iOS Companion: Kiosk Mode for Wall-Mounted Displays

[nstefanelli]

Problem

Many users run Home Assistant on dedicated wall-mounted iPads and tablets. Currently, these setups suffer from several issues:

1. No screensaver - Screen burn-in on always-on displays
2. No navigation lockdown - Accidental swipes exit the dashboard
3. No remote control - Cannot wake/sleep the display remotely
4. Auto-lock issues - Must disable auto-lock in iOS Settings or use Guided Access
5. Connection issues after sleep - Devices lose WebSocket connection
6. No doorbell/camera integration - No way to show camera popups on events

Users resort to third-party kiosk apps, Guided Access, or complex workarounds that do not integrate well with Home Assistant.

Proposed Solution

A built-in Kiosk Mode accessible from Settings > Companion App > Kiosk Mode that transforms the device into a dedicated display.

Settings Location

Settings > Companion App > Kiosk Mode
├── Enable Kiosk Mode (toggle)
├── Security
│   ├── Exit PIN
│   ├── Allow Face ID/Touch ID
│   └── Secret Exit Gesture (corner tap)
├── Display
│   ├── Hide Status Bar
│   ├── Prevent Auto-Lock ← Uses isIdleTimerDisabled API
│   ├── Lock Navigation
│   └── Edge Touch Protection
├── Screensaver
│   ├── Idle Timeout
│   ├── Mode (Clock/Photos/Dim/Blank)
│   └── Brightness Schedule
├── Dashboard
│   ├── Default Dashboard (picker)
│   ├── Kiosk Mode URL (?kiosk parameter)
│   └── Dashboard Rotation
└── Camera & Detection
    ├── Wake on Motion
    └── Wake on Presence

Screen Management

• Prevent Auto-Lock: Uses isIdleTimerDisabled API - no need to change iOS Settings or use Guided Access
• Screensaver with multiple modes (clock, photos, dim, blank)
• Idle timeout with configurable duration
• Wake on touch, motion detection, or presence detection (using front camera)
• Day/night brightness scheduling

Navigation Lockdown

• Disable swipe gestures and pull-to-refresh
• Hide status bar for full-screen experience
• Edge protection to ignore accidental touches
• Secret exit gesture (multi-tap corner) with PIN/FaceID protection

Remote Control via Notifications

14 notification commands to control the display from HA automations:

• command_screen_on/off - Wake/sleep display
• command_brightness - Set brightness level
• command_navigate - Switch dashboards
• command_show_camera - Show camera popup (doorbell integration)
• command_tts - Text-to-speech announcements
• And more...

Camera Popup

• PiP-style overlay for doorbell/security cameras
• Action buttons (talk, unlock, snapshot)
• Auto-dismiss timer
• Triggered via notification command

Working Implementation

I have a fully working implementation ready to contribute: https://github.com/nstefanelli/ha-kiosk/tree/haframe

• 40 new files in Sources/App/Kiosk/
• Builds and runs on iOS 15+
• Full documentation in README-KIOSK.md
• Self-contained in a Kiosk/ directory

Example Automations

Show doorbell camera popup:

automation:
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.doorbell_ring
      to: "on"
  action:
    - service: notify.mobile_app_kitchen_tablet
      data:
        message: "Doorbell"
        data:
          homeassistant:
            command: "command_show_camera"
            entity_id: camera.doorbell
            type: doorbell
            auto_dismiss: 60

Wake display on motion:

automation:
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: binary_sensor.hallway_motion
      to: "on"
  action:
    - service: notify.mobile_app_kitchen_tablet
      data:
        message: "command_screen_on"

Navigate to security dashboard on alarm:

automation:
  trigger:
    - platform: state
      entity_id: alarm_control_panel.home
      to: "triggered"
  action:
    - service: notify.mobile_app_kitchen_tablet
      data:
        message: "Alarm"
        data:
          homeassistant:
            command: "command_navigate"
            path: "/lovelace/security"

Additional Context

This addresses a long-standing gap in the iOS Companion app for dedicated display use cases. Happy to discuss the implementation approach, create a PR, or break this into smaller pieces if preferred.

Originally posted to home-assistant/iOS#4195, redirected here per maintainer request.

[bgoncal]

Exciting! You can open a PR and we take from there reviewing and covering edge cases that may happen.

[regg00]

Following this for sure

[a7ent]

It be great to add a camera stream function from the iPad front camera to add as an addition security/nanny cam funtion. Preferably in that could be added to an existing nvr

[1activegeek]

Is there a PR to follow?

[neyzm]

home-assistant/iOS#4218

[nstefanelli]

Update: PR 1 Merged — Kiosk Mode Roadmap for PRs 2-6

Kiosk mode core has been merged! 🎉 PR #4422 ships the foundation — settings, screensaver (blank/dim/clock with 4 styles), secret exit gesture, status bar hiding, and biometric/passcode authentication. It's currently gated behind TestFlight with a BETA label while we continue validation.

Here's the roadmap for the remaining PRs. Each one is self-contained and significantly smaller than PR 1. Looking for feedback on priority and whether any features should be added, removed, or reordered.

---

PR 2 — Sensors & Commands (~700 lines)

Expose kiosk state to Home Assistant and enable remote control via notifications. Uses existing mobile_app infrastructure — no HA-side changes needed.

Sensors: kiosk mode (binary), screen state, brightness, current dashboard, screensaver state.

Commands: screen on/off, set brightness, navigate to dashboard, refresh page, start/stop screensaver, enable/disable kiosk mode.

PR 3 — Dashboard & Navigation Control (~600 lines)

Lock the kiosk to a specific dashboard and prevent accidental navigation. Default dashboard URL, native HA kiosk mode (?kiosk parameter to hide sidebar/header), navigation lockdown (disable back gesture, pull-to-refresh, scroll bounce), and edge protection overlay.

PR 4 — Camera Detection for Wake (~1,100 lines)

Use the iPad's front camera to detect motion or presence and wake the display. Lightweight motion detection via CoreImage frame comparison, person/face detection via Vision framework, configurable wake triggers. All processing on-device, no recording.

PR 5 — Camera Popup (~1,300 lines)

Show external HA camera feeds (doorbell, security cameras) as an overlay on the kiosk display. Triggered via notification command, supports HLS and MJPEG streams, fullscreen and picture-in-picture modes, configurable size/position, auto-dismiss, and action buttons for doorbells.

PR 6 — Screensaver Expansion (~1,100 lines)

New screensaver modes and brightness scheduling. Photo screensaver (device photos, iCloud shared albums with crossfade), custom URL screensaver (any URL or secondary dashboard), day/night brightness schedule, and clock with HA entity values (weather, temperature, etc.).

---

@bgoncal — would love your feedback on priority and scope when you're back. Currently focused on beta testing PR 1 in TestFlight before starting PR 2.

[bgoncal]

Added to my todo list for 23rd of March when I'm back, meanwhile feel free to propose PRs, I would start making it bullet proof what is already implemented, perhaps when I am back we could even release this phase 1 to the App Store.

[bgoncal]

I would start with PR 4, I believe its a basic funcionality that user expects to come on V1, then later PR 2 will make it more customizable for the advanced user.

[nstefanelli]

@bgoncal Sounds good, I haven't run into any other issues in testing so far with the TestFlight release from PR1 (other than the bug fix PR you merged). Anything you have seen? I'll start to work on PR4 in the meantime and re-organize so that it is PR2.

[bgoncal]

Not really, I didn't have enough time to test it though, but it looks good to be released as a beta feature in the next release

[bgoncal]

I will start by removing the testflight check so when a new release is prepared it is included ✅

[YoaverageApplefanboy]

May I suggest using the kiosk device as sort of a syncing hub for the Apple ecosystem? For example, you could sync iCloud photos, calendar events, Reminders, and notes to and from Home Assistant. Calendars can be synced using Caldav but I don't think iCloud Photos, reminders, and notes can be.

[nstefanelli]

Hi @YoaverageApplefanboy, I don't believe this to be in scope of Kiosk functionality. If you'd like, you may open a separate feature request.

[simcc]

The Soundweb Motion Control App solves the Kiosk mode pretty well on iOS...ancient app but it still works...one nice thing is you load the panel from the main software...and then the app only shows the page you loaded to it...you can lock it from the programming app and the user can't edit it in any way, only interact...so if you put an iOS device in single app only mode, you basically get a near perfect kiosk...

You could do something similar, have a separate kiosk app for HA, rather than have a setting in the usual iOS app...and you just load in what you want to display in that app from Home Assistant...that way you could really lock it down / optimise it for kiosk use.

I would be handy for admins also...so you have the normal iOS app for complicated stuff...and then you have the Kiosk app for quick actions etc...

my 2c

https://help.harmanpro.com/hiqnet-motion-control/motion-control-using-the-hiqnet-motion-control-appaspx

[mescanne]

Hello -

I'm fairly new to iOS and a very naive question: should the new emerging Kosk (ie with the first PR) include locking down the home button? My iPad is old and has a home button. It still works fine - it would need to also be locked down.

Thanks!

[simcc]

pretty sure there's no way to do that unless you use single app mode...

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/apple-configurator-mac/cadbf9c172/mac

[bgoncal]

https://github.com/orgs/home-assistant/discussions/2403#discussioncomment-16547234

[YoaverageApplefanboy]

Not sure what the designers of this have in mind, but I certainly would lock the home button down if I was designing this.From Andrew J. GodwinOn Apr 11, 2026, at 3:09 AM, Mark Scannell ***@***.***> wrote: Hello - I'm fairly new to iOS and a very naive question: should the new emerging Kosk (ie with the first PR) include locking down the home button? My iPad is old and has a home button. It still works fine - it would need to also be locked down. Thanks! —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[bgoncal]

iOS is different from android, we cannot lock the user in a single app neither disabling buttons, if you want to lock your device in 1 app you need to use iOS "guided access"

[zirotto]

This is probably a dumb question. But is there any way to help test this? I would love to help QA test the app.

I dont own any Mac or MacBook personally so i can't compile the app myself.

[1activegeek]

It has actually been added to the current app. I've seen it in my settings with a little "Labs" tag on it. Just open the companion app settings inside the app. Though, there isn't any documentation I've found at the moment - so the operational process is something I'm not quite clear on yet myself.

[zirotto]

Oh I see it, thanks! Seems to work great.

…

On Fri, 17 Apr 2026 at 15:26, Shawn Mix ***@***.***> wrote: It has actually been added to the current app. I've seen it in my settings with a little "Labs" tag on it. Just open the companion app settings inside the app. Though, there isn't any documentation I've found at the moment - so the operational process is something I'm not quite clear on yet myself. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2403?email_source=notifications&email_token=AE5JYZYAZDJV5TNAFUQR4PD4WIWIFA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNRWGAZTKMBSUZZGKYLTN5XKM3LBNZ2WC3FFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-16603502>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AE5JYZ2NHOQZF4QKWM3YTHL4WIWIFAVCNFSM6AAAAACRGSX4ESVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMNRQGM2TAMQ> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: <home-assistant/feature-requests/repo-discussions/2403/comments/16603502@ github.com>

-- Met vriendelijke groet, Tim Kattevilder

[ng-pruiti]

This is a fantastic feature! Is there a way (or will there be) so that it always opens the same dashboard view at screen wake. For instance, I have a general home view from which I can navigate to specific room pages: if I navigate to, say, the bedroom page and leave it there so that the screensaver kicks in, I would like the kiosk to load back the general page when I re-wake the kiosk.

[scottjaffa]

This feature is much appreciated.

Based on a quick test, one issue is to unlock kiosk mode it is asking for touch ID and I don't see a way to fall back to passcode. Expected - ability to cancel touch ID (the sensor is blocked by the ipad cover) and use passcode to unlock.