# Getting started > What Kiosky is, what you need, how to install it and how the five-step setup wizard works. ## What Kiosky is Kiosky is an Android kiosk app. You point it at a dashboard, a website, a signage page or a single installed app, and it keeps that on screen. It can: - show any web page full screen in a built-in browser, with several dashboards you can rotate, schedule or switch remotely; - lock the tablet so only Kiosky is usable (a "soft lock" with no computer, or a "full lock" through Android's Device Owner mode), or just run as a normal app that stays out of your way; - manage the screen: brightness, dimming, a clock or photo screensaver, night schedules, battery care; - talk to Home Assistant (or any MQTT system), expose a local REST API and a web admin page, and act as a voice satellite; - use the front camera for motion, presence and snapshots, entirely on the device. Home Assistant is a first-class citizen, but it is not required. Kiosky works just as well with openHAB, Node-RED, Grafana, a status page or any URL. ## What you need | Need | Details | |---|---| | Android device | Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer. Tablets and phones both work. | | A page to show | Any `http://` or `https://` address the tablet can reach. | | Computer with `adb` | Only for the optional **full lock** (Device Owner). Soft lock and normal mode need no computer. | | Home Assistant | Optional. For sign-in, camera popups and voice you need a long-lived access token from your HA profile. | | MQTT broker | Optional. Needed for Home Assistant entities and MQTT commands. | | Kiosky Pro | Optional. See [Kiosky Pro](pro.md). | A front camera is only needed for the motion, presence and QR-import features. A microphone is only needed for voice. ## Install Kiosky is distributed through Google Play. > **Coming soon.** The public Google Play listing is not live yet. This page will link to it when it is. Open the app once it is installed. If no dashboard or app has been configured yet, the setup wizard starts by itself. ## The setup wizard The wizard has five steps. A progress rail shows where you are, and **Back** is available on every step except the first. You can change every answer later in Settings. ### Step 1: What to show Pick what this tablet displays: - **Home Assistant**: a kiosk-friendly URL for your HA instance, with Home Assistant sign-in and integration switched on. - **Another dashboard or website**: openHAB, Node-RED, Grafana, a status page, signage, any URL. - **A single app**: lock the tablet to one installed app, such as a vendor dashboard, a music app or a signage player. ### Step 2: Dashboard address (or app) For the two web choices, enter the address. The default for Home Assistant is `http://homeassistant.local:8123`. If you omit the scheme, Kiosky adds `http://`. - For Home Assistant there is an **Add ?kiosk to the URL** switch (on by default). It appends `?kiosk` so a kiosk-mode card in your HA frontend can hide the header and sidebar. Kiosky can also hide the header on its own, see [Dashboards & browser](dashboards.md#hiding-the-home-assistant-header-and-sidebar). - **Test connection** checks that the tablet can reach the address and reports "Reachable" with the HTTP status or "Not reachable from this device". - A plain `http://` address works on a home network but is not encrypted. Kiosky warns you. - If the address redirects to a different host, Kiosky adds that host to the allowed hosts automatically. For **A single app**, choose the app from the list of installed apps. Kiosky keeps it on screen and reopens it if it closes. Dimming and the screensaver are not available in app mode because Kiosky cannot see touches inside another app. The first dashboard you create is named **Home**. ### Step 3: Admin PIN Set a PIN of 4 to 12 digits. It protects leaving the kiosk and changing settings. You can **Skip** this step, but then anyone who knows the exit gesture can open Settings. You can add a PIN later under Settings, Lock & security, Admin PIN. The exit gesture is shown on this step: **tap the top-left corner of the screen 5 times quickly**. ### Step 4: Kiosk lock Choose how Kiosky should run: - **Locked kiosk**: Kiosky owns the screen. For full lock the step shows the `adb` command to run on a computer and updates by itself when Device Owner becomes active. If you would rather not use a computer, **Use soft lock** makes Kiosky the home app instead. - **Normal app**: Home and Back work and other apps stay usable. Kiosky keeps Home Assistant, MQTT, voice and sensors running in the background, opens on boot and comes to the front when Home Assistant shows something. [Choosing a mode](modes.md) explains the differences in depth. ### Step 5: Keep running Android likes to stop background apps. This step walks you through the permissions that keep Kiosky alive: - **Battery optimisation**: exempt Kiosky. - **Status notification**: allow the notification that shows the kiosk service is running. - **Manufacturer battery manager**: on Honor, Huawei, Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco, Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Motorola devices Kiosky shows the manufacturer-specific steps and an **Open** button for app settings. See [Troubleshooting](troubleshooting.md#start-on-boot-and-vendor-auto-start-screens) for each vendor. - **Default home app**: needed for soft lock, so the Home button returns to Kiosky. - **Come back to the front**: allow "Display over other apps" so Kiosky can reopen itself after a crash and come forward when Home Assistant needs it. Tap **Start kiosk** (or **Start Kiosky** in normal mode) to finish. ## After setup Your dashboard is on screen. To open Settings at any time, **tap the top-left corner 5 times**, then enter the PIN if you set one. Settings has eight groups: | Group | What it holds | |---|---| | Dashboard | Kiosk mode (browser or single app), start URL, allowed hosts, reload, page display, navigation, extra dashboards, Home Assistant sign-in and theme, rotation and planner | | Kiosky Pro | Plan and activation | | Screen & power | Appearance, keep-screen-on, brightness, idle timers, screensaver and photo frame, night mode, battery care | | Lock & security | Kiosk lock, Device Owner lock options, allowed apps, pausing, exiting, admin PIN, remote-control switches | | Voice | Voice assistant, wake word | | Camera & sensors | Motion, presence, tamper, live stream, QR config import | | Connections | REST API and admin page, MQTT | | Device | Device name and info, daily maintenance, backup and restore, logs | On a narrow screen the groups appear as a list; on a tablet they form a sidebar. ## Next steps - Decide how locked the tablet should be: [Choosing a mode](modes.md). - Add more dashboards or a schedule: [Dashboards & browser](dashboards.md). - Connect Home Assistant: [Home Assistant integration](home-assistant.md). - Let an assistant do the setup: [Set up Kiosky with an AI assistant](ai-setup.md).