Lizzie
Warren

How does an iOS kiosk browser help your organization?

Lizzie Warren

Dec 29, 2022

7 min read

When Chandler and Monica moved to Westchester, New York with their twinnies, life was no longer the same. Even though Chandler is good at his job, the first task assigned was tricky. He needs to devise a solution to control the browsing capability of his employees’ iOS devices. The authority assigned him this task because they noticed that the employees were wasting time browsing non-work-related things. This task disturbed Chandler’s peace of mind and sleep. How to complete this task and impress the manager? Questions after question, none with answers, were swirling in his mind.

Seeing this, Monica came to his rescue🦸🏻‍♀️. She was the one who suggested the iOS kiosk browser. Guess what? The entire board of his company loved this suggestion and implemented it. Now, Chandler is double happy. He is going to have a promotion and he is not even tensed, as he has his lucky charm Monica with him😉.

What is the iOS kiosk browser?

You will also be keen to know more about the iOS kiosk browser. It is a safe online browser that guarantees easy access to websites and web apps authorized by the company. Moreover, the employees can use powerful web browsing capabilities and customizations with the kiosk browser while maintaining browsing security.

Most businesses now use browsers as an essential tool to perform essential business operations. They are accessible from anywhere and often used on all endpoints. However, if not used correctly, internet browsers can expose users to various risks and distract them in several ways. In addition to being a vast repository of knowledge, the internet serves as a primary entrance point for malware. This is the point where iOS kiosk browsers benefit businesses.

What is browser lockdown?

Why Hexnode kiosk browser?

Do you want to discover what makes the Hexnode kiosk browser unique among the many choices available for kiosk browsers?

Well, the answer is simple. The Hexnode kiosk browser is a well-secure browser that performs admirably for various tasks specific to unique use cases and threat models. We can utilize Hexnode’s browser lockdown features to enforce strict security settings, guard against device abuse and unintentional browser exits, and limit user access to prohibited websites.

Hexnode Kiosk Browser can function as a single-tabbed or multi-tabbed browser in kiosk mode. Additionally, Hexnode Kiosk Browser enables you to manage several browsing areas, providing consumers with a high-quality, tailored, and secure browsing experience. The users can use Hexnode Kiosk Browser like a regular browser if the device is not in kiosk mode.

Lockdown your iOS devices with Hexnode UEM

Features of Hexnode kiosk browser

The main features of the Hexnode kiosk browser include the following:

  • Customize the kiosk’s home screen with options for web app icon size, app name font size, app logo, title, peripheral settings icon, and more.
  • Provide web apps that automatically launch at device startup and load the chosen web application.
  • Offers a quick, dynamic, and personalized web view In the Android kiosk mode.
  • Disable users’ access to all device notifications.
  • During kiosk mode, disable all software and hardware keys so that admins can prevent users from exiting the active web page.
  • Permit every web app installed to the kiosk mode to support multi-tab browsing.
  • Limit peripheral configurations like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when in kiosk mode.
  • Restrict browsing to a few websites by adding URLs to a blacklist or whitelist.
  • Allow or disallow websites to use location services.
  • Configure cache settings, such as cleaning the cache, cookies, web storage, browsing history, or disabling the cache.
  • Set the maximum number of tabs a user can open in kiosk mode.
  • Set the maximum number of tabs a user can open while using incognito mode.

How does the Hexnode kiosk browser perform?

The users can access only a few web apps or URLs approved for usage in kiosk mode. The organization can even hide the browser if necessary. For that, it should be set as a background application.

Select either a single-tabbed or multi-tabbed browser for the Hexnode web console. Through the Hexnode kiosk, IT admins can also add all of the web applications (URLs) utilized regularly by the employees.


Featured resource

Hexnode Kiosk Browser

Understand the full capabilities of Hexnode’s Kiosk browser for your organization and implement cutting-edge web browsing features with top-notch security.

Download datasheet

How can you configure the iOS web app kiosk?

Organizations can use the web app kiosk policy in Hexnode to provision web pages in kiosk mode. In web app mode, Hexnode supports two browsers. They are:

  • Safari Browser:
    Only websites added as web apps or bookmarks in the browser are accessible through the Safari browser.
  • Hexnode Browser Lite:
    The web apps and websites which are whitelisted are accessible with Hexnode’s single-tab browser. This includes:
    • Single web app kiosk limits the device to using Hexnode Browser Lite to browse a specific website.
    • Multi web app kiosk adds additional websites that employees can browse in kiosks by using Hexnode Browser Lite.

Employees can use the Hexnode Browser Lite or Safari to access the websites added as web apps on the device. Access to the external URLs that are permitted by web apps may also be unrestricted with Hexnode Browser Lite. Some of the features of web app kiosk mode are:

  • The device user can browse the chosen Web App URLs in full-screen mode.
  • To view the Web URLs on the whitelist, the IT administrator can use either the Hexnode Browser Lite or Safari browser.
  • Advanced options for deleting the cache and refreshing the page are provided for Hexnode Browser Lite.

What more is available from Hexnode?

Hexnode offers many other iOS kiosk lockdown methods besides the web app kiosk mode. Depending on the business requirements, IT admins can lock the devices into Single App Mode, Multi App Mode or Autonomous Single App Mode.

Features of Single App Mode

  • The devices can only run one full-screen app at a time.
  • Even when the device reboot, the locked-down application still runs.
  • The accessibility options set up in the kiosk policy are the only ones that can be changed in the device settings.

Features of Multi-App Mode

  • Users can only use a restricted group of whitelisted apps on the device. The user cannot see any of the other installed apps.
  • Instead of opening the device’s home screen, a personalized start page showcasing the whitelisted apps will launch.

Features of Autonomous Single App Mode

  • In this mode, just one app launches into the foreground. Other apps or notifications would not affect this app’s functionality. The app gets released only once the user has done using it.
  • This mode is perfect for online tests.
  • It prevents the apps from being accidentally closed.
  • Only a few apps can support this mode. The App Store apps will not support the Autonomous Single App Mode. When an app comes to the foreground is under the developer’s control.


Wrapping up

Implementing kiosk mode on employee devices is a useful feature for businesses as it restricts the use of iOS devices to a work perspective. The self-service kiosk industry, which was estimated to be worth 12.05 billion dollars in 2020, is expected to nearly double in size by 2027, growing to 21.42 billion. There are additional modifications offered by kiosk settings that allow organizations to carefully control every part of browsing and lock down devices to one or more websites.

So, be like Chandler and start utilizing the iOS kiosk browser for your business. This will not only help you to control the browsing capability of your employees but also ensures browsing security.

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Lizzie Warren

A lil clumsy and a whole lot smiley, I'll bump into you with a smile...

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