Home Assistant Guide

Simple tutorials for powerful automations

Use an Android Tablet + Fully Kiosk as a Home Assistant Control Panel

This guide walks you through turning any Android tablet into a polished Home Assistant (HA) wall panel using Fully Kiosk Browser (FKB). We'll compare it with the HA Companion app, explain free vs paid features, set up the basics, enable motion or face wake, integrate FKB with HA for remote control, and highlight important limitations like microphone access over HTTP.

What is Fully Kiosk Browser?

Fully Kiosk Browser is a specialized Android "kiosk" browser/launcher designed for unattended tablets. It offers fullscreen dashboards, app lockdown, motion detection via the front camera, remote administration, scheduled sleep/wake, and more - making it ideal for wall-mounted control panels. All features can be tested for free; a one-time "PLUS" license removes the watermark and unlocks Remote Admin and other advanced options.

Fully Kiosk vs HA Companion App (Android)

  • Lockdown & kiosk controls (FKB wins): Auto-launch on boot, block the status bar, remote admin, and deep device controls (brightness, screen on/off, screensaver) are native to FKB. The HA Companion app focuses on accessing HA and exposing device sensors, not true kiosk lockdown.
  • Wake on motion/face (FKB built-in): FKB can wake the screen using front-camera motion detection or experimental face detection. The Companion app doesn't offer camera-based wake.
  • Remote control from HA (FKB wins): The Fully Kiosk Browser integration exposes actions like screen on/off, screensaver control, load URL, brightness, volume, TTS, and more - perfect for automations (e.g., waking the tablet when a motion sensor triggers).
  • Sensors & notifications (HA app strong): The Companion app provides a broad range of sensors (battery, connectivity, interactive state, etc.) and notification commands (e.g. command_screen_on). It can keep the screen on while the app is foregrounded, but doesn't support full kiosk lockdown.
  • Performance & simplicity: The Companion app is often enough for simple setups. FKB shines when you want a reliable, "set and forget" kiosk with deeper device control.

Free vs Paid (Fully PLUS)

  • Free: Test all features with a watermark - perfect for checking compatibility with your tablet.
  • PLUS (one-time ~€7.90 per device): Removes the watermark and enables Remote Admin (required for HA integration), TTS, motion settings, and advanced options.

What You'll Need

  • An Android tablet (Amazon Fire tablets also work; lock screen behavior may vary by OS/model).
  • Home Assistant running on your local network.
  • Fully Kiosk Browser installed (Play Store or APK from Fully's website).
  • (Recommended) A Fully PLUS license for Remote Admin and integration control.
  • (If you want to use the tablet's mic in the HA UI): HTTPS (TLS) is required because browsers block microphone access over plain HTTP.

Basic Setup (Beginner-Friendly)

  1. Install Fully Kiosk Browser. Set the Start URL to your HA dashboard (e.g., https://homeassistant.local:8123).
  2. Enable fullscreen & kiosk mode. In FKB Settings, turn on Fullscreen and optionally Kiosk Mode to lock the device to the dashboard.
  3. Configure screen behavior. FKB lets you control screensaver, timeout, and brightness. (The HA Companion app also offers "Keep screen on" while in use.)
  4. Enable motion wake. Settings → Motion Detection (PLUS). Adjust motion sensitivity and "darkness" thresholds to reduce false triggers. Face detection is experimental but can help for short-range waking.
  5. Enable Remote Admin. Settings → Remote Administration (PLUS): enable it, set a password, and note the device's IP and port (default 2323) for HA integration.

We'll cover advanced kiosk tricks like auto-recovery, page reloading, app-launch intents, and cloud control in future articles - this page focuses on the stable, core setup.

Home Assistant's "Fully Kiosk Browser" Integration

In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration → Fully Kiosk Browser. Enter the tablet's IP and Remote Admin password. HA will create several entities:

  • Sensors: battery level, current page, free memory, storage, brightness, plugged state, motion detected (boolean), WebView version.
  • Camera: a screenshot entity and (if motion detection is enabled) a still image motion entity. These are not live video streams.
  • Controls: screen on/off, screensaver control, brightness, load URL, start/stop apps, TTS, bring browser to foreground, restart browser, play sounds, and more.

The integration uses polling (about every 30 seconds by default) for sensor updates, so values may not update in real time.

Example: Wake the tablet from an HA motion sensor

Create an automation that turns the tablet screen on when a room PIR sensor detects movement. Use fully_kiosk.screen_on or fully_kiosk.screensaver_off, and optionally fully_kiosk.load_url to refresh your dashboard.

📡 Common Entities & Actions

  • Sensors: battery level, brightness, current page, RAM, motion detected
  • Camera: Screenshot & motion (image only)
  • Actions:
    • fully_kiosk.screen_on / fully_kiosk.screen_off
    • fully_kiosk.screensaver_on / fully_kiosk.screensaver_off
    • fully_kiosk.load_url
    • fully_kiosk.start_application
    • fully_kiosk.to_foreground
    • fully_kiosk.set_brightness
    • fully_kiosk.send_text_to_speech
    • fully_kiosk.restart_browser

Motion / Face-Based Wake Tips

  • Start with Motion Detection: Adjust sensitivity and darkness thresholds to reduce false triggers from lighting changes.
  • Face detection (experimental): Works well for some tablets at close range but may be unreliable. Test it first.
  • External sensor fallback: If the front camera is unreliable, pair FKB with a wall-mounted PIR sensor that triggers screen_on via the HA integration.

Important Limitations & Gotchas

  • Microphone in browsers requires HTTPS: Mic (and camera) access is blocked over http://. Use HTTPS or the HA Companion app for Assist voice features.
  • Fire tablets & lock screens: Some Fire OS versions can't fully bypass lock screens - scheduled wakes may land on the lock screen. Test your specific model.
  • WebView versions affect WebRTC: If you stream WebRTC (e.g., doorbell video), make sure Android System WebView is up to date.
  • PLUS required for integration: HA's Fully Kiosk integration needs Remote Admin (PLUS). You can test with a watermark before buying.

Quick Troubleshooting

  • False camera wakes: Lower motion sensitivity and adjust darkness thresholds.
  • Dashboard looks stale on wake: Use the screensaver instead of powering the screen fully off, or reload the URL on wake.
  • Actions not working: Check Remote Admin (port 2323), password, LAN access, and Android battery optimization settings.

Summary

Use Fully Kiosk Browser when you want a reliable, kiosk-locked wall panel with camera-based wake and deep device control from Home Assistant. If you prefer simplicity and rich sensors, the HA Companion app may be enough - especially combined with a motion sensor. Either way, enabling HTTPS ensures browser microphone features work when you need them.