Turn an Old Tablet Into a Locked Clock-In Kiosk

You have a spare tablet sitting in a drawer. A four-year-old iPad, or an Android that got replaced. That device is enough to run a clock-in station by the door, as long as two things are true: the kiosk opens full-screen without the browser bar in the way, and a volunteer tapping their name cannot accidentally back out into Safari, YouTube, or your email.

Below is the exact sequence for both platforms. Follow it once per device and the tablet becomes a single-purpose clock. Budget about ten minutes.

Before you touch the tablet: get the kiosk URL

Sign in as an admin, open your kiosk view, and copy the URL from the address bar. This is the page that lists worker names for tap-to-clock, and it is the page you will pin. If you have not created a workspace yet, start a free workspace and add a few names first so the kiosk has something to show.

Open that URL once in the tablet's browser before you go further. Use Safari on iPad and Chrome on Android. Confirm the names load and that tapping one records a clock in. If you also plan to post a printed code beside the tablet, the QR sign-in poster generator makes one that points at the same workspace.

iPad: Add to Home Screen, then lock it with Guided Access

The full-screen part and the lock part are two separate steps on iPad. Do both.

1. Pin the kiosk to the Home Screen

1. Open the kiosk URL in Safari.
2. Tap the Share button (the square with the upward arrow).
3. Scroll and tap Add to Home Screen.
4. Name it something like Clock In and tap Add.
5. Close Safari. Open the new icon from the Home Screen.

Launched this way, the kiosk fills the screen with no address bar and no tabs. That alone removes most of the ways someone drifts off the page.

2. Turn on Guided Access so no one can leave

Guided Access freezes the tablet on one app until you enter a passcode. Set it up:

1. Go to Settings, Accessibility, Guided Access and switch it on.
2. Tap Passcode Settings, set a passcode, and pick something your staff will not guess. Do not reuse the device unlock code.
3. Open the pinned kiosk from the Home Screen.
4. Triple-click the side button (or Home button on older iPads) to start Guided Access.
5. Tap Start in the top corner.

The tablet is now stuck on the kiosk. The Home swipe, app switcher, and notifications are all blocked. To exit, triple-click again and enter the passcode. If the screen keeps dimming and locking, go to Settings, Display and Brightness, Auto-Lock and set it to Never while the tablet is plugged in at the station.

Android: Add to Home Screen, then lock it with screen pinning

Wording varies by manufacturer (Samsung, Pixel, Lenovo), but the two steps are the same idea as iPad.

1. Pin the kiosk to the Home Screen

1. Open the kiosk URL in Chrome.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top corner.
3. Tap Add to Home screen, then Install or Add.
4. Confirm placement. An icon appears on the Home screen.
5. Open it from that icon. It runs full-screen with no browser chrome.

2. Turn on screen pinning

1. Go to Settings, Security (or Security and privacy), then find App pinning or Screen pinning.
2. Switch it on. Enable the option to ask for a PIN before unpinning.
3. Open the pinned kiosk app.
4. Open the recent-apps view (swipe up and hold, or tap the square button).
5. Tap the kiosk app's icon at the top of its card and choose Pin.

The tablet now stays on the kiosk. To exit, hold the Back and Overview buttons together (or swipe up and hold) and enter the PIN. To stop the screen from sleeping, set Settings, Display, Screen timeout to the longest available option, or keep the tablet on a charger where the display can stay on.

Test it the way a worker will

Hand the locked tablet to someone who has never seen it. Ask them to clock in and then try to escape to another app. If they can tap a name and cannot get out, you are done. Have them tap the same name again to record a clock out so you know the round trip works.

Two things worth checking on that first day. First, the tablet's clock does not affect your records: Kangaroo Clock stores every entry in UTC and displays it in your local time, so a tablet on the wrong time zone will not skew the report. Second, if someone forgets to clock out, the auto-close rule caps that entry at its start time plus your cutoff rather than letting it run overnight, so a stranded shift never inflates your hours.

If the tablet reboots or the app closes

A power blip drops the tablet out of Guided Access or screen pinning. Neither survives a restart on its own. When the tablet comes back on, unlock it, open the kiosk icon, and re-arm the lock (triple-click on iPad, pin from recents on Android). Keep the passcode written somewhere your shift leads can reach so anyone opening up can reset the station.

For the platform-specific menu names on newer OS versions, plus notes on the QR and personal-link methods, the reference at how to run the kiosk as a full-screen app stays current. When you are ready to see the tap-to-clock flow before committing a device, the live kiosk demo runs in any browser.