This Is Where Most People Get It Wrong
You mount the tablet, open an app, walk away – and an hour later the screen is dark. Or a spam email notification covers your family photo. Or the tablet locked itself and now you need to walk over and enter a passcode.
These settings fix all of that. Work through them once, and the tablet will run unattended for weeks.
Screen Timeout / Auto-Lock
The single most important setting. This keeps the screen on.
iPad: Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never
Android: Settings → Display → Screen timeout. Most Android tablets max out at 30 minutes. That’s not enough. Install a free “Keep Screen On” or “Stay Alive” app from the Play Store – these override the system timeout and keep the display running indefinitely.
Amazon Fire: Settings → Display → Screen Timeout → 30 minutes (the max). Then install “Stay Alive” from the Amazon App Store.
Notifications
Turn them all off. Every single one. A notification banner popping up over your weather display or photo slideshow defeats the entire purpose.
iPad: Settings → Notifications. Go through each app and set Allow Notifications → Off. Or use the nuclear option: Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb → turn it on permanently (set a schedule for “all day” or toggle it on manually and leave it).
Android: Settings → Notifications → App Notifications. Turn off notifications for everything. Or enable Do Not Disturb permanently: Settings → Sound → Do Not Disturb → Turn on now.
Leave notifications on for maybe one thing – the app the tablet is actually running, if it uses notifications functionally (some calendar apps send reminders you might want).
Guided Access (iPad Only)
Guided Access locks the iPad into a single app. Nobody can exit it, go to the home screen, or accidentally open Settings. This is the closest thing iPads have to a kiosk mode.
Setup: Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access → toggle On. Set a passcode (you’ll need this to exit Guided Access later).
Using it: Open your display app. Triple-click the home button (or side button on newer iPads). Tap “Start” in the top-right corner. The iPad is now locked to that app.
To exit: Triple-click again, enter your passcode, tap “End.”
Why this matters: Without Guided Access, anyone can swipe up and accidentally close your app. Kids, guests, cats walking across the screen – it happens. Guided Access prevents all of it.
Kiosk Mode (Android)
Android’s equivalent – and arguably better than Guided Access – comes from third-party apps.
Fully Kiosk Browser ($7 one-time) is the gold standard. It locks the tablet to a single app or web page, wakes the screen on motion detection, and can be managed remotely from your phone. If you’re running a web-based dashboard (Home Assistant, DAKboard, weather.gov), Fully Kiosk Browser is the best $7 you’ll spend.
Screen Pinning (free, built-in) is a lighter alternative: Settings → Security → Screen Pinning → On. Open your app, tap the app switcher, and tap the pin icon. The tablet stays in that app until you hold Back and Overview simultaneously.
Brightness
Auto-brightness on is the right default. The screen adjusts to room lighting – bright during the day, dim at night. Most old tablets handle this well.
iPad: Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Auto-Brightness → On
Android: Settings → Display → Adaptive Brightness → On (or Automatic Brightness on Samsung)
If auto-brightness doesn’t work well on your tablet (some old sensors are unreliable), set manual brightness to about 50% and call it good. You can always adjust later.
Night Shift / Blue Light Filter
Schedule warm colors from sunset to sunrise. This does two things: reduces blue light blasting through the house at 2 AM, and makes photos look warmer and more natural in evening lighting.
iPad: Settings → Display & Brightness → Night Shift → Scheduled → Sunset to Sunrise
Android: Settings → Display → Night Light (or Blue Light Filter on Samsung) → Scheduled
Do Not Disturb Schedule
Even if you turned off all notifications manually, enable Do Not Disturb as a safety net. New apps you might install later, system notifications, or iOS/Android updates can all generate unexpected alerts.
iPad: Settings → Focus → Do Not Disturb. Set a schedule that covers your sleeping hours at minimum, or just leave it on 24/7.
Android: Settings → Sound → Do Not Disturb → Turn on automatically → set your schedule.
Passcode / Screen Lock
You have two choices:
Remove the passcode entirely. If the tablet is in your house and only runs one app, there’s nothing to protect. No passcode means no lock screen – the display is always visible.
- iPad: Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Turn Passcode Off
- Android: Settings → Security → Screen Lock → None
Keep the passcode but set it short. If the tablet is somewhere semi-public (an office, a shared space), keep a simple 4-digit PIN so it’s not wide open. But turn off “Require Passcode” delays so it doesn’t lock while the display is running.
Software Update Settings
Turn off automatic updates. You don’t want the tablet randomly restarting at 3 AM to install iOS 15.8.3 and then sitting on the “Update Complete” screen until someone taps through it.
iPad: Settings → General → Software Update → Automatic Updates → toggle off Download and Install.
Android: Settings → System → System Update → usually no auto-update toggle, but you can dismiss update notifications when they appear. On Samsung: Settings → Software Update → Auto Download over Wi-Fi → Off.
You’ll update manually during monthly maintenance (Part 3).
Location Services
Turn off for everything except the weather app (if you’re running one). Location services on an always-on device drain battery and serve no purpose for a stationary display.
iPad: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. Turn off for all apps except your weather app.
Android: Settings → Location. Turn off or restrict to “Only while using the app” for your weather app.
Background App Refresh
Turn off for everything except the one app running on the display. Background refresh eats memory on old tablets with limited RAM, which causes your display app to crash.
iPad: Settings → General → Background App Refresh → Off (or selectively leave it on for your display app only).
Android: Settings → Apps → [app name] → Battery → Unrestricted (for your display app). Set all other apps to “Restricted.”
The Settings Checklist
Go through this list once. Check each one. Then never think about it again.
- Auto-Lock → Never (or Stay Alive app on Android)
- All notifications off (or Do Not Disturb 24/7)
- Guided Access on (iPad) or Kiosk app installed (Android)
- Auto-brightness on, or manual at ~50%
- Night Shift / Night Light scheduled sunset to sunrise
- Passcode off (or simple PIN if needed)
- Automatic software updates off
- Location services off (except weather)
- Background app refresh off (except display app)
- Do Not Disturb as backup safety net
Time to do all of this: about 15 minutes.
Next: Part 3 – Mounting, Power, and Long-Term Care →
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