New in 1.6: MQTT with Home Assistant discovery, a photo screensaver from your own Immich server, device standby, and the Assist microphone fix.
HAkiosk turns an iPad or iPhone into a full-screen display for any website. Set the address once, and the page fills the screen with nothing around it: no browser bars, no status bar, no sleep. Built for Home Assistant dashboards, and just as happy with a cafe menu, a meeting-room board, a photo wall or a sign.
FULL SCREEN, ALWAYS ON
• Any web page, app or Home Assistant view, edge to edge
• Stays awake for as long as you want, or let the iPad sleep on its own schedule
• Dark mode, zoom, and a kiosk-mode parameter for the Home Assistant kiosk-mode add-on
• Swipe from the left edge for Settings, from the right edge to reload
SCREENSAVER THAT KNOWS WHEN SOMEONE IS THERE
• A calm clock, a blank screen, or your own photos after a timeout you choose
• Photos come from an Immich album on your network and are stored on the tablet, so they keep showing if the Wi-Fi drops
• Optional gentle fade between photos
• Camera face detection wakes the display when someone walks up. It is off until you turn it on, and nothing is recorded or sent anywhere
HOME ASSISTANT, LOCAL AND DIRECT
• MQTT connection to your own broker: show or hide the screensaver, wake the screen, reload, change the page or settings from an automation
• Home Assistant discovery: the tablet adds itself with battery, charging, presence, a screensaver switch and a refresh button. No YAML
• Home Assistant's Assist voice button works, with the microphone permission asked the proper way
MANAGE EVERY TABLET FROM ONE PLACE
• Pair each device with a 6-digit code or a QR scan at hakiosk.com/control
• Push a new page, reload, trigger the screensaver or wake the display, on one device or all of them
• Group tablets by room, booth or location and change them together
• See which ones are online, and pull a one-shot screenshot to check what visitors see
• Included with the app, no separate account needed on the tablet
LOCK IT DOWN FOR PUBLIC USE
• A 4-digit PIN protects Settings and the admin swipes
• An in-app guide to iOS Guided Access blocks leaving the app entirely
• Lock or unlock remotely from the dashboard
MADE FOR
Home automation enthusiasts, cafes and restaurants, offices and meeting rooms, exhibitions and trade shows, shops, waiting rooms, amateur radio operators, and anyone who wants a dedicated screen that just shows the page.
Your tablet. Your page. Nothing else on the screen.
Tried this on two iPads IOS 17 and iOS 26. Works on both, but on both iPads, the option for a blank screen on sleep does not work, the screen remains lit. If you use the clock option, it will switch to that after no motion is detected and times out. It uses the iPads camera to do this. I would rather a blank screen aesthetically rather than the clock the app designer uses- or the option for different clock designs. like the other user I tried to contact the app developer, no response, I even tried his Facebook instagram linked in links he has on his website. Nope. Still for a couple of bucks, it’s pretty good and worth supporting for people like him to make things like this.
Developer Response
Thanks for the detailed feedback and for testing on multiple iPads — much appreciated.Sorry about the lack of response earlier: your Instagram message seems to have landed in the spam / message-requests section, which I unfortunately don’t always get notified about.Regarding the blank screen option: unfortunately iOS does not allow apps to fully turn off the display via code. The clock view is currently the closest workaround Apple allows while keeping the app active. That said, I understand the aesthetic preference and alternative clock styles are a good idea.Thanks again for supporting the app and for the constructive feedback 🙏
Does not work, zero response from author
SteveCreek
Do not get this, you’ll only be frustrated!This app doesn’t work: All fonts are much larger and overlapping that in normal app/web browser.The zoom setting is ignored.Not possible to reload the page.All of this wouldn’t be so bad of there would be at least an answer from the author. Over the course of the last few months I contacted multiple times and did not get even a courtesy response. It’s a black hole.Very disappointed and regretful getting this app.
Developer Response
Hi SteveCreek,I’m really sorry to hear about your experience — that’s definitely not how HAkiosk is supposed to work. I also want to clarify that I haven’t received any emails or LinkedIn messages from you, so I’m concerned that something may have gone wrong with the communication channel.I’d really like to get this resolved for you. Could you please let me know which device model and iOS version you’re using? That will help me track down the issue with the zoom setting and layout problems.Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback, and again, sorry for the frustration. I’m here and happy to help.
NEW: MQTT. Connect the app to your own broker: show or hide the screensaver, wake the screen, reload, change the page or the settings, straight from Home Assistant.
NEW: Home Assistant discovery — the tablet adds itself, with battery, charging, presence, a screensaver switch and a refresh button. No YAML.
NEW: photo screensaver from an Immich album. Photos are stored on the tablet, so they keep showing if the network drops.
NEW: optional fade between screensaver photos (Settings → Photos → Fade between photos).
NEW: Allow device standby — let the iPad sleep on its own schedule instead of staying awake all the time.
FIXED: tapping the Assist microphone on a Home Assistant dashboard closed the app. It now asks for microphone permission and works.
FIXED: face detection stays off until you turn it on, and on a fresh install the screensaver starts after the minute shown in Settings, not after 30 seconds.
Version 1.6
The developer, Surfzone OU, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Surfzone OU
Size
15.6 MB
Category
Utilities
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
