Tablet setup

For kiosks and kitchen screens · Updated October 13, 2026

Before you start (every tablet)

• Power: keep it on a charger during service. A screen that stays on all day runs a battery down in a few hours.
• Internet: join the truck's Wi-Fi or hotspot and tell the tablet to join it automatically.
• Updates: let the tablet install system updates overnight, not during service (iPad: Settings → General → Software Update → Automatic Updates; Android: Settings → Software update).
• Pair it: in Admin → Tablets, add the tablet and scan its QR code with the tablet's camera. If you add the kiosk to the home screen on an iPad (below), add it first and pair from the home-screen icon.
• Exit PIN: set one in Admin → Tablets → PIN… so staff can open the kiosk's settings (the gear). This is separate from the tablet's own passcodes below.
• In the sun: brightness all the way up, and keep the tablet out of direct sun when you can. Tablets slow down or shut off when they get too hot.

iPad

1. Open the page

• Kiosk: in Safari, open app.getstreetkiosk.com/kiosk, tap Share (the square with the arrow) → Add to Home Screen → Add. Open the kiosk from the new icon. It fills the whole screen with no address bar. Pair it from there: the home-screen kiosk keeps its own pairing, separate from Safari.
• Kitchen screen: Safari is fine. Open app.getstreetkiosk.com/kds and pair it.

2. Keep the screen on

• Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never.
• Settings → Battery → Low Power Mode off (it shortens Auto-Lock).
• The kiosk and kitchen pages also ask the iPad to stay awake while they're open, but the Auto-Lock setting is what counts.

3. Lock it to the page with Guided Access

Guided Access keeps the iPad on one app. The Home button, swipes and notifications do nothing until someone enters the Guided Access passcode.

1. Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access → turn it on.
2. Tap Passcode Settings → Set Guided Access Passcode. Pick a code for managers only, not the iPad's own passcode.
3. On the same screen, set Display Auto-Lock → Never.
4. Open the kiosk (the home-screen icon) or the kitchen page.
5. Triple-click the top button (or the Home button on iPads that have one). Tap Options: turn off Top Button (Sleep/Wake) and Motion (stops the screen turning). Leave Keyboards on, because customers type their name. Leave Touch on.
6. Tap Start.

To get out (to charge, restart, or change settings): triple-click the top or Home button, enter the Guided Access passcode, and tap End. Start it again the same way.

4. No interruptions

• Control Center → Focus → Do Not Disturb on. Or, in Settings → Notifications, turn off notifications for apps the tablet doesn't need.
• Kitchen screen: volume up, the side switch (if there is one) not on silent, and Guided Access's Volume Buttons option off so nobody turns it down by bumping it.

Android

Menus differ a little between brands. Samsung's names are in brackets.

1. Open the page

• In Chrome, open app.getstreetkiosk.com/kiosk (or /kds for a kitchen screen) and pair it.
• For a full-screen kiosk: Chrome menu (⋮) → Add to Home screen (or Install app), then open it from the new icon. It shares Chrome's pairing, so there's no need to pair again.

2. Keep the screen on

• Settings → Display → Screen timeout → the longest time offered.
• To keep it on for good while it's charging, turn on Stay awake:
  1. Settings → About tablet [→ Software information] → tap Build number seven times, then enter the tablet's PIN. This turns on Developer options.
  2. Settings → System → Developer options [Settings → Developer options] → Stay awake on.
  3. Leave every other developer option as it is.
• Battery saver [Power saving] off. It dims the screen and shortens the timeout.

3. Lock it to the page with app pinning

1. Settings → Security → App pinning (or Screen pinning) → on, with Ask for PIN before unpinning on. [Settings → Security and privacy → More security settings → Pin app.] Give the tablet a PIN first if it has none.
2. Open the kiosk (the home-screen icon, or Chrome).
3. Open Recent apps: the square button, or swipe up from the bottom and hold.
4. Tap the app's icon at the top of its card → Pin.

To unpin: hold Back and Recent apps together (with buttons), or swipe up and hold (with gestures), then enter the tablet's PIN.

If you want more than pinning, such as starting the kiosk automatically after a restart, kiosk browser apps from Google Play (for example Fully Kiosk Browser) can do that. They're separate products with their own price, and StreetKiosk doesn't need them.

4. No interruptions

• Do Not Disturb on (swipe down → Do Not Disturb), and turn off auto-rotate so the screen stays the way you mounted it.
• Kitchen screen: media volume up. The chime plays through media volume.

Kitchen screens: the chime

Browsers won't play sound until someone has touched the page. After opening or reloading the kitchen screen, tap it once. Each screen can pick its own chime under the gear (⚙). ▶ plays a sample.

Other tablets

We haven't tested Amazon Fire tablets. They don't come with Chrome or app pinning, so we suggest an iPad or an Android tablet with Google Play. A laptop or phone works for the admin page and the sales dashboard.

Something not right?

• The screen went dark: check Auto-Lock (iPad) or Stay awake and Screen timeout (Android), and that the tablet is charging.
• An iPad kiosk asks to be paired again after adding it to the home screen: that's expected. The home-screen kiosk keeps its own pairing. Pair it once from the icon.
• No chime on the kitchen screen: tap the screen once, check the volume and silent switch, and try ▶ under the gear.
• You need to reload the page: open the gear (exit PIN) → Reload. On a pinned or Guided Access tablet you don't need to unlock it first.
• Still stuck? Ask 💬 Help on the admin page, or email hello@getstreetkiosk.com.