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Polaris Express Docs

Configure a kiosk device

You want to dedicate an iPad or iPhone to a single task — a wall-mounted expreScan terminal at a parking entrance, a check-in tablet at a service desk, a customer-facing display. This runbook covers placing a device into Kiosk mode so it shows only the capability you assign and hides all navigation chrome.

Kiosk mode is a UX simplification, not a security lockdown. The device still has an on-device escape gesture for recovery, and only web-admin can remove the kiosk binding remotely.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • You have Operator access to the web admin console.
  • The target device is already enrolled and visible in Devices.
  • You have decided which capability the device should present (for example, expreScan).
  • The device is on-screen, awake, and signed in.

Procedure

Section titled “Procedure”

  1. Open the device record in web admin

    In web admin, go to Devices and click the device you want to kiosk. Confirm the Last seen timestamp is recent — kiosking an offline device delays the configuration change until it reconnects.

  2. Add the kiosk capability

    In the Capabilities panel, add kiosk alongside the single capability you want the device to present (for example, expreScan). The presence of kiosk in the capability set is what activates the chrome-stripped wrapper on-device.

  3. Save and wait for the device to apply

    Click Save. The device will pick up the new capability set on its next sync. The screen will redraw with the navigation toolbar, tab bar, and status bar hidden — the chosen capability’s screen now fills the display.

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  4. Physically position the device

    Mount or place the device. If it’s customer-facing, brief floor staff on the escape gesture (see If something goes wrong below) so they can recover the device if web admin is unreachable.

Verify

Section titled “Verify”

You’ve successfully kiosked the device when all of the following are true on-device:

  • The navigation toolbar is gone (no gear icon, no back button).
  • The tab bar at the bottom is gone.
  • The iOS status bar (clock, battery, signal) is hidden.
  • Only the assigned capability’s main screen is visible.

In web admin, the device’s capability set includes kiosk and the Last seen timestamp has advanced since you saved.

If something goes wrong

Section titled “If something goes wrong”

The device still shows the toolbar after saving

Section titled “The device still shows the toolbar after saving”

The device hasn’t picked up the new capability set yet. Confirm it’s online in web admin. If it’s been more than a couple of minutes, force-quit and relaunch the app on-device — it will fetch a fresh capability set on launch.

You need to reach Settings on a kiosked device

Section titled “You need to reach Settings on a kiosked device”

There is an on-device escape gesture for exactly this case. Tap five times rapidly in the top-right corner of the screen — the same corner where the Settings gear normally lives. Each tap fires a light haptic; the fifth tap fires a success haptic and opens the Settings sheet. From Settings, you can reach Connectivity → Diagnostics to troubleshoot a device that’s lost its backend.

The escape gesture is a UX safety valve, not a security boundary. Anyone with physical access to the device can use it. Don’t kiosk a device in an environment where that’s a problem.

You need to remove kiosk from the device

Section titled “You need to remove kiosk from the device”

From web admin, open the device record, remove kiosk from its capability set, and save. The device returns to its normal multi-capability shell on its next sync. You do not sign out the device — its session and identity are preserved.

Audit and reversibility

Section titled “Audit and reversibility”
  • Capability set changes are recorded in the audit log against the device. */}
  • Removing kiosk from the capability set is fully reversible — the device returns to its normal shell with no data loss.
  • Kiosk mode does not alter the device’s session, user mapping, or any local data; it is purely a rendering mode.
Section titled “Related”