How to Lock iPad to One App Kiosk Mode?

  • January 15, 2019

iPads are great kiosk devices – a lock iPad to one app for your business or educational purpose. They are known for their visual delight and attractive user interface when it comes to showcasing your products or services. You can deploy an iPad as a kiosk or as a conference booth display either in your retail stores, shopfronts, or offices to exhibit your business, products, and solutions in a fun and interactive way to prospective customers. It has its own “cool appeal”, which makes it highly suitable for sales and marketing display as well as for other advertising display purposes.

If you have your own business and have iPads at your store to inform customers about your product, then you need to lock the iPad to a single app (only your business app), so that customers won’t be able to access anything apart from your product information.

Lockdown iPad to One App

However, you don’t want your potential customers, executives, or booth visitors to tamper with your devices and the settings as it’s important to ensure that your enterprise iPads are being used for work and no other unwanted purposes. In other words, how to lock iPad to a single app or specific app mode.

So, if you are preparing to use your iPad in a public environment, and are looking to prevent the device, setting and data misuse, app switching, or limit hardware and software access while focusing only on the content that you intend to display to people – you have come across the right information piece!

You can seamlessly lock iPads to single app mode with iPad Kiosk Mode, which restricts user access to a single application, and it involves some really simple steps.

At first, please ensure that you are working with managed iPads before applying this feature.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Lock iPad to One App

Before you start using your iPad as a kiosk,

Step 1 – Sign up on Scalefusion to Lock iPad to One App

To use the iPad kiosk mode feature for lockdown iPad into a single app mode, you need to have a Scalefusion Account.

Step 2 –  Setting Up APNs Account

It allows Scalefusion to remotely connect to your devices. This is a necessary step to be done to form a mutual trust between Scalefusion and your Apple Account. Once you have Apple ID and are ready with your Scalefusion account and Apple account details,
you need to –

  • Download a CSR (a file) from Scalefusion
  • Upload the downloaded file to Apple Account
  • Download a PEM file that Apple provides
  • Upload the PEM file to Scalefusion dashboard

Video Guide: Please watch the video below to get a visual walk-through.

Step 3 – Make an iPad a Supervised Device Using AC2

A Supervised iOS device allows you to enforce strict policies and control more features on the iOS devices. For corporate-owned iOS devices, it is quite helpful to make a device supervised so that you can get enhanced control on the device. 

Apple has provided a process to convert any iOS device to a Supervised device using the Apple Configurator2 (AC2) software.

Video Guide: Please watch the video below to get a visual walk-through.

Step 4 – Enroll iPad using a QR Code

Enrolling an iPad device by using the QR Code helps to simplify the process of onboarding the device. This enrollment avoids manual error with time-saving steps and efficient provisioning of iOS devices.

Video Guide: Please go through the video to see how to enroll an iOS device.

iOS 12.1 and Below Devices: If you are using a device running 12.1 and below, please use the video below.

iOS 12.2 and Above Devices: If you are using a device running 12.2 and above, please use the video below.

Step 5 – Create Apple Device Profile

Once you login to the Scalefusion dashboard, which you will find totally easy-to-use and comprehend, you need to take the following steps:

i) Choose to CREATE NEW PROFILE.

 How to Lockdown an iPad to Single App Kiosk Mode - Step 1


ii) Select “Apple” for the iOS devices, thereafter enter the Profile name and then press submit.

 How to Lockdown an iPad to Single App Kiosk Mode - Step 2


iii) Enable your application which you want to run on your iPads in single/one App Mode in the Select Apps section

 How to Lockdown an iPad to Single App Kiosk Mode - Step 3


iv) Thereafter navigate to the RESTRICTIONS section and click on the SINGLE APP MODE tab. Choose the Single App Mode as shown in the reference image

 How to Lockdown an iPad to Single App Kiosk Mode - Step 4

v) Select the application that you want to set and the one enabled from the Default Application Dropdown. Create a Profile or Update the Profile to save the settings.

Once, you select a profile and save the settings, it will be applied to all your managed iPads, which will now run in single app mode.

Now you Successfully Lock iPad Apps Individually

Video Guide: Please watch the video below to get a visual walk-through.

There are various other settings, which can be controlled in Single/One App Mode.

lock iPad apps individually Setting Table


Easy, isn’t it? Scalefusion as an all-inclusive iOS Kiosk Software makes it a breeze to set up your iPad to a single App Mode, promising total ease-of-use and purposefulness for your business requirements. In addition, Scalefusion provides various other tools to remotely monitor, control, and secure all your iPads across your organization, which gives a clear boost to your device performance, employee productivity, and overall business efficiency.

Thousands of businesses rely upon Scalefusion for managing their mobile device, desktops, laptops and other endpoints

Nema Buch is a Research & Marketing professional, also writes for Scalefusion on Enterprise Mobility trends, SaaS, and different Industry Verticals.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Exciting Products.
Cutting-Edge Technology.
Powerful Insights.
Delivered Straight to Your Inbox!

No spam, no BS, unsubscribe at any time.