Managed App Configuration

For administrators who deploy Front Desk with a device management (MDM) server.

Front Desk reads the standard managed app configuration that an MDM server delivers with a managed app. Use it to put signs on your devices, to open the app straight into full screen on kiosks, and to lock editing on shared devices.

How to send it

Deploy Front Desk as a managed app. Its bundle ID is com.maximuz.frontdesk.
In your MDM server, open the configuration settings for the app. Servers name this differently: App Configuration, Managed App Configuration or Configuration Dictionary.
Paste in a configuration. Most servers accept a property list dictionary, which the builder below writes for you. A server that only offers a form of single values can use the simple keys marked “shortcut” in the key tables.

Every key is optional. Booleans and numbers may also be sent as text. The app applies a new configuration within a minute, without being relaunched.

Build a configuration

Set the options and add your signs; the configuration underneath is rewritten as you go. It starts from an example that opens in full screen and rotates between a welcome sign and a guest Wi‑Fi sign. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

Your configuration

<dict>
    <key>autoStart</key>
    <true/>
    <key>holdToExit</key>
    <true/>
    <key>rotationInterval</key>
    <integer>15</integer>
    <key>signs</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>type</key>
            <string>welcome</string>
            <key>id</key>
            <string>lobby</string>
            <key>palette</key>
            <string>ocean</string>
            <key>title</key>
            <string>Welcome to Acme</string>
            <key>subtitle</key>
            <string>Please sign in at reception</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>type</key>
            <string>wifi</string>
            <key>id</key>
            <string>guest-wifi</string>
            <key>ssid</key>
            <string>Acme Guest</string>
            <key>password</key>
            <string>visitor-2026</string>
        </dict>
    </array>
</dict>

Also available: a fuller example with four signs, and a spec file in the AppConfig Community format for servers that build a form from one. The spec file covers the top-level keys only, because that format can't describe a list of signs.

Top-level keys

Key	Type	What it does
`signs`	array of dictionaries	The signs to show. They appear first in the app and can't be edited or deleted on the device.
`autoStart`	boolean	Open in full screen at launch. Shows `startSign`, or rotates through the signs included in rotation.
`startSign`	string	The `id` of the sign to open with.
`rotationInterval`	integer	Seconds each sign stays up while rotating, from 3 to 3600. Overrides the setting on the device.
`holdToExit`	boolean	Require a touch and hold to bring up the full-screen controls, so a passing tap can't close a sign. Overrides the setting on the device.
`lockEditing`	boolean	Hide signs made on the device, and all editing.
`welcomeTitle`, `welcomeSubtitle`	string	Shortcut: adds a welcome sign.
`wifiSSID`, `wifiPassword`, `wifiSecurity`	string	Shortcut: adds a guest Wi‑Fi sign. Security is `WPA`, `WEP` or `none`.
`messageText`	string	Shortcut: adds a sign with this text as large as the screen allows.

Keys for each sign

Each entry in signs is a dictionary. These keys apply to every kind of sign:

Key	What it does
`type`	Required. One of `welcome`, `hours`, `nowServing`, `status`, `wifi`, `backSoon`, `message`.
`id`	A stable name for the sign, used by `startSign` and in the status the app reports. Defaults to `sign1`, `sign2` and so on.
`name`	The label shown in the app's library.
`palette`	Colors: `midnight`, `ocean`, `forest`, `plum`, `rose`, `sunrise`, `graphite`, `black`, `paper`, `sand`, `mint` or `sky`.
`font`	`standard`, `rounded`, `serif` or `mono`.
`rotation`	Boolean. Include the sign in rotation. Default true.

These depend on the type:

Type	Keys
`welcome`	`title`, `subtitle`, `footer`, `symbol` (an SF Symbol name; empty for none)
`hours`	`title`, `note`, `showStatus` (boolean: the live open or closed badge), and `hours`: a dictionary with the keys `mon`, `tue`, `wed`, `thu`, `fri`, `sat`, `sun` and values such as `09:00-17:30` or `closed`. Days left out are closed. A closing time earlier than the opening time runs past midnight.
`nowServing`	`label`, `prefix`, `number`, `footer`, `chime` (boolean), `announce` (boolean: speak the number aloud)
`status`	`title`, `tapToToggle` and `showAlternate` (booleans), and for each of the two states: `primaryLabel`, `primaryDetail`, `primaryColor`, `primarySymbol`, and the same four starting with `alternate`. Colors: `green`, `red`, `amber`, `blue`, `gray`.
`wifi`	`ssid` (required), `password`, `security` (`WPA`, `WEP` or `none`), `hidden` and `showPassword` (booleans), `title`, `instructions`
`backSoon`	`title`, `message`
`message`	`text`, `scrolling` (boolean), `speed` (`slow`, `medium` or `fast`)

Staff can still work a managed sign: call the next number, flip a status, set a return time. Those changes stay on the device until you send different content for that sign.

Checking that it worked

On the device, open Front Desk's settings. Under Device Management it shows “Managed by your organization”, how many signs it received, and a warning for each entry it had to skip, for example a sign with an unknown type. One bad entry never stops the rest from loading.

What the app reports back

While a configuration is present, the app publishes managed app feedback that your server can read:

Key	Meaning
`appVersion`	The app's version.
`managedSignCount`	How many signs from the configuration were accepted.
`deviceSignCount`	How many signs were made on the device.
`displayedSign`	The `id` of the sign on screen, prefixed `managed.` for signs from the configuration; empty when no sign is showing.
`configurationWarnings`	One message for each entry that was skipped.

Kiosks

For an unattended sign, combine autoStart and holdToExit with Single App Mode in your MDM server, so the device stays in Front Desk and opens on your signs after a restart. Front Desk keeps the screen awake while a sign is showing.