screen pinning on Android
In Google's lock-task article, screen pinning is the mode the person at the tablet can leave on their own. The article prints no settings path, and the menu name changes by maker. Open Security and look for App pinning or screen pinning. Turn it on, open SmartKiosk, and pin it from the recent-apps view.
The way out depends on navigation. Gesture navigation and the older three-button bar do not share an unpin gesture, and some tablets ask for the device PIN before they let go. Rehearse that unpin on the navigation mode you will actually ship. Pinning is how you see the app on a tablet today. Lock task mode is what you move to when the tablet lives in the hall.
Single App Mode on a supervised iPad
Single App Mode is for an iPad the organization supervises and owns. In Apple Configurator, open Actions, then Advanced, then Start Single App Mode. Choose SmartKiosk, set Options, and apply. Apple's deployment guide says the chosen app is forced open, other apps stay blocked, and the app opens again after a restart.
A management console sends the same behavior as the App Lock payload, com.apple.app.lock. Apple lists Automated Device Enrollment as the supported enrollment for that payload, and a device can carry only one of them. Options on the payload can disable volume buttons, touch, and Sleep/Wake. The labels for those options change from console to console.
Apple's App Lock documentation maps Autonomous Single App Mode to Mac. Count on an iPad that locks and unlocks itself only when your vendor's iPadOS notes describe that behavior.
Lock task mode on a dedicated Android tablet
Lock task mode is the dedicated-device setting in that same Google article. The allowlisted app fills the screen. Notifications stay down. Apps missing from the allowlist cannot come forward, and the home screen stays hidden unless you allowlist the home screen as well. The device policy controller writes the allowlist with setLockTaskPackages().
The mode has been in Android since 5.0. From Android 9, the policy controller can open another app's activity already inside lock task mode. On earlier releases the app calls startLockTask() itself. Google says that call falls back to screen pinning when the package was never allowlisted.
While the mode is on, the status bar is blank, Home and Overview are hidden, other apps cannot launch activities, and the lock screen is disabled. setLockTaskFeatures() puts selected pieces of that chrome back. Leave the call out and the power button still opens the global-actions dialog. Start the mode only while the tablet is unlocked. Google warns that starting it on a locked device can leave the person unable to get in.
The developer article picks up after a policy controller can already allowlist apps. Turning the tablet into a dedicated device is the provisioning flow linked from that page. Run it on a unit you can factory-reset. From Android 6, the controller leaves lock task mode by removing the package from the allowlist. Samsung and other makers add their own kiosk switches beside this API. Those switches hold the screen. SmartKiosk is the app they hold.
If the fleet already has a kiosk product
A remote reboot is why many teams buy a separate console. Fully Kiosk Browser holds an Android tablet on one start point. Kiosk Pro is the iPad product people compare it with, so check whether that license locks a web view or an installed app. SiteKiosk locks Windows and Android terminals and can publish signage. Scalefusion, Esper, and Hexnode apply a kiosk policy to a group of tablets you already manage. KioWare locks browsers on public terminals.
Ask the vendor whether the build you pay for can pin an installed app. Android users get SmartKiosk from Google Play, package com.yohita.kiosk. iPad users join the TestFlight beta while the App Store listing is still pending. A product that opens only a web address shows a browser.
Flight status and terminal maps are on the airport page. Buildings, rooms, and hours are on the campus page. When a tappable menu is the better tool, that split is on the voice and touchscreen page.
Install the app, then turn the lock on
Install from Google Play or from TestFlight. In the admin console, claim the tablet with the pairing code, assign the site, and load the directory plus the floor plan. The same place holds FAQ entries, the guest Wi-Fi code, notices, idle creatives, and which screens are online. Ask one real question on the unlocked tablet. When the answer looks right, start Guided Access, screen pinning, Single App Mode, or lock task mode.
On a site that has switched it on, Talk to a Human puts an operator on that screen for the organization's own kiosks. The operator works in the app. The Guided Access passcode and the Android policy stay with the people who look after the hardware.
Then listen. The microphone belongs to the tablet, and a case over the mic leaves an app that looks awake and says nothing. No model and no stand height has been signed off, so ask from the spot a visitor will use. Guided Access and App Lock can both kill the iPad volume buttons. Leave volume available unless you mean to block it. Google's lock-task article lists no microphone switch. A policy that blocks the speech service opens SmartKiosk and leaves it unable to hear. Prove that on the locked tablet before you leave the lobby.
The monthly figure on the pricing page is the software, per kiosk. The tablet, the enclosure, and the lock are supplied and priced apart from that.
Sources
- Apple, Guided Access. https://support.apple.com/en-us/111795
- Apple Platform Deployment, Single App Mode. https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/single-app-mode-dep9a6b4b4c/web
- Android developers, Lock task mode for dedicated devices. https://developer.android.com/work/dpc/dedicated-devices/lock-task-mode
Questions & answers.
SmartKiosk is the iPad and Android app a visitor talks to. The lock is Guided Access, Single App Mode, Android screen pinning, lock task mode, or a kiosk product your team already runs. Those belong to Apple, Google, or that vendor. Confirm it can hold the Play Store or TestFlight build.
Use it for an afternoon at a desk where staff can reach the iPad. A person starts the session on the device, and anyone with the passcode can end it. A tablet that must open SmartKiosk again after a reboot needs Single App Mode on a supervised iPad, or lock task mode on a dedicated Android tablet.
Pin a website when the screen is supposed to show a website. SmartKiosk installs from Google Play on Android and from TestFlight on iPad. A shell that only loads a web address opens a browser and never launches that install. Choose a lock that can hold the app, then pair the tablet in the admin console.
The lock chooses which app stays up. It leaves the question itself alone. Someone who cannot speak still needs a way to reach the map or the directory, and the answer has to be large enough to read. The voice and touchscreen page is where that choice is spelled out, including a loud hall.
A short code in the admin console claims the tablet. Operators then see kiosks that belong to their own organization. Directory text, floor plans, notices, a Wi-Fi QR, idle creatives, and heartbeat status are edited in that console. The Guided Access passcode and the Android device policy stay with whoever manages the hardware.
Guided Access on iPad and screen pinning on Android cost nothing and run on the tablet in front of you. They are enough to watch SmartKiosk stay up for an afternoon. Supervision, a device policy controller, or a paid shell earns its place when the fleet must recover after a reboot or when nobody can walk up to the screen.