Service · App development

Custom kiosk app development for self-service in public spaces.

A locked-down kiosk application for self-service ordering terminals, check-in kiosks, ticket machines or information displays. We build the software for Android, iOS or Windows kiosk mode and integrate it with your existing systems, payment terminal, printer and scanner.

Kiosk modeTouch UIPayment terminalRemote management

A kiosk is not an ordinary app.

Users are usually facing the screen for the first time, standing up, and may only have thirty seconds. No menus, no manual, no IT helpdesk nearby. The interface must be immediately understandable — for a tourist wearing gloves, an older visitor, or someone who doesn't read Dutch. This forces choices that matter less in a regular app: fewer screens, larger buttons, more icons, shorter text and always a clear way back.

At the same time, it must not break. A kiosk app can run for months without a restart, cannot be Alt-Tabbed into a browser, restarts automatically after a crash, and must not freeze during a network outage. We have been building kiosk apps since 2017 for public spaces, healthcare front desks and hospitality venues, always custom-made with attention to the hardware context the software runs on. The combination of a locked-down operating system, good UX design for standing users and reliable integrations with payment terminals, printers and scanners makes or breaks the product.

From the first session, we look at the whole chain: where the kiosk stands, who walks past it, which flow it must support, which systems sit behind the scenes, and how you keep central control over hundreds of devices in the field? These questions determine whether a lightweight web kiosk will suffice or whether you need a fully native production application.

Three types of kiosk app.

It depends on where the kiosk stands, who operates it and how deep the integration with your back office needs to be. In the first conversation we advise which fits — sometimes a lightweight web kiosk is enough, sometimes a genuine native app is needed.

Compact project · fixed sprint budget

Web kiosk in browser mode

A progressive web app that runs in full-screen mode on a tablet or touch screen. Suitable for information kiosks, audio tour information at museums, production feedback in factories or visitor surveys. Quick to roll out across a large fleet, easy to update without an app store process, and simple to connect to your existing web environment or CMS. A good choice if you are still learning how users interact with the kiosk and flexibility matters more than deep hardware integration.

PWABrowser lockdownTouch UIAuto-refresh
Mid-sized project · fixed sprint budget

Native self-order or check-in kiosk

An Android or iOS application that runs in true kiosk mode on an Elo, Touchsystems, Panasonic or similar touch screen. For self-ordering units in retail and hospitality, check-in kiosks in hospitals and outpatient clinics, or ticket sales at museums and leisure parks. Deep integration with your till, scheduling or patient system and the receipt printer. Works offline when the network drops, synchronises automatically afterwards, and stays stable even when the screen never switches off.

Android kioskiOS kioskReceipt printerMulti-language
Larger project · fixed sprint budget

Production kiosk with payment and hardware stack

Mission-critical kiosk application with payment terminal, scanner, camera and printer integration. For self-order terminals with direct card payment, ID-scan kiosks at government agencies and banks, or parking and transport machines. Full telemetry and remote management for your rollout, and SLA monitoring so you know which kiosks are offline.

Adyen/Worldline/CCVBarcode & QR scanID scanTelemetry & SLA

What you get at the end.

A production-ready kiosk application including everything needed to put it into production and manage it yourself.

  • The kiosk application itselfNative Android or iOS build (APK/IPA), Windows kiosk mode installer or web kiosk PWA. Delivered in production and staging versions.
  • Locked-down configurationKiosk mode policy so the user cannot leave the app, automatic restart after a crash, and disabled notification bar and hardware buttons.
  • Hardware integrationsWorking integration with your receipt printer (ESC/POS), badge printer, barcode scanner, ID scanner, camera and payment terminal from Adyen, Worldline or CCV.
  • Remote management dashboardCentral console giving you an overview of all kiosks: uptime, sessions per day, error rates, and the ability to roll out updates or restart a kiosk remotely.
  • Codebase and documentationFull source code, build instructions and architecture overview. Plus a runbook for your IT team covering support and incident response.
  • Management contract (optional)Monitoring, security patches, OS upgrades and ongoing development. Fixed monthly fee with response time levels depending on how critical the kiosk fleet is.

Modules we build frequently.

Not every kiosk needs everything. We break the project down into modules so you can choose what suits the flow at your location. These are what we deliver most often.

Kiosk mode and auto-recovery

Locked-down operating system, no escape to the underlying OS, no access to notifications or system settings. Automatic restart after a crash, and a watchdog that detects freezes and relaunches the app without anyone having to attend on site.

Touch UI for standing users

Large tap targets, high contrast, simple screen flows, glove-friendly for gloves in factories or colder spaces. Compliant with WCAG 2.1 level AA where the sector requires it, with optional text-to-speech for accessibility.

Camera and scanner integration

Barcode and QR scanning for tickets, boarding passes and products. ID scanning via NFC or OCR for passports and driving licences at government and bank kiosks. Camera input for age or identity verification where this can be done GDPR-compliantly.

Printer integration

Receipt printer via the ESC/POS protocol for till receipts and waiting room queue numbers. Badge printer for visitor passes and patient labels. Connection via USB, Bluetooth or network, with retry logic and error handling for when the paper runs out.

Payment terminal integration

Unattended payment terminals from Adyen, Worldline, CCV and similar providers. Contactless card payments, iDEAL via QR, Apple Pay and Google Pay where needed. Full PCI DSS-secure flow, so you never handle card data.

Sound and text-to-speech

Audio feedback for buttons and confirmations, plus full text-to-speech for visually impaired users. Important for government and transport kiosks, where WCAG compliance is often a tender requirement.

Telemetry and SLA dashboard

A central console giving you a view of all your kiosks: uptime, sessions per day, error reports and hardware status. Alerts go to your service team if a kiosk goes offline or a specific component (printer, scanner, terminal) fails.

Automatic updates without a site visit

Over-the-air updates to the application and underlying OS components via an MDM such as Scalefusion, Hexnode or your own channel. First rolled out to a pilot kiosk, then in phases. No engineers needed to install a new version.

Multi-language and localisation

Multiple languages on one screen, with automatic detection or a flag selection. For tourist locations, Dutch, English, German and French as standard, with Spanish, Italian and Chinese as options. Date, time and currency formats per locale.

Offline mode and network failover

The kiosk keeps working when Wi-Fi drops out. Orders, check-ins or tickets are held locally and synchronised once the network is back. For mission-critical locations, we build in 4G/5G failover as a second path alongside Wi-Fi.

Not yet sure about a large project?

Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day

With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.

Explore OneDayBuild →

Who we build kiosk apps for.

Applications vary enormously — from a McDonald's-style self-order station to a check-in kiosk at an outpatient clinic. Here are four sectors we work in most often.

Retail & hospitality

Self-order kiosks

Customers order and pay themselves without staff in between. Works for fast-casual, food courts, sandwich shops and petrol station shops. Receipt from the printer, order number shown on the screen in the kitchen. Integration with your existing till or POS.

Healthcare

Check-in kiosks

Patients check in themselves at hospitals or outpatient clinics. Identification via DigiD, date of birth or patient number, integration with HiX, ChipSoft or Epic, and a badge printer for waiting room routing. Set up with care for GDPR.

Government & transport

Ticket and application kiosks

Passport or ID application kiosks at municipal counters, parking tickets, NS and Connexxion stations, museums and attraction parks. Mostly in public spaces, so robust, vandal-resistant and available without staff.

Industry & banking

HR and cash kiosks

Check-in and feedback kiosks in factories for shift registration and production reporting. Cash and coin deposit kiosks at banks without staff. Operable while wearing gloves, and clearly legible under factory lighting.

How a kiosk project runs.

1

Introduction and hardware choice

A conversation in which we establish who will be using the kiosk, which flows it needs to support, and what hardware is already in place or still to be chosen. We build the software — for the enclosure and touchscreen we work with suppliers such as Elo, Touchsystems and Panasonic, or a custom builder if you prefer. Read more about our app development in a broader sense.

2

Planning, screen flow and user testing

A workshop with your team, plus a test with real end users — a few people who click through a prototype themselves. At the end: a concrete scope, screen flow, and a first UI in Figma. This is where we find out which texts are too long, which icons are unclear, and which buttons are too small to press with gloves on.

3

Building in sprints

A working build every two weeks, on your target hardware. You test along, and your end users too where possible. We integrate early with the printer, scanner and payment terminal, because that is where hardware reality always turns out to differ from the documentation.

4

Rollout and remote management

We start with a first pilot location, then roll out in phases across your entire fleet. From the remote management dashboard, you can see which kiosks are switched on, which sessions they have handled, and where errors occur. We push updates centrally, so nobody needs to visit each device in person.

Frequently asked questions.

What clients typically want to know before we start a kiosk project.

Do you also supply the kiosk enclosure and hardware?
We build the software. The enclosure and touch screen come from specialist suppliers such as Elo, Touchsystems, Panasonic Touch and custom builders like Almex or HitachiPay. We are happy to help with the hardware choice and make sure the software works on the type of kiosk you choose. For software vendors who want to connect their kiosk enclosure to our application, we can also provide drivers and SDK integrations.
Native app or web kiosk: what's the difference?
A web kiosk runs as a full-screen browser on a tablet or PC. It is quicker to build, lighter to update and avoids the app store process. A native kiosk app can access hardware (printer, scanner, payment terminal), can run in a true locked-down kiosk mode and works offline. For information and survey kiosks, a web kiosk is usually sufficient; for self-ordering or check-in involving hardware, native is almost always the right choice.
How exactly does the locked-down kiosk mode work?
On Android, via a COSU or single-app kiosk policy (formerly COSU, now Android Enterprise). On iOS, via Guided Access or an MDM profile. On Windows, via Assigned Access. The user cannot leave the app, sees no notification bar, hardware buttons are disabled and, after a crash, the system automatically restarts into the same app. We configure this, plus an MDM so you can manage devices centrally.
Which payment terminals can you integrate?
Adyen, Worldline, CCV, Buckaroo and similar providers with an SDK for unattended terminals. For online payments (iDEAL, Apple Pay, contactless via QR) we integrate Mollie, Stripe or MultiSafepay. Which combination works best depends on your existing contracts and the type of kiosk, and we advise on this. See also our smart API integrations for how we connect to your back office.
How do we handle accessibility and WCAG?
Large tap targets, high contrast, screen reader support where possible, and text-to-speech for visually impaired users. For public kiosks (government, transport, healthcare), WCAG 2.1 level AA is often a requirement, and we build to that standard as a matter of course. Multi-language support is usually included too, with automatic detection or a flag selection on the start screen.
Can we update and monitor kiosks remotely?
Yes. For a kiosk fleet, this is essentially a requirement, since visiting each device in person for an update does not scale. We provide a dashboard showing all your kiosks: uptime, sessions per day, error rates and battery status. We roll out updates centrally, first to a single pilot kiosk and then in phases to the rest. If a kiosk goes offline, your team automatically receives an alert.
What determines the cost of a kiosk app?
Mainly the number of hardware integrations (printer, scanner, payment terminal, camera), the complexity of the back-office integration, the number of languages and the number of flows. A lightweight single-screen web kiosk is a different project from a production kiosk with payments, ID scanning and a link to your till system. In the first conversation we give you a direction; after the planning sprint, a concrete scope.
How long before the first kiosk goes live?
A first pilot kiosk can be up and running on location within a few sprints. A production kiosk with payments, hardware integrations and remote management is a multi-sprint project. We always aim for an early pilot at a single location so you can see in practice what still needs to be done. Kiosk usage in the real world is always rougher than in a Figma prototype.

Talk to us about your kiosk app.

A free, no-obligation half-hour introduction. Tell us where the kiosk will be placed, who will operate it, and which hardware and back-office systems we need to work with. We'll listen and give you direction that's genuinely useful. Our app developers also work on related projects such as a ordering app, a field service app and a custom order management system, which often share the same flow.

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