Ipad lock (similar to Kiosk but not exactly)

[Johnnie101]

Hi all -

First time poster and hopefully you'll be able to help me out with my situation:

The kiosk thread on here one user wanted to create an app for was a bit overkill for what i'm trying to do - but it's kinda' in the same direction ... here's the schpiel:

Need to give an ipad to individual but it needs to be locked except for the browser. When clicking on the browser (notice I'm not saying "safari" and there's a reason - I'll get to this later) it automatically takes them to a website in which they are given a code to unlock the ipad and fully use it (there are a series of steps at the web site - but that's all website based and not relevant to my question here) ... so they get the pass code and unlock the ipad.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, I can do all of this simply by restricting (through the settings section of the ipad) everything except the browser. And then I have to setup the browser to make sure it can only go to the website in question.

I talked to apple and they say this can't be done with Safari - so my question is - can I load other browsers to do this - or is there a way I can develop for safari to set it up this way - or .... _____? (fill in the blank with your suggestions).

Let me know if I have this all down - or if I'm leaving open a terrible loophole anywhere (and folks - I understand that if someone gives the ipad to their "developer/hacker/jailbreak" friend that they can bypass whatever measures i put on it - and that's an acceptable risk - most in the group we're giving them to won't go to that length and if they do it will be a small % and will, again be acceptable loss).

Hey - I thank you all in advance ... seems the toughest part of this should be just setting up the browser to lock it into going to one place - but I await your thoughts.

Johnnie

 

[Night Spring]

Now, if I'm not mistaken, I can do all of this simply by restricting (through the settings section of the ipad) everything except the browser.

This is where you are totally mistken. The restriction settings are quite limited in what you can restrict. You can turn off Safari, YouTube, GameCenter, and a few other things, but you can't prevent a user from running other apps. Well, you can restrict them from installing more apps, but they can use the default apps the iPad comes with. You can hide apps from a non-tech savvy user by jailbreaking and using SBSettings' "hide apps" function to hide the apps, but once you do that, there is no way to set up unhiding the apps by giving someone a code to enter. Well, some ingenuous hacker might be able to write a script to do that, but that's what it will take -- someone needs to write the code for that. All in all, I think what you want to do might be even more involved than the guy who wanted to run his iPads in "kiosk" mode.

 

[Johnnie101]

Well that surely has me in a tailspin. Hmm... seems too simple though - lock everything but a browser. Set the browser so it can only go to 1 location - then give the person the passcode to unlock the restricted apps.

Okay so if I'm wrong here - what about simply deleting the app icons? Something tells me this should be simple enough. Also - in the kiosk thread - someone said if you setup as an enterprise developer (or something like that) you can pretty much do and setup whatever you want to. I'm guessing that's the direction I should go.

 

[Night Spring]

Well that surely has me in a tailspin. Hmm... seems too simple though - lock everything but a browser. Set the browser so it can only go to 1 location - then give the person the passcode to unlock the restricted apps.

Okay so if I'm wrong here - what about simply deleting the app icons? Something tells me this should be simple enough. Also - in the kiosk thread - someone said if you setup as an enterprise developer (or something like that) you can pretty much do and setup whatever you want to. I'm guessing that's the direction I should go.

LOL, you haven't worked with iOS devices much, have you? What you want to do isn't simple at all. Actually, for that matter, I don't know of any computing platform that allows what you are looking for. Computers are designed to be open-ended and user configurable, so they don't really come with a built-in way of locking down and disabling everything.

That said, perhaps the enterprise configuration setup has a way of doing what you want to do. I don't have any experience with that, so can't help you there. However, if you do figure out how to lock everything down, you can direct the user to a particular website by making a home screen bookmark from Safari, and leaving that as the only active icon on the home screen.

 

[Tourshd]

Lock down ipad into one application or kiosk mode

The way to do this is very difficult on the actually ipad. You will need to lock it down with hardware, not software. This may not be the solution, but www.ipadenclosures.com has a cover over many of the buttons, and it would require a safety pin to access the home button. Maybe that would help? It is a stainless steel enclosure, so may be a little heavy if you want to be portable. Just a thought.