A kiosk is the cheapest shape of check-in: one device, fixed in one place, used by everyone who walks past. It suits reception desks, store rooms, site gates, volunteer sign-in tables and class check-in at a studio. It also has one limit that shapes everything else, which is that every row it writes came from the same device.
Written by QR to Sheets, so treat the product section as vendor material. A Google Form on a tablet is a genuine free option and is covered first.
The free route: a Google Form on a tablet
Leave a Google Form open on a tablet at the entrance, with a name or ID field and perhaps a reason for visit. Every submission becomes a timestamped row in the linked spreadsheet. It costs nothing and takes ten minutes, and for a reception desk with a handful of visitors a day it is often enough.
Where the form kiosk breaks
- Nothing reads a code. Each person types, which is slow at a shift change and produces spelling variants that break any formula keyed on a name.
- A submission attempted without signal is lost, and entrances, basements and loading bays are exactly where signal is weakest.
- Somebody has to reset the form between people, and the next person can see or edit what the last one typed if the page is left mid-entry.
- A Google Apps Script web app can add a real camera scanner, but then the camera permissions, the lock-screen behaviour and the offline problem are yours to maintain.
A shared scanner station
With QR to Sheets, the station is a scanner link left open in the tablet's browser. People hold their printed code to the camera, the screen shows a green tick, and a timestamped row lands in your own Google Sheet naming the link. There is no login to switch between people, no session to sign out of, and no account to create for anyone who scans. The worker never sees the spreadsheet; do not share it with them.
If the wifi drops, each scan is saved on the tablet first and syncs when the connection returns, and the tablet keeps a CSV backup that can be downloaded from the scanner screen. A code held against the camera is accepted once until it leaves the frame, so a card resting on the stand does not write a row every second.
How billing works for a shared device
Billing counts registered scanning devices, never people. One tablet is one device whether ten people use it or a thousand, which is what makes a kiosk the cheapest shape for a large crew. The free plan includes one registered device, one scanner link and 300 lifetime scans, so a single station can run free until those scans are used. After that it is 7 USD per registered device per month.
- Two stations, such as an In tablet and an Out tablet, are two devices and two links, which needs the paid plan.
- A device is counted by the browser it scans from. Keep the kiosk on one browser; opening the link in a second browser on the same tablet, or clearing the browser's site data, makes it look like a new device.
- An admin can remove a retired or re-imaged device from the workspace, which frees its slot.
- One scanner link can be open on any number of devices, and the device limit belongs to the workspace rather than the link.
What a shared station cannot tell you
Every row from the kiosk carries the same device and the same link name, so the row records which code was shown and when, not which person showed it. If you need to know who, the identity has to be in the code itself: a personal card rather than one shared code, or a person code scanned before an item code. Even then a card can be lent. A scan proves a code was presented, not who presented it, and a station nobody watches is the easiest place to present someone else's.
| Capability | Google Form on a shared tablet (free) | QR to Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Free for 300 scans on one device, then 7 USD per registered device per month |
| Reads a QR code or barcode | No, people type or pick | Yes, a camera scanner in the browser |
| Time per person | Typing, often 10 to 20 seconds | About a second per scan |
| No signal | Submission lost | Held on the tablet, synced later |
| Billing | Free | One registered device, however many people use it |
| Repeat warning | None | Amber badge when a code repeats on the link within 12 hours |
| Who scanned | Whatever was typed | The code shown, plus the link name |
| Where data lives | Your Google Sheet | Your Google Sheet |
Step by step
- 1
Name the scanner link after the place
Front door, Store room, Site gate. The link name is written into every row, so the place is recorded without anyone typing it.
- 2
Open the link in the tablet's main browser
Not inside a messaging app's built-in browser. Allow the camera once and leave the page open. Bookmark it or add it to the home screen so a restart takes one tap.
- 3
Lock the tablet to that one page
Use the tablet's own single-app setting, Guided Access on an iPad or app pinning on Android, and turn off auto-lock or set it long. A station that locks itself after two minutes is not a station.
- 4
Mount it so the back camera faces the queue
The scanner opens the rear camera, which focuses best on a card. A stand that points the back of the tablet at the person works; so does a staff member holding it.
- 5
Keep power and a fallback within reach
A charger at the station, a few spare printed codes, and a line in the instructions about typing an ID when a card is missing.
Frequently asked questions
How many devices is one shared tablet?+
One. QR to Sheets counts registered scanning devices, not people, so a tablet at the door is one device however many people scan through it. The free plan covers one device; beyond that it is 7 USD per registered device per month.
Does each person need an account to use the kiosk?+
No. The kiosk is a scanner link open in the tablet's browser. People show their printed code and walk on. Nobody signs in, and the admin who set it up is the only person with a Google account involved.
Can people scan themselves on a front camera?+
The scanner opens the rear camera, because it focuses far better on a card held close. For a self-service stand, mount the tablet so its back camera faces the queue, or have a staff member hold it. The green tick or amber badge is then on the side facing the staff member.
What happens if the kiosk loses wifi?+
Scans are saved on the tablet first and sync when the connection returns, and the scanner screen offers a CSV backup download at any time. Keep the page open, so it can send the waiting scans as soon as the connection returns.
Why did my kiosk suddenly count as a new device?+
A device is recognised by the browser it scans from. Clearing the browser's site data, switching to a different browser or using a private window makes the same tablet look new. An admin can remove the old entry from the workspace's devices to free the slot.
Can one kiosk handle both check in and check out?+
Not reliably with one link, because nothing alternates direction between scans. Use two links, In and Out, either on two tablets or by opening the right one for the direction. Two links need the paid plan.