How to use ChromeOS kiosk mode for digital signage

Chromebooks and Chromeboxes are some of the easiest devices on the market to manage in an enterprise setting. Admin settings are accessible via a simple, uncluttered cloud dashboard where you can automatically assign rule-based roles and permissions. It’s so straightforward that almost anyone can start configuring and syncing profiles to devices in a matter of minutes, even if they’ve never used ChromeOS before. 

The user-friendly interfaces combined with robust remote device management features is excellent for several use cases. But Google’s operating system is especially well suited to deploying fleets of digital signage players. Pair it with ScreenCloud and you have everything you need to sync, update, and optimize content from your computer to as many screens in as many locations as you want. Here’s how to set that up.

Configure device profiles in Google Admin Console

The first thing you’ll need is a Google Workspace account. If you don’t have one already, you can go to workspace.google.com and click Get Started to sign up for a free trial. 

Once you have access to Workspace, open admin.google.com. Go to the Billing menu in the left-hand sidebar, select the Get more services menu, and choose the Devices & Browser category. You’ll need either the Enterprise (which has a free trial) or Kiosk & Signage upgrade for the rest of this walkthrough (read our Beginner’s Guide to ChromeOS to learn about the differences between those two options).   

Create organizational units

Assuming you don’t want every device in your domain to use the exact same settings, you’ll want to start by naming each of the profile templates you’ll need. For example, you might have an umbrella list for all your digital signage players, with sublists for different office locations. From your Admin Console, open the Directory tab in the left-hand sidebar and click Organizational units. Click the Create organizational unit button and create as many as you think you’ll need.

Now, any time a new user or ChromeOS device is added to your Workspace domain, they go to the top-level organizational unit by default. But if you log into a new ChromeOS device with a user account that’s assigned to an organizational unit below the top-level, the device syncs those settings instead. 

So let’s say that under your Digital Signage umbrella you have two units, one for your Main office and another for a satellite office. Open the Users menu (under Directory) and either move an existing user to (from the More options menu) or invite a new user to each list. When you want to sync the Main office settings to a device, log in with the user associated with that list during setup. 

Add kiosk apps to organizational units

Next, switch to the Devices tab in the left-hand sidebar, expand the Chrome submenu, and click the Apps & extensions. This is where you can select apps that you want automatically installed on ChromeOS devices whenever they’re added to your domain. A company that provides Chromebooks to employees might want everyone to collaborate in an app like Clickup and have that accessible right out of the gate. 

For digital signage, though, you want to force an app to run at boot. And to do that, you need to add a content management app like ScreenCloud to the Kiosks tab. Select the organizational unit that you want to run ScreenCloud at boot and then navigate to the Kiosks tab to the right of Users & browsers.

Hover over the yellow + button, and click the Chrome icon. Type ScreenCloud into the Chrome Web Store search bar, open the Digital Signage Player app listing (not the ScreenCloud Dashboard Recorder extension above it), then hit the Select button along the top of the window. 

After ScreenCloud has been added to your list of kiosk apps, click on it to open the settings window and toggle Allow app to manage power. Finally, look for the Auto-launch app setting (at the top of your app list). Open the auto-launch dropdown menu, pick ScreenCloud, and click Save in the upper right corner of the screen. 

Enroll your ChromeOS devices

With all of the kiosk mode settings configured in your Admin console, all that’s left is to start connecting devices to your Workspace domain. There are two main ways to do that. One is best when buying several devices at once from a single reseller, and the other is better for gradual rollouts where you only want to deploy one device at a time. Let’s start with the former.

ChromeOS Zero-touch enrollment

From your Google Admin Console, select Devices from the left-hand sidebar, then Chrome, followed by Enrollment tokens, and, finally, click Generate new token.

You can create different tokens for each organizational unit. So, if you want one default configuration for employee Chromebooks and another for digital signage Chromeboxes, you’d create one Enrollment token for each. Click into an organizational unit then hit the yellow + button in the bottom corner of the screen. 

When you provide an enrollment token to an authorized reseller before purchasing devices, they can send it along with device information to Google. Google will then apply the organizational unit settings associated with that token to devices without exposing your Admin Console to the reseller. Once a pre-provisioned device is connected to the internet all of your settings will be automatically applied.

ChromeOS manual enrollment

When you turn on a ChromeOS device for the first time (or after a “Powerwash”, Google’s term for factory resets), you’ll see a prompt asking if you’re using the device for personal use, for a child, or for work. Choose the last one, followed by the Enroll the device option on the following page.

When asked to log in, make sure to enter the user associated with the organizational unit settings you want to apply. After entering a Workspace email address and password, you should be all set, with kiosk mode settings syncing automatically. 

If a device does not install and run your digital signage player after enrolling the device, open the Admin Console, go to the Devices menu, then Chrome, followed by the Devices submenu below that. Find the enrolled device and click the vertical dots next to it to move the device to another organizational unit.

Managing ChromeOS kiosks after they’re live

Most of the time, when you change a setting in the Admin Console, it will update your ChromeOS immediately (i.e., without needing a restart). However, you can also reboot a ChromeOS computer remotely by clicking on its name from the Device Details page (Devices > Chrome > Devices) in your Admin Console. 

You can also use ChromeOS’s remote desktop feature to take direct control over the device for troubleshooting or updates. Press Ctrl + Alt + S to exit kiosk mode and return to desktop mode. 

In most cases, you won’t want to change device settings on a device-by-device basis. Instead, you’d want to update them from the Device settings tab in the Admin Console. There, you can schedule daily reboots, turn of USB access, and other settings. 

A ChromeOS alternative for digital signage

If your organization already uses Google Workspace, kiosk mode is a no-brainer. It’s easy to set up and integrated into the device management features you already use. For organizations that don’t want to go that route, however, our purpose-built Station P1 Pro media player comes with a ChromeOS alternative pre-installed. 

The first time you turn on a Station P1 Pro, it boots straight into ScreenCloud–no downloads or installs necessary. Just type the pairing code into your account dashboard and you can start syncing content right away. You can also remotely manage a Station P1 Pro in many of the same ways that you can in ChromeOS, with the ability to reboot the device, take screenshots, and update or change network settings.

But regardless of whether you end up with digital signage powered by a Chromebox or a Station P1 Pro, ScreenCloud’s app is the best way to create a professional company TV channel. Sign up for a free 14-day trial today.