This article walks you through connecting your check-in kiosk to your connected door, and setting up door unlock through your mobile app, and configuring your door unlock features and settings for the first time.
Confirm Your Doors are Connected
Start by confirming your doors are connected to Playground.
From your admin dashboard, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
You should see each door that was connected during your installation.
Move on to the relevant section below to set up your features (setting up kiosk features, setting up mobile features, or both)
💡 Don't see your doors, or see one missing? Reach out to our support team in the chat bubble in your admin dashboard before working through the rest of this section.
Setting Up Kiosk Features
🚨 You must have your own tablet in order to set up your check-in kiosk. Playground does not provide tablets for check-in kiosks.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk On Mobile
If you don't know your Center PIN code:
On the web version of Playground, go to Settings. Under the General tab of your Settings, scroll down to Attendance and find the section titled School PIN code. Click the eye icon to view your School PIN code. You will need this four digit pin to set up your connected door kiosk.
Once you know your center PIN code, open the Playground app on the tablet that you will use to run your check-in kiosk
Make sure you are logged in with your Admin account
Tap Kiosk on your home screen
Tap the Lock Icon in the top right corner to initiate Kiosk mode. You must Lock your device in kiosk mode to connect it to a door.
Tap the Tap to select a door connection for this kiosk button.
This step connects the tablet to a specific door in your center and is critical for ensuring the correct door unlocks once someone enters their PIN.
Select which door you'd like to unlock when students and staff are checked in or out. If you have multiple connected doors, ensure that you select the correct door.
You should see "<Door name> connected to kiosk session" in blue. This confirms the door is connected to the device and will unlock upon check-in or check-out.
Enter your School PIN from step 1 to lock the Kiosk, and enter Kiosk mode. You'll get confirmation that the device is locked in Kiosk mode.
Once your door has been linked and kiosk mode has been locked, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes. Once your door has successfully been connected, you should see the name of the connected door next to the Lock Icon in the top right corner, like the photo below.
🚨 If you see a QR code instead of a PIN code, that means your door wasn't connected. Try steps 1-9 again, and ensure that you tap to select a door connection, and re-lock your kiosk.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk On Web
While logged into your admin dashboard, click the Settings tab.
From there, click the View kiosk button under the Attendance section.
Once the Kiosk is open, select Connect door in the top right hand corner.
Select the door you want to connect and select Connect when finished. You should then see a message confirming that the door has been successfully connected.
Once your door has been linked to kiosk mode, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Ensure that guardians and staff click Sign in with a PIN instead - they will not be able to unlock the door by scanning the QR code.
🚨 Each Kiosk device can only be connected to one door at a time. If you want multiple doors to unlock via Kiosk check-ins, you'll need one device per door.
How to Configure Your Check-In Kiosk Without Recording Attendance for Door Locks
For centers using door access, kiosks can be configured to unlock doors without recording an attendance event.
💡 This is an internal setting that must be enabled by the Playground support team. Reach out to support if you'd like this turned on for your center.
Configure Check-In Kiosk without Attendance on Mobile
If you don't already know your Center PIN code:
Log in to the web version of Playground and go to Settings. Under the General tab of your Settings, scroll down to Attendance and find the section titled School PIN code. Click the eye icon to view your School PIN code. You will need this four digit pin to set up your connected door kiosk.
Once you know your center PIN, open the Playground app on the tablet that you will use to run your check-in kiosk
Make sure you are logged in with your Admin account
Tap Kiosk on your home screen
Tap the Lock Icon in the top right corner to initiate Kiosk mode. You must Lock your device in kiosk mode to connect it to a door.
Tap the Tap to select a door connection for this kiosk button. This step connects the tablet to a specific door in your center and is critical for ensuring the correct door unlocks once someone enters their PIN.
You should see "<Door name> connected to kiosk session" in blue. This confirms the door is connected to the device and will unlock upon check-in or check-out.
Toggle on “Open Door Only”
Enter your School PIN from step 1 to enter Kiosk mode. You'll get confirmation that the device is locked in Kiosk mode.
Once your door has been linked and kiosk mode has been locked, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Configure Check-In Kiosk without Attendance on Web
While logged into your admin dashboard, click the Settings tab.
From there, click the View kiosk button under the Attendance section.
Once the Kiosk is open, select Connect door in the top right hand corner.
Select the door you want to connect and toggle on Open Door only.
Press the blue Connect button when finished. You should then see a message confirming that the door has been successfully connected.
Once your door has been linked to kiosk mode, guardians and staff should be able to unlock the door using their PIN codes.
Ensure that guardians and staff click Sign in with a PIN instead - they will not be able to unlock the door by scanning the QR code.
Setting Up Mobile App Features
Decide which mobile features you would like to configure for your connected doors (access hours, role-based access, or geofencing). These features are best for an exterior-facing door.
As a quick reminder, opening a connected door via the mobile app means opening a door via the door access tab. Configuring the settings below limits who, where, and when users can open doors.
If you have multiple connected doors, we recommend setting up access to each door individually. Follow these steps before setting up your mobile features for the first time:
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
Toggle on “Manage access for each door individually”
Setting Up Access Hours
Access limit when you can open doors via the mobile app.
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Integrations tab.
Find Door locks and click Manage.
Navigate to the door you would like to configure, if you have multiple.
Decide whether you want to set access hours for Guardians, Staff, or both.
Click Add Access Hours for the group you are configuring (Guardians or Staff)
In the pop-up window, select the permission level you would like to grant:
Cannot unlock this door: Guardians or staff can't unlock the door on their own. They'll need to use the Kiosk instead.
Can always unlock this door: Guardians or staff can unlock the door at any time without using the Kiosk.
Can unlock this door at certain times: Set specific time windows when guardians or staff can unlock the door. Outside of those windows, they'll need to use the Kiosk.
To enable hours-based access, select Can unlock this door at certain times
Toggle the days of the week you would like to have this door available to unlock (Ex: Monday - Friday).
The default hours will be 9 AM - 4PM. To change the hours, click into the first day you would like to change, and type the hours you would like to set.
Click the Copy icon on the right to copy the hours to all active days. This prevents you from having to type in the hours manually.
Click the blue Save Access Hours button in the bottom right corner to save your selection.
Repeat steps 3-10 for all relevant doors and groups (for example, if you always want staff have to access to a door, but only want guardians to have access within certain hours).
💡 Access hour changes apply immediately. There's no need to restart the app or re-sync the hardware.
Configuring Role-Based Access
If you would like to limit mobile app access to unlocking based on certain roles (ex: you don’t want your accountant to have access to door features), you can enable role-based access.
From your admin dashboard on web, navigate to the Settings tab.
Find Roles within the horizontal bar of pages.
Select the role that you would like to have access to door locks
Click the Pencil next to the three dots
Scroll down to Door locks and toggle it on. You should see this:
Repeat steps 3-5 for all of the roles that you would like to have access to unlocking doors via the mobile app.
🚨 If you also have access-hours enabled, access hours will override your role-based settings. So if you have given a staff member access via roles, but set access hours to only unlock doors between 9 AM - 4 PM, they will not be able to unlock the door outside of those hours.
Configuring Geofencing for Door Locks
The Require geofence for door locks toggle controls whether mobile app users must be within the geofence before they can unlock doors through Playground.
Go to Settings on your admin dashboard on web.
Locate the Geofence section
Click into the Geofence section and toggle on Require geofence for door locks.
Click Save changes.
In the Address field at the top of the page, type your center's address and select it from the search results. The map will update to show a pin at your center's location.
In the Geo distance field, enter the radius of the geofence in meters. The circular boundary on the map will update to reflect the distance you enter. We recommend a minimum distance of 100 meters, in order to avoid issues.
Use the Map or Satellite toggle to switch views and visually confirm the boundary looks correct for your location.
Click Save changes to save your address and radius settings.
🚨 Geofencing requires location access to be enabled on each user's device. On iPhone, go to Settings → Playground → Location and select While Using the App or Always. On Android, go to Settings → Apps → Playground → Permissions → Location and allow location access.
🚨 Geofencing requires the Playground mobile app build 605 or later.
Configure Geofence for Attendance Check-In
The Requires geofence to check in setting controls who must be within the geofence boundary before they can check students in or out on the mobile app.
On the Geofence settings page, locate Requires geofence to check in.
Click the drop-down and select one of the following options:
None: No geofence restriction on check-in.
Parents: Families must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Staff: Staff must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Parents and Staff: Both families and staff must be within the geofence to check in or out.
Click Save.
🚨 If you select Parents and Staff, any staff member who clocks in from outside the geofence on the mobile app will be blocked. Make sure your geofence radius is large enough to cover any locations where staff legitimately clock in.
If you are experiencing an issue with your door locks and need help troubleshooting, read our guide on Troubleshooting Door Lock Issues.
FAQs
What unit is the geo distance in?
What unit is the geo distance in?
Meters. Enter the radius as a number in meters — for example, 100 sets a 100-meter boundary around your center's address.
Can I set different geofence settings for check-in and door locks?
Can I set different geofence settings for check-in and door locks?
Yes. The check-in and door lock settings are independent. You can require geofencing for door locks without restricting check-in, or restrict check-in to parents only while leaving door locks unrestricted.
Geofencing isn't working — what should I check first?
Geofencing isn't working — what should I check first?
The most common reason geofencing doesn't work is that the Playground app does not have permission to access the device's location. On iPhone, go to Settings → Playground → Location and set it to While Using the App or Always. On Android, go to Settings → Apps → Playground → Permissions → Location and allow location access. Once location permission is granted, geofencing should work on the next check-in or door unlock attempt. Also confirm the user's app is on build 605 or later.
A family says they couldn't check in even though they were at the school. What should I check?
A family says they couldn't check in even though they were at the school. What should I check?
First confirm location permissions are enabled on their device (see above). Then check that your geofence radius is large enough to cover the drop-off area. GPS on mobile devices can have slight inaccuracies, so a radius that's too tight may block users who are physically present. Try increasing the radius by 20–30 meters and ask the family to try again.
Why does geofencing work for parents but not staff, or vice versa?
Why does geofencing work for parents but not staff, or vice versa?
If geofencing is working for parents but not staff, you may only have geofencing set up for families. To fix this, navigate to your Settings tab and select Geofence. From there, scroll down and make sure that geofencing applies to both parents and staff next to Requires geofence to check in. To edit, click the drop-down menu and select Parents and staff.
