FAQs
The questions we get asked most.
- Is it a subscription?
- No. Canned Web is a one-time purchase per machine, and future updates are included. No recurring fees, no account required.
- How many Macs does one license cover?
- One machine at a time. Buy as many licenses as you have kiosks, you can move a license to a different Mac by releasing it first from the operator screen.
- What happens when the free trial ends?
- Nothing breaks. Canned Web never disables itself and never interrupts a running kiosk. After the 14-day trial you simply can’t start a new seal until you activate a license.
- Does it need an internet connection?
- For a live website, yes, it loads the site over the internet like any browser would. But you can also point Canned Web at a website folder stored on the Mac, and then it runs completely offline with no wifi needed.
- What happens if the venue Wi-Fi drops?
- The kiosk shows a clean offline screen instead of a broken page and keeps retrying in the background, then reloads and recovers on its own the moment the connection returns. It also catches “connected but no internet” cases like a captive portal or the site being down. A local-content kiosk isn’t affected, since it needs no network at all.
- Can visitors quit the app or leave my site?
- No. The site takes over the whole screen, system shortcuts (Spotlight, Cmd-Tab, screenshots and more) are blocked, and off-site links can be disabled. The only way out is a hidden keyboard gesture, which you can put an exit password in front of.
- Can visitors reach a payment or login page on another domain?
- Yes. In the operator screen, under Lock to domain, add the domains you trust to “Also allow these domains” (for example your payment provider or SSO). Each entry allows that domain and its subdomains, so a checkout or login redirect works while everything else stays blocked. Turn on the on-screen Home button (or idle-reset) so the kiosk can return, and note that a completed checkout redirects back to your site on its own. Test the full flow on the kiosk first, since some 3-D Secure card checks redirect to the bank’s own domain, which a whitelist cannot predict.
- Does it work with a password-protected site (HTTP Basic auth)?
- Yes. For a staging site or an intranet page behind a browser login prompt, turn on Site login in the operator screen and enter the password (and the username, if the site has one). The kiosk then signs in on its own, including after a reload or an idle reset. Or sign in once in the sealed kiosk and it is remembered on that Mac. The password lives in the macOS Keychain and is only ever sent to your own site, never to other domains. Sites with their own login form work as before: use idle reset so each visitor starts signed out.
- Does the kiosk reset between visitors?
- Yes. Turn on idle reset and Canned Web returns to your home page and clears navigation, scroll and form state after a set period of inactivity, so each visitor starts fresh. You can also show an on-screen Home button, and scroll-only mode keeps a look-don’t-touch display from being clicked around.
- Can I lock the kiosk to one section of my site?
- Yes. As well as locking to your whole domain and its subdomains, you can confine the kiosk to a single path prefix (for example /exhibits/ or /demo), so visitors stay within that section and off-path links don’t navigate. Or lock it to just the home page: with a site’s root as the start URL, Lock to path keeps visitors on that one page and nowhere else.
- How do I exit the kiosk?
- Hold ⌘⇧S. That gesture is the single way out, so a visitor can’t stumble on it. If you’ve set an exit password, you’ll be asked for it before the kiosk closes.
- Can you disable the power button?
- No, and we’re upfront about it. The power / Touch ID button is a hardware control that macOS won’t let any app intercept, so no kiosk software can block it. It sits right on the keyboard on Mac keyboards, many third-party keyboards, and MacBooks. Our mitigation: set the Mac to not require a password on wake (see Setup), so if someone sleeps it, it wakes straight back to your sealed site. For the most tamper-resistant setup, use a Mac mini, its button is around the back, and mount the machine out of reach.
- Do I need MDM or a device-management profile?
- No. Install the app, grant Accessibility permission, and seal your site. There are no profiles to install and nothing to configure at the system level beyond a few optional settings.
- Is Canned Web on the Mac App Store?
- No, and it can’t be. To lock a Mac down, Canned Web uses a system event tap (which needs Accessibility permission) and a private macOS function, CGSSetSymbolicHotKeyEnabled, to switch off Spotlight and the screenshot shortcuts. Neither is allowed under the App Store’s sandbox and review rules. So Canned Web ships notarized by Apple and downloaded directly from cannedweb.app, with Sparkle for automatic updates. It passes the same Gatekeeper checks as an App Store app, just from outside the store.
- What input devices work?
- Whatever the Mac uses as a pointer, trackpad, mouse, keyboard, or a touch display that macOS reads as a pointer. Scroll-only mode lets visitors scroll but not click, if you want a look-don’t-touch display.
- Which macOS versions are supported?
- macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.
- Can I get a refund?
- Yes, see our refund policy. And the 14-day free trial means you can try the full app before buying.
Still have a question? We’re happy to answer.
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