A Visitor Management System (VMS) only works reliably at reception if the tablet stays locked on the sign-in app. Without a kiosk lockdown, a curious visitor can swipe out of the Vizito app, open the browser, change the brightness, switch the language, or close the app entirely, which leaves the next visitor stuck on a blank home screen. On Android, the built-in App Pinning feature offers a basic version of this, but on many devices it can be exited with a long-press on the back button and it does not protect against system gestures, notifications or accidental volume changes. For a production reception desk, a dedicated kiosk app is the safer option.
KioWare for Android is one of the most widely deployed Android kiosk solutions and integrates cleanly with Vizito. Once configured, the tablet boots straight into Vizito, blocks the notification shade, hides the status bar, disables the home and recent-apps buttons, and prevents anyone from launching another app. Combined with the Vizito visitor management workflow this gives you a tamper-resistant front desk that is comfortable for visitors and reliable for the receptionist.
Is the standard App Pinning offered in Android not working properly or do you find insecure, then you can choose to install the KioWare for Android Kiosk App.
Note: you do require a paid version of the app to use this in a production environment. For prices, check out the KioWare pricing page. The free trial is fully functional and is the recommended way to test the setup before you order a licence.
KioWare for Android is Android kiosk mode software designed to lockdown Android devices, securing the OS, home screen and browser, as well as limiting Android applications a user can run. This is a tablet kiosk app for Android that creates a kiosk tablet environment for your Android device.
What you need before starting
To complete the steps below you need an Android tablet running Android 7 or higher, an internet connection during setup, a Google account that is signed in on the device, and roughly fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time at the reception desk. We recommend running the configuration once on a spare tablet, writing down the exit pattern and passcode in your password manager, and only then rolling out the configuration to the production tablets. That way you avoid getting locked out of a tablet that is already in use by visitors.
Before starting, make sure that you have the Vizito app installed. If you have not yet installed it, follow this guide to install the Vizito app first.
Follow these steps to install and set up the KioWare for Android Kiosk App on your Android tablet:
Step by step guide
1 Install the application
Unlock you Android tablet and open the Google Play store.
Search for KioWare for Android Kiosk App and select the following application:
Click on install:
Once the app is installed, click on Open:
2 Configure Android permission
Next, you will have to allow some permissions in order for the app to work. Follow the guides and read the instructions that you get on screen. Allow all permissions if the tablet is only to be used for Vizito visitor management system. KioWare needs broad permissions because it has to take over the home screen, override the system overlays and prevent other apps from interfering with the sign-in flow. None of these permissions are used to read visitor data; they only control how the device behaves while Vizito is running on it. If your tablet will be shared with other apps, review the list carefully and grant only what each step actually requires.
You should see the screenshots listed below, press allow / change the settings to allow everything:
3 Configure KioWare for Android Kiosk App
Now the application will start and an initial setup wizard will be displayed. The wizard walks you through the most important settings in the right order; do not skip ahead, because some later screens depend on choices made earlier. If you make a mistake, you can always reopen the KioWare Config Tool and adjust the settings without reinstalling the app.
Accept the license agreement:
Start the wizard:
Under Select Mode, choose ‘To secure a single Android application’:
Select the Vizito application:
Now accept the following questions and make sure the KioTouch and KioWare Kiosk applications both have full control over the tablet:
For Reset/Attract Mode, select No:
Exiting KioWare, this is described at the end of this article, so click Next:
Now the wizard is completed, but some more configuration is left to be done.
Open the KioWare Config Tool and on the general tab, edit the settings as shown below:
On the tab User Interface, configure the settings as shown below:
On the tab Security, configure the settings as shown below:
Under tab Security, tap on Exit Pattern, and configure a unique pattern that you remember / write down:
Again under tab Security, tap on Exit Passcodes, and configure a unique passcode that you remember / write down.
This passcode will be requested when you try to end the KioWare Kiosk Mode.
Once everything is done, you can press the red button on top called Launch Kioware.
Set the app switcher to KioWare and choose always as the option. This makes sure that the tablet will always fall back to the KioWare app, even after a reboot or a software update. From the visitor’s perspective, the device will simply boot into the Vizito sign-in screen every time it is powered on, which is exactly what you want at a reception desk.
Everything has been set up and you can now use Vizito in Kiosk Mode. We recommend testing the full visitor flow at least once before opening the kiosk to real visitors: walk through a sign-in, trigger a host notification, print a badge if you use one, and confirm that the visitor lands back on the welcome screen at the end. If anything is off, fix it now while you still have administrative access to the device.
4 To Exit KioWare for Android Kiosk App, please follow these steps:
By default there is an exit button that will currently always appear in the bottom right corner of your screen. Tap this exit button four times to exit KioWare for Android. The default passcode is 3523.
We do not recommend this button to be permanently displayed and advise that you turn the visibility of this button “off” for production kiosks. Best practice is to have this button enabled, but visibility disabled when KioWare is running in single app mode: that way the receptionist can still exit KioWare when needed by tapping the invisible corner four times and entering the passcode, while a visitor sees nothing more than the Vizito sign-in screen.
Troubleshooting
If the tablet exits KioWare unexpectedly, check the Android battery optimisation settings and exclude both the Vizito app and the KioWare app, since aggressive power saving can kill background services and break the kiosk lockdown. If the Vizito app does not launch automatically on boot, open KioWare, go to the General tab and confirm that the Vizito app is selected as the launch application. If the screen stays black after powering on the tablet, the device usually only needs to be plugged in for a few minutes before it boots, because a fully discharged tablet that is mounted in a wall enclosure will not always charge through a low-power USB port.
Keep visitor data safe
The combination of a locked-down kiosk and the Vizito visitor management workflow keeps personal data inside your environment: visitors only enter information into the Vizito app, the data is transmitted over HTTPS to your tenant in the Vizito backoffice, and nothing is stored locally on the tablet beyond the next sign-in queue. This makes the setup straightforward to document for your GDPR/AVG records of processing and reassures visitors that their details are handled responsibly.
If you run into any issue during the KioWare setup that is not covered above, please contact our support team with the model of your tablet and the Android version, and we will help you finish the configuration.