Accessing admin mode

The admin dashboard is hidden from customers. There is no visible button labeled "admin" on the welcome screen. That's by design, so curious customers can't poke around in your settings. To get into admin you do a hidden 5-tap sequence and then sign in with a username and password.

Who this is for: Every operator. This is the first thing you'll do in the admin dashboard, every time.

The 5-tap sequence

The trigger for the admin login screen is 5 quick taps on the credits indicator.

The credits indicator is the small label that shows the customer's current credit balance (or "Free Play" in free play mode). It appears in the corner of the welcome screen and on most customer-facing screens.

Rules for the tap sequence:

• All 5 taps must land within about 3 seconds.
• Taps that are too slow are ignored. Start over.
• The taps must land on (or very near) the credits indicator. Tapping elsewhere on the screen does nothing.
• The sequence works on the welcome screen and on the product selection screen. It does not work mid-session (during capture, edit, or payment).

After the fifth valid tap, the customer-facing screen is replaced by the Admin Login Screen.

The admin login screen

The admin login screen has:

• A Username field
• A Password field with a show/hide eye toggle
• A Sign In button (default text: "Sign In")
• A Close / Cancel button (returns the booth to the welcome screen)
• A Forgot Password? link (triggers the recovery flow, see Locked out of admin (coming soon))

The on-screen virtual keyboard appears automatically when you tap a field.

Signing in

1. Tap the Username field. The keyboard appears.
2. Type your username (e.g. admin).
3. Tap the Password field.
4. Type your password. Tap the eye icon to verify what you typed if you need to.
5. Tap Sign In.

What happens next depends on your account state:

• Normal account, correct password. You go straight to the admin dashboard, landing on the Sales & Analytics tab
• First sign-in to a default account (admin / admin123). You're routed to the Forced Password Change screen, change the password before you can do anything else
• Account with PINSetupRequired = true. After password change, you're routed to PIN Setup to create a recovery PIN
• Wrong password. Error message; after several wrong attempts the account is rate-limited and you're locked out for a number of minutes
• Account disabled. Error message; contact a Master admin to re-enable

Access levels

BoothIQ has two access levels:

• Master. Full access to every tab and every setting. Can create, edit, and delete other admin accounts
• User. Limited access (sales reports and basic credit operations). Cannot change products, templates, settings, or hardware config

The default admin account is Master. The default user account is User. You see your current access level in the sidebar header (e.g. an "Administrator" label and a "Full Access" badge for Master).

Exiting admin

When you're done in admin, tap Exit Admin at the bottom of the sidebar. This returns the booth to the customer-facing welcome screen and the next 5-tap sequence will require a fresh sign-in.

Common problems

5-tap sequence does nothing.

Taps too slow, or taps not on the credits indicator. Tap faster, and make sure all 5 taps land on the credits label.

Login screen appears but the Sign In button does nothing.

The Username or Password field is empty. Tap each field, type the value, then Sign In.

"Invalid credentials" with the right password.

Caps shift accidentally on (check the virtual keyboard's shift state), or you're using the wrong account. Tap shift to lower-case and try again. If still failing, you may have changed the password and forgotten. See Locked out of admin (coming soon).

"Account locked" message.

Too many failed attempts. Wait the number of minutes shown on screen and try again.

You signed in but landed on a Forced Password Change screen.

Default account, never changed. Change the password before doing anything else (see First login and password).

Security best practices

• Change all default passwords on first sign-in. Don't leave admin123 or user123 in place.
• Use a strong password. A password manager makes this easy.
• Set up your recovery PIN during first-time setup. It's the difference between a 5-second password reset and a support call.
• Don't share admin accounts between staff. Create separate User-level accounts for staff who only need sales reports.
• Always exit admin when you're done. Never leave the dashboard up unattended.
• Don't write the password on the kiosk. Customers will see it.

See Security › Admin account best practices (coming soon) for more.

Next steps

• Dashboard overview. Tour the sidebar, header bar, and pills.