Setting up a kiosk
Lock an Android tablet to the Tillor app, including battery, screen lock and an update over USB
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With a kiosk you lock an Android tablet to the Tillor app. Guests see the home screen, a slideshow or a receipt, and do not get into the Android settings. After a power cut the tablet starts in Tillor again. This page walks through the one-off setup. The switches you set afterwards are covered under Device settings.
Without the steps below you can switch on Lock the app, but then Android only uses screen pinning. That asks for a confirmation on the tablet and a guest can leave it. The status on the Kiosk tab then says Screen pinning. This tablet is not set up as a kiosk device.
The full lock only applies once Tillor is the owner of the device. On the Kiosk tab you read that as Set up as a kiosk: the lock is complete.
This works on Android. On iOS you can use the app as a kiosk for receipts and the home screen, but you cannot set it up as the device owner. The buttons under Android management then stay closed, with the message Available once this tablet is a provisioned kiosk device.
Before you start
You need a computer with adb on it. That is a free program from Google that lets you control an Android tablet over a USB cable. It is a one-off job per tablet, meant for people who are a bit technical. If you cannot manage, ask Tillor support.
Before you start:
- Reset the tablet to factory settings, or use a tablet that does not have an extra Google account on it yet. Android refuses an app as owner as soon as there is already an account on the device.
- The Tillor app must be installed and logged in to your organization.
- In the Android settings, switch on USB debugging (Developer options).
- Connect the tablet to the computer with a cable.
adb devicesmust show the tablet asdevice, not asunauthorized.
Tillor as the owner of the tablet
The owner of an Android device may do things an ordinary app may not, such as really locking the tablet. Give Tillor that role with this command on the computer:
adb shell dpm set-device-owner eu.tillor.app/expo.modules.tillorkiosk.KioskAdminReceiverIf the command succeeds, Android replies that the owner has been set. If it fails with a message about accounts, remove the accounts or start again from a factory reset. You can only set this command once. Another owner requires a reset again.
Then in Tillor open Settings > Tablets & kiosks, set the type to Kiosk and save. On the Kiosk tab the Kiosk device tile should now be green. The other two tiles follow once you have pushed App as home screen and Remove screen lock. These tiles are explained under Kiosk.
Battery: not letting the app fall asleep
Android, and certainly Xiaomi with HyperOS, drops the connection of an app that the system considers "asleep". The kiosk then goes offline in the middle of the night, even if the screen is supposed to be off because of night rest.
If Tillor is the owner, the app itself asks to switch off battery optimization. On most tablets that is a window where you tap Allow. On Xiaomi, HyperOS instead opens Tillor's battery page: choose No restrictions there. If you skip it, the app asks again after the next restart, and the connection stays unreliable at night.
No app can set this exception itself, not even as the owner of the device. So it remains one tap per tablet, or the command below.
If that window does not appear, set the exception from the computer during setup:
adb shell dumpsys deviceidle whitelist +eu.tillor.appAfter that, the app should keep talking to Tillor in the background, even when the screen is off.
Removing the screen lock
A pattern or PIN on the tablet means Android waits on the lock screen after every restart. The kiosk then stays black until someone comes by. The Screen lock tile warns about this: A pattern or PIN has been set.
- Open the Kiosk tab.
- Under Android management, set Remove screen lock to On.
- Choose Save and push.
The tablet does not ask for it by itself. The lock disappears the next time someone enters the pattern or PIN, for example after a restart. After that, a restart ends in Tillor.
If you do not want to wait, remove the pattern yourself in the tablet's Android settings. The tile becomes No pattern or PIN: a restart ends in Tillor.
Xiaomi: navigation buttons
As long as Tillor is the home screen, HyperOS switches the navigation from gestures to buttons. Tillor hides that bar until someone taps the home screen three times. If you choose Unlock temporarily in the app, you come back to Xiaomi's home screen. If you want gestures there again, set them in the Android settings.
What to switch on afterwards
For a tablet in an enclosure at reception or the entrance, this is a useful set. Everything is on the Kiosk tab, unless stated otherwise.
| Setting | Position | Why |
|---|---|---|
| App as home screen | On | The home button opens Tillor. Clock and battery stay visible. |
| Lock the app | On | Guests cannot leave the app. |
| Hide system UI | On | No notifications, no recent apps, no power menu. |
| Lock down the device | On | No factory reset, no safe mode, no USB transfer, no uninstalling. |
| Stay on while charging | On | The screen stays on during opening hours as long as the charger is plugged in. Night rest still takes priority. |
| Automatic time | On | Night rest follows the organization's clock, not a skewed tablet clock. |
| Screen orientation | Portrait or Landscape | On Screen and sleep, to suit the enclosure. Default is automatic rotation. |
Lock the volume holds the volume from the Receipts and sound tab, so a guest cannot use the buttons on the side.
Save and check the three tiles at the top of Kiosk. Green means the tablet reports it that way. A warning means that step has not succeeded yet.
A new app version over USB
Lock down the device switches off USB debugging and file transfer. Lock the app keeps the tablet in the app, so an installation window cannot be confirmed.
Before you install a build over the cable:
- Set Lock the app to Off.
- Set Lock down the device to Off.
- Choose Save and push and wait until the tablet releases the lock.
- Install the new version. On Xiaomi, HyperOS asks on the tablet to confirm the installation via USB: tap Install.
- Set both settings back to On and save again.
If you leave Lock down the device on, adb no longer sees the tablet. The battery exception and the ownership are kept with an ordinary update. A factory reset does not: then you start again at the dpm command.
What happens next?
- After a restart or power cut, the tablet starts in Tillor again, on the home screen.
- Guests cannot leave the app, and see no notifications or recent apps.
- The three tiles at the top of the Kiosk tab show what the tablet itself reports. After a change it can take a while before the tiles turn green, because the tablet reports every 30 to 60 seconds.
- An ordinary app update keeps the ownership and the battery exception. A factory reset does not.