HelpWhat your visitors seeRunning the counter tablet

Running the counter tablet

Setting the tablet up is one job — this is the other one. What the screen does all day, on its own, with nobody watching it.

Everyone Where: On the tablet: the kiosk link 9 min read

Quick answer. The tablet clears itself after every person — and after a half-filled form nobody finished — never adds someone to the line late if the internet drops, and can never give one walk-up two numbers, however many times the button is pressed.

The countdown and the reset

1“You're in line”
Their number shown
2“Next visitor in 30…”
The countdown
3Welcome screen
Ready for the next person

30 seconds when there is a QR code to scan (the usual case), because getting a phone out takes longer. 9 seconds when there is no QR code, and then it counts “Next visitor in 9…” — long enough to read a number.

You press	What happens
I need more time	Restarts the same countdown for somebody still fumbling for their camera. Only appears when there is a QR code to scan. Does not cancel their place, and does not hold the tablet up for ever.
Back to welcome now	Clears the screen straight away instead of waiting out the countdown, for the person behind them at the tablet. Does not remove anybody from the line.

The number is gone once the screen clears — there is no "show it again". This is why the code and the QR below matter. A visitor who walked away without either has to be found by name or by asking at the desk.

Every kiosk tablet must be set up first, on every line. A link or a QR code alone does not set a tablet up. A tablet that has not been set up shows a visitor Please see a member of staff and “This tablet isn't ready for check-in yet. A member of staff will help you join the line.” instead of the join form. Staff tap the small Staff: set up this tablet under it to see This tablet isn't set up as a kiosk yet with the steps: sign in to turnda on the tablet, open Share for the line, then Kiosk tablet, and press Set up this tablet as the kiosk. That signs you out of turnda on the tablet and opens the kiosk. A set-up kiosk never asks for a confirmation code.

A walk-in with no phone: the write-it-down code

Under the big number, the tablet prints a short code headed “If you lose this page”. It is eight characters, shown in two groups of four so it is easy to copy down.

A visitor who types it into the line's own join page — “Already in the line? Enter your code” — is put straight back to their place. Nothing is lost and no new number is issued.

Beside it, when the visitor has a phone, is a QR labelled “Scan to follow your place on your phone”. Scanning it opens their personal tracking link, which updates by itself as the line moves.

The personal WhatsApp code beside the tracking code shows only while your business offers WhatsApp. It is labelled “Scan for WhatsApp updates” (or “Get WhatsApp updates” with the tracking code labelled “Follow your place” and the hint “Scan with your own phone. The second code opens WhatsApp with a message ready — press Send.” when the WhatsApp add-on is on); it opens WhatsApp with a message ready and the visitor presses Send. WhatsApp sends exactly two messages per visit: one when the visitor joins, and “you're almost up”. Without WhatsApp, the tablet shows only the tracking code. The tablet never asks for a phone number and never offers messages itself.

Why the kiosk never asks for a phone number It is a shared tablet, so nobody types a number into it. A visitor who wants messages scans the WhatsApp QR with their own phone instead — the message they send is what links it to their place.

When the internet drops mid-join

What the screen says	When
The tablet lost its connection / You are not in the line yet. Please ask a member of staff.	The business's connection goes while somebody is being added. The tablet holds the join for a short while in case the signal comes straight back, and shows a Cancel button. If the signal returns in time the join goes through; if nobody cancels, the tablet gives up by itself after about a minute (60 seconds by default) and goes back to the welcome screen. A join it gave up on is never added later, so a visitor who has already walked away does not get a number that shows to the next person.
One moment… / Adding you to the line — no need to tap again.	Working normally.
Couldn't add you — please try again	Something genuinely failed. A Try again button is shown.

Pressing Join twice can never make two tickets. turnda matches the repeat to the first attempt and ignores it, no matter how many times the button or Try again is used for the same person. An abandoned error screen also clears itself after 30 seconds.

Full, closed, and "can't reach the line"

The tablet checks in with turnda every 15 seconds. That is what makes these screens fix themselves with nobody standing there.

What the screen says	What it means	Check again + names line/location?
Line full — please check back shortly	Clears on its own within about 15 seconds of a space freeing up.	Yes
New numbers are paused	The team paused joins. Everyone already waiting keeps their place. Clears when joins resume.	Yes
Not taking new visitors right now	This line isn't accepting new numbers at the moment. Please check back a little later.	Yes
We're closed right now	Turns back into the welcome screen at opening time, naming the reopening time while it waits.	Yes
This tablet can't reach the internet	“Please check the location's Wi-Fi or internet connection. This page keeps trying and will come back on its own.” The tablet could not reach turnda at all, so check the shop's Wi-Fi or router.	No
Can't reach the line right now	“This kiosk is set up correctly — we just couldn't reach turnda. It keeps trying and should come back on its own.” The tablet got through, but turnda had trouble or was asked too often. That is us, not your Wi-Fi.	No
This kiosk isn't set up yet	The kiosk address is wrong, or the line behind it was deleted. Prints the code it tried so it can be read back over the phone.	No

Only the first four carry a Check again button and name the location and line. The last three — the internet one, "Can't reach the line" and "This kiosk isn't set up yet" — are drawn before the tablet knows which counter it is, so they show only the turnda mark — no button, no location or line name. Don't send staff hunting for a button that isn't there.

Left running unattended

A tablet bolted to a counter is expected to run for weeks without anybody signing in, so it looks after itself in five ways.

It forgets a half-filled form. If somebody types a name, picks a service or a party size and walks away, the tablet goes back to the welcome screen after about 75 seconds without a touch (a setting), so the next person never inherits their entries.
It keeps the screen awake for as long as the kiosk page is open — including on the error screens, so a problem never hides behind a dark screen that reads as a flat battery.
It reloads itself if it freezes. If ten minutes go by with no fresh answer from turnda on a page still open, the tablet restarts the page rather than sitting there stuck.
It picks up new versions quietly — only while the screen is idle: never while somebody is halfway through the form (anything typed or chosen), never within about a minute of the last touch, and never while a number is on screen.
It restarts itself once a night, between 3am and 4am in your business's time zone, so anything shipped that day is picked up for certain. Once per day, not repeatedly.

Running a 24-hour counter? The nightly restart is what somebody has seen when they report the tablet blinking in the small hours. It takes a moment and comes straight back.

Sign in to turnda on the tablet itself, then open Share for the line and the Kiosk tablet tab.
Press Set up this tablet as the kiosk. It signs you out of turnda on that tablet and opens the kiosk.
Turn on the tablet's own guided-access or kiosk mode. So a visitor can't wander off the page. That is your part.

A shared screen strangers can see

Everything a visitor typed — their name, a vehicle, a note, their party size — is wiped from the tablet the moment the screen resets, including after an error.

There is no history and no back-button trail on the kiosk — the next visitor cannot see who was there before them.
What IS on show, stated to the visitor on the welcome screen: “Your number shows here and on the lobby TV · resets for the next person automatically.” If your business has no lobby TV paired, the tablet leaves the TV out: “Your number shows here · resets for the next person automatically.”, and after joining it asks the visitor to wait nearby for staff to call the number.
How much of a name reaches the TV is the line's own privacy setting.
Nothing on the screen lets a visitor out of the kiosk. The “Privacy” and “Terms” notes and the small “Powered by turnda” mark are plain text, not links — they no longer open a new browser tab onto the open internet.

The tablet shows your business's language, not the tablet's. A kiosk is your signage, so it follows the Default language you set for the business even if the tablet's own settings say something else — the opposite of a visitor's own phone. A visitor can pick another language with the small language picker on the join screen, but the kiosk does not remember it — the business's language comes back before the next person.

What protects the next visitor

What happens	What it means
An abandoned error screen	Resets by itself, so the next visitor never sees someone else's details.
Tapping join twice	Never adds the same person twice.
Too many places taken too fast	If the tablet takes more than 6 places in a minute, it shows “One moment, please. Several places were just taken on this tablet. Please try again in a minute, or ask a member of staff.” for a minute, and the line's owner and managers see a warning that walk-ins were slowed down. One kiosk can take at most 300 places an hour.
A sign-in left on the tablet	A set-up kiosk drops any staff PIN or owner sign-in it finds in that browser. Still use the tablet's guided-access or kiosk mode.
Lost or replaced tablet	Sign in on the new tablet and set it up again with the same button. To stop a lost tablet, remove it under Devices.
A service that needs a closed stop	Greyed out, the same way as on the join page.