Why Old Tablets Make Great HA Panels
If you’re already running Home Assistant, you know the drill: pull out your phone, open the app, wait for it to load, tap the right room, then control the thing you wanted to control. It works, but it’s not exactly a “smart” home when you’re doing that ten times a day.
A tablet on the wall changes this completely. One glance at the hallway and you can see which lights are on, what the thermostat is set to, whether the garage door is open, and what the front door camera sees. No phone, no app launch, no hunting for the right dashboard. Just a screen that’s always there.
And you don’t need a new tablet for this. That old iPad or Galaxy Tab in the junk drawer? It’s more than capable.
What You Need Before You Start
A running Home Assistant server. This article doesn’t cover setting up Home Assistant itself. You need HA already running on a Raspberry Pi, old PC, NAS, or Home Assistant Yellow/Green. If you don’t have that yet, the 
Home Assistant getting started guide is the place to start.
An old tablet. Specifically:
- Android 7.0+ for the companion app, or Android 5.0+ for browser-only access
- iPad running iOS 15+ for the companion app
- iPad running iOS 12-14 can still work through Safari (no native app, but the web dashboard is fully functional)
- Amazon Fire tablets work great with Fully Kiosk Browser, and they’re cheap enough to buy refurbished ($30-50) if you don’t have one lying around
WiFi access. The tablet needs to be on the same network as your Home Assistant server (or you need remote access set up through Nabu Casa or a reverse proxy).
Power. A wall-mounted dashboard needs to be plugged in permanently. Plan your cable routing before you pick a spot. Our mounts and stands guide covers options that hide cables well.
Option 1: Home Assistant Companion App
The official companion app is the simplest path if your tablet supports it.
For iPads (iOS 15+): Download 
Home Assistant from the App Store. Sign in to your server, and you’re looking at your dashboard. The app supports background location tracking, notifications, and sensor data from the tablet itself.
For Android tablets (7.0+): Download from the 
Play Store or sideload if your tablet doesn’t have Play Services (looking at you, Fire tablets). The Android app has the same core features plus a few extras like sending sensor data back to HA.
After signing in, set the app to open your preferred dashboard by default. Go to Settings > Companion App > General > Home and pick the dashboard you want as the default view.
Making It Stay On
The companion app is great for interactive use, but it doesn’t have a built-in kiosk mode. The tablet can still time out, show notifications from other apps, or let someone accidentally navigate away. For a wall-mounted panel, you’ll want either:
- Guided Access (iPad): Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access. Triple-click the side button to lock the iPad into the HA app. Set a passcode so the kids can’t escape.
- Screen Pinning (Android): Settings > Security > Screen Pinning. Pin the HA app so the back and home buttons don’t work.
Both of these are basic but functional. If you want more control, Option 2 is better.
Option 2: Fully Kiosk Browser (Android Only)
Fully Kiosk Browser is the go-to app for turning an Android tablet into a dedicated wall panel. It costs $6.90 for a single device license (one-time, not subscription), and it’s worth every penny.
What makes it better than just using the companion app:
- True kiosk lockdown. No status bar, no navigation buttons, no way to leave the dashboard without a PIN.
- Screen management. Turn the screen on when motion is detected (using the tablet’s front camera), dim it on a schedule, or wake it with a wave.
- Device admin features. Remote restart, screen on/off, volume control. All controllable from within Home Assistant via the Fully Kiosk integration.
- Camera as sensor. Use the tablet’s camera for room occupancy detection right from Home Assistant.
Setting Up Fully Kiosk
- Install Fully Kiosk Browser from the Play Store or sideload the APK from their website.
- Set the start URL to your Home Assistant dashboard:
http://your-ha-ip:8123/lovelace/your-dashboard - Under Web Content Settings, enable “Autoplay Videos” and “Enable JavaScript.”
- Under Kiosk Mode, enable “Enable Kiosk Mode” and set an admin PIN.
- Under Motion Detection, enable “Enable Visual Motion Detection” if you want the screen to wake when someone walks by.
- Under Device Management, enable the REST API so Home Assistant can control the tablet.
Then install the Fully Kiosk Browser integration in Home Assistant to get two-way communication between HA and the tablet.
Fire Tablets as HA Panels
Amazon Fire tablets are the cheapest way to get a wall-mounted HA dashboard. A Fire HD 8 runs $30-50 refurbished and works perfectly for this. The Fire HD 10 is better if you want a larger display.
The catch: Fire tablets don’t have the Google Play Store. You’ll need to either sideload the Play Store (guides exist online, it takes about 10 minutes) or install Fully Kiosk Browser directly from the APK. For more Fire tablet setup ideas, we have a dedicated article.
Option 3: Browser-Only (Any Tablet)
If your tablet is too old for the companion app or Fully Kiosk, you can still use Home Assistant through the browser. This works on any tablet with a halfway-functional web browser, including iPads stuck on iOS 12.
Open Safari or Chrome, navigate to your HA server address, sign in, and bookmark the dashboard. Add it to your home screen for an app-like experience.
The downsides: no push notifications, no sensor data from the tablet, and the browser might reload the page after sitting idle for a while. But for a basic “glance at the dashboard” panel, it works.
To reduce Safari reloading issues on older iPads, close all other tabs and disable background app refresh for everything except Safari. Our speed-up guide for old iPads has more tips for squeezing performance out of older devices.
Building a Good Dashboard
A wall panel dashboard should be different from your phone dashboard. On a phone, you scroll through rooms and devices. On a wall panel, you glance.
Keep it to one screen. No scrolling. If it doesn’t fit on one screen, you have too much on it. Show the essentials for that room or area.
Use large tap targets. Wall panels get tapped by people walking past, often at arm’s length. Small buttons are frustrating. Use the grid card or custom button-card with large icons.
Show status, not just controls. Temperature, door/window status, who’s home, weather, time. A good dashboard is informational first, interactive second.
Install kiosk-mode. The 
kiosk-mode custom component hides the Home Assistant header and sidebar, giving you a clean full-screen dashboard. Install via HACS.
Keeping It Running
Wall-mounted tablets have two enemies: battery degradation and WiFi drops.
Battery: Old tablets plugged in 24/7 will eventually suffer battery swelling. Read our battery safety guide for warning signs and prevention. Some people set up a smart plug to cycle charging (80% charge, stop, drain to 20%, charge again), which extends battery life significantly. You can automate this in Home Assistant itself.
WiFi: If the tablet drops off WiFi periodically, check our WiFi fix guide. The most common fix for always-on tablets is disabling sleep mode entirely so the WiFi radio never shuts off.
Updates: Both Fully Kiosk and the HA companion app update regularly. Set the tablet to auto-update apps overnight so your dashboard doesn’t break during the day.
Is It Worth the Setup?
If you’re already a Home Assistant user, absolutely. The setup takes 30 minutes to an hour, and the result is a dedicated smart home control panel that cost you nothing (if you already had the tablet) or $30-50 (if you grab a used Fire tablet).
And once it’s up, you stop thinking about it. You just glance at the wall on your way past and know exactly what’s going on in the house.
