Lobby screen setup
The lobby screen is a web page, so it runs on anything with a browser. Most owners ask the same thing: which iPad and which stand? Here's what we'd buy, and how to set it up in ten minutes.
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For a lobby with no counter. A locking stand keeps the iPad from walking off and puts it at eye level by the door.
Best overall
Steel locking case, heavy base, tilts and turns. Fits the current iPad and 10.2–11" iPads. The one we'd put in a lobby.
View on Amazon ›Light and simple
Thin pole, heavy base, adjusts to about eye height. Clamps almost any iPad or tablet. No lock, so it suits a lobby someone's usually near; the bendy neck gives a little when tapped.
View on Amazon ›Budget locking
Locking clamp on a pole for about half the money. Hundreds of reviews from shops and offices.
View on Amazon ›Slim podium
Narrow podium look that reads like a host stand. Costs more; looks the most finished.
View on Amazon ›For a front table or shelf. Lock it if the lobby is ever empty.
Locking
Lock and key, weighted base, swivels so a customer can turn it toward them.
View on Amazon ›Simple
No lock. Fine on a staffed desk or in an owner's office.
View on Amazon ›Customers can tap a pro and book from it, so a touch screen beats a TV.
Recommended
Fits every stand above. Guided Access locks it to the lobby page so nobody wanders off into settings. Any iPad from the last few years works too.
View on Amazon ›Don't skip
Floor stands run the cable down the pole, and the outlet is rarely right there. Get one long enough to reach.
View on Amazon ›Already have a TV in the lobby? It shows the screen from across the room. Customers book from the QR code on it instead of tapping.
For any TV
Plug into the TV, install the Silk Browser app, open your screen link. Use it if the TV has no browser of its own.
View on Amazon ›Ten-minute setup
Keep it awake
Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never. Keep it plugged in.
Open your screen link
In Safari, open the lobby screen link from your dashboard's location page. It redraws itself every minute; you never touch it again.
Turn on Guided Access
Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access → on, and set a passcode only you know.
Lock it
Back in Safari on the lobby page, triple-click the top button and tap Start. Customers can tap a pro and book, but can't leave the page.
Check the dashboard
Your location page shows "screen live" once the iPad is showing the page.
Don't have a lobby screen yet? See what it shows, or start free.
Questions
A locking floor kiosk stand, like the Mount-It! Anti-Theft iPad Floor Kiosk. Salon suite lobbies are often empty, so the iPad needs to be locked in, and a floor stand puts it at eye level by the door where walk-ins see it first.
Either. An iPad lets customers tap a pro and book right there. A TV shows the screen from across the room, and customers book from the QR code on it. Any smart TV with a browser works, or add a streaming stick.
Turn on Guided Access in Settings → Accessibility, open the lobby link in Safari, then triple-click the top button to lock the iPad to that page. Set Auto-Lock to Never so the screen stays on.
The stands we list fit the 11-inch iPad (A16) and the 10th-generation iPad, and most fit 10.2–11 inch iPad Air and Pro models. Check the listing for your exact model before you buy.
No. You buy it wherever you like. These are the pieces we'd use; the links are Amazon affiliate links, which pay us a small commission at no extra cost to you.