Lock a device to the POS

A counter tablet can be kept on Bill&Go POS, so staff do not wander off to other apps. It keeps honest people on the POS; it is not a hard lock. Read the limits below before you count on it.

On Android

1. Sign in to the POS app as the owner or a manager. Staff do not see this switch.
2. Open Settings. Under This device, turn on Lock this device to the app.
3. Android asks in a window of its own. Say yes.
4. Turn on Android’s PIN setting, below. Without it, the lock is easy to leave.

The switch stays on that device, whoever signs in next. Signing out does not end the lock: the sign-in screen and Help still work.

Ask for PIN before unpinning

Android’s own button gesture leaves the lock: holding Back and Overview, or the same on the gesture bar. Android may even show how. With this setting on, that gesture asks for the device’s PIN. Bill&Go cannot set it for you:

1. In Android’s settings, give the device a screen lock with a PIN, and keep the PIN from staff.
2. Find app pinning, most often under Security, and turn on Ask for PIN before unpinning. The name and the place differ a little from one device to another.

What it cannot do

• Android asks every time the lock starts: at the switch, and each time the app opens. Whoever stands there can say no. The switch then says Not locked right now.
• The lock ends when the app closes or the device restarts, and the app does not open by itself after a restart. Someone has to open it and say yes again.
• While locked, Android does not let the app open another one. Open Printers, Open settings and the BasilBook link do nothing, and sign-in with Telegram is hidden. Do not count on Google or Apple sign-in either: use a password.
• Choose a USB scale before you lock the device: Android’s question about it may not come up while locked.

To unlock

An owner or a manager signs in, opens Settings and turns the switch off. Settings also opens from the screen that asks to open the POS, so a device with no open shift can be let go too.

On an iPad or iPhone

Apple lets an app lock itself only on a managed device, so there is no switch. Use Apple’s own Guided Access. Owners and managers see a line about it in Settings.

1. In the iPad’s Settings, open Accessibility, then Guided Access. Turn it on and set a passcode.
2. Open Bill&Go POS.
3. Press the side button three times (the top button or the Home button on some iPads) and press Start.
4. To leave, press it three times again and type the passcode.