A store device is a tablet that stays in your store. Your team uses it to clock in, enter hygiene checks and tick off checklists. Nobody signs in on it: each person just enters their personal code.
Store devices are included in your plan, as many as you need. You buy the tablet itself. Head office can pair devices at all locations, and a partner at their own locations.
What you need
- A tablet: an iPad or an Android tablet. A phone works too, but it is rather small for tapping.
- A power socket nearby. The device is on all day, so it should stay plugged in.
- Internet, ideally through the store Wi-Fi. Short outages are not a problem.
- A stand or holder, so the device stands securely and everyone can tap it easily.
The tablet is not included in your plan; you buy it yourselves. The store devices themselves are included without limit: you can pair as many as you need, including several at one location.
1. Get the app and start it as a store device
Install the same app on the tablet that your team uses on their phones. You will find it in your tablet's app store.
Open the app. Do not sign in. Instead, tap “Use as store device” on the sign-in page.
Confirm with “Yes, use as store device”. After that, nobody can sign in personally on this device any more.
The tablet now shows “Pair store device” with a six-character code below it. The code is valid for 15 minutes. After that, a new one appears by itself.
Tip: Did you actually want to sign in? Then tap “Back to sign-in”. This only works as long as the device is not paired yet.
2. Pair the device
You enter the code on your own phone or on a computer. Leave the tablet switched on while you do this.
Open “Menu” → “Settings” → “Store devices”. You can also find the page under “All settings” in the “Working time & absence” section.
In the “Pair device” section, enter the code from the tablet under “Code from the device”.
Choose the “Location” where the tablet is. A device always belongs to exactly one location.
Under “Device name”, enter a name you will recognise, for example “Kitchen” or “Counter”.
Under “Functions”, choose what the device should do: “Clocking”, “Hygiene” and “Checklists”. You can switch each function on or off separately.
Choose the “Device type”: “Own device” if the tablet is only used as a store device, or “Shared device” if other apps run on it too, for example your till software.
Tap “Pair device”. Shortly afterwards, the tablet shows its start page.
If the device has only one function, it opens it straight away. With two or three functions, it shows a start page with large tiles. The tiles show how much is due right now, for example “2 due”.
You can only switch on a function if you have the right for it yourself: “Clocking” needs the rota, “Hygiene” needs the hygiene module. If a box is grey, the function is not switched on at this location.
- In the browser
- In the browser, you will find “Store devices” under “Menu” → “Settings”.
- In the app
- In the app, you will find “Store devices” under “Menu” → “Settings”. Pairing, editing and unpairing work the same way there.
3. Power and screen
- Keep the tablet plugged into its charging cable at all times.
- As long as the app is in front, it keeps the screen awake by itself.
- Still, set the auto-lock to the longest time possible. On the iPad, go to “Settings” → “Display & Brightness” → “Auto-Lock” → “Never”. On Android tablets, the setting is usually called “Screen timeout” under “Display”.
- Allow notifications when the tablet asks. Then it alerts you to due checks and reminders with a notice and a sound.
4. Lock the iPad: Guided Access
With Guided Access, the iPad stays in the app. Nobody can close it or open another app. Only set it up on a device of the type “Own device”, not on a shared device at the till.
On the iPad, open “Settings” → “Accessibility” → “Guided Access” and switch on “Guided Access”.
Tap “Passcode Settings” → “Set Guided Access Passcode” and choose a passcode. You will need it later to end Guided Access. Only give it to managers.
Under “Auto-Lock”, set the time to “Never” so the screen stays on.
Open the app on the store device's start page.
Quickly press the top button three times. On an iPad with a Home button, press the Home button three times.
Tap “Start” at the top right. The iPad now stays in the app.
To end it, press the same button three times again, enter the passcode and tap “End”. The names of the settings may differ slightly depending on your iPad's software version.
5. Lock an Android tablet: app pinning
On Android tablets, the matching feature is called “App pinning”. It also keeps the device in the app. Exactly where you find it depends on the manufacturer.
Open “Settings” and search for “App pinning”. It is usually under “Security” or “Security & privacy”.
Switch on “App pinning”. If your device offers it, also switch on asking for the screen lock before unpinning. That way, only someone with the device PIN can leave the app.
Open the app on the store device's start page.
Open the overview of recently used apps. Tap the app's icon at the top, then tap “Pin”.
To unpin, depending on the device, touch and hold “Back” and “Overview” at the same time, or swipe up from the bottom edge and hold. The device then asks for its screen lock.
What happens after a restart
The tablet stays paired. After switching it off and on, or after an update of the app or the operating system, the app starts straight back up as a store device, with no questions and no new code. Only Guided Access or app pinning may need to be started again after a restart.
Unpair a device
There is no sign-out button on the tablet. That way, nobody in the team can disconnect the device by accident or on purpose. Only partners and head office can unpair it, and there are two ways to do this.
Remotely: open “Store devices”, tap “Unpair” next to the device and confirm.
On the device itself: press and hold the location name at the top left for 3 seconds. The tablet then shows “Unpair device” and an unpair code.
Enter this code in “Store devices”, in the “Confirm unpair code” section under “Unpair code”, and tap “Check code”.
Check the device name and location and tap “Yes, unpair”.
The unpair code is valid for 15 minutes. Tapping “Discard code” on the tablet cancels it. Entries the device saved without internet are delivered before it is unpaired. If entries are still waiting, the confirmation question shows how many. After that, the tablet shows a pairing code again.
Store device in the browser
A store device also works without the app: open the address symiko.de/t in the tablet's browser. The page shows the pairing code, and after that everything works as in the app.
Important: The app is more reliable. A browser can delete saved data, for example when it clears space or after a longer break. Then the pairing is gone, and entries made without internet can be lost. So only use the browser if the app is not an option.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have several store devices at one location?
Yes. Simply pair each device separately and give it its own name, for example “Kitchen” and “Counter”. Each device can have different functions.
We already use the older time clock. Do we need to pair again?
No. Paired time clocks keep working without new pairing and appear under “Store devices” with the “Clocking” function. You can add Hygiene and Checklists there under “Edit”.
Can a shift lead pair a device?
No. Only head office and partners can pair, edit and unpair devices, including partners with several locations.