Window Greeter

Setting Up the Window iPad

You need: the window iPad, its charger, the greeter sign-in code (sent to the greeter email inbox), the Guided Access passcode, and the printed sign.

1. Place It

  1. Stand the iPad inside the window, landscape, screen facing the street.
  2. The camera (the small dot in the frame) should be at about head height of someone standing outside, roughly 1.4 to 1.6 m from the pavement.
  3. Push it right up against the glass, under 2 cm away. Any gap lets reflections from inside reach the camera.
  4. Plug in the charger and leave it plugged in. It runs all day.

2. iPad Settings (once)

  1. Settings > Display & Brightness: Auto-Lock: Never. Brightness high.
  2. Settings > Apps > Safari > Camera: Allow.
  3. Turn the volume up with the side buttons. The page sets the greeting volume itself.

3. Open the Greeter

  1. In Safari, go to /greeter.
  2. Share > Add to Home Screen, then open it from the new Window Greeter icon. It now fills the screen.
  3. Sign in with the greeter email address and the code sent to it. Never use your own email.
  4. Tap Start. Allow the camera if asked.
  5. Check: walk out, come up to the window and stop. Within about a second the cup should wave and say hello, and the QR code grows.

4. Lock It (Guided Access)

  1. Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access: On. Set the passcode (managers keep it). Display Auto-Lock: Never.
  2. Back in the greeter, triple-click the top button. In Options turn off Sleep/Wake Button and Volume Buttons. Tap Start.
  3. To get out later: triple-click the top button and enter the passcode.

5. The Sign

Stick the printed sign on the glass next to the iPad, where people outside can read it:

Camera in use to detect people approaching. Nothing is recorded.

6. Check in Hestia

CCTV > Window Greeter > Results: Device shows Watching (or Closed hours outside opening times).

If Something Is Wrong

  • Screen shows Start: tap it.
  • It greets but makes no sound after a restart: tap the screen once. The iPad only lets it speak after a tap.
  • It greets people walking past: Settings, detection sensitivity down one step.
  • It misses people who stop: sensitivity up one step, or move the iPad so the camera is at head height.
  • Sign-in page appears: the sign-in lasts about a month. Exit Guided Access, sign in again with the greeter email, re-start Guided Access.