First login and password

After BoothIQ is installed and the welcome screen is up, you need to sign in to the admin dashboard at least once to change the default password and set up a recovery PIN. This article walks you through that.

Who this is for: The operator or installer who just finished First-time setup.

Before you start

• BoothIQ is installed and the welcome screen is on the kiosk.
• You're physically at the kiosk (the admin dashboard is only reachable from the kiosk's own touchscreen).
• Pick a strong new admin password and a 4-6 digit recovery PIN before you sit down. You'll be prompted for both.

The two default accounts

BoothIQ ships with two default accounts. Both have fixed passwords on a fresh install, and both are flagged so the very first sign-in forces a password change before you can do anything else.

You'll change both during this first-time setup. Use the admin account to do it — Master access is what you need to set up the rest of the booth.

Step 1: Open the admin login screen

The admin dashboard is hidden from customers. To reach it from the welcome screen:

1. Look for the credits indicator in the corner of the welcome screen (or the product selection screen — it works on both).
2. Tap it 5 times in quick succession (within about 3 seconds between taps).
3. A login screen will appear with Username, Password, and a Sign In button.

If nothing happens after 5 taps, try again — you may have spaced the taps too far apart. The 5-tap sequence has to be quick or BoothIQ ignores it.

Step 2: Sign in with the default account

1. Tap the Username field. A virtual keyboard appears.
2. Type admin.
3. Tap the Password field.
4. Type admin123.
5. Tap Sign In.

If the credentials are correct, BoothIQ recognizes that this is a setup account that has never been changed and immediately routes you to the Forced Password Change screen instead of the dashboard.

Step 3: Change the password

On the Forced Password Change screen:

1. Type a strong new password. BoothIQ enforces minimum length and complexity rules; the screen will tell you if your password is too weak.
2. Type the same password again in the confirm field.
3. Tap Save.

A few rules to keep in mind:

• Don't reuse admin123 or any obvious variant.
• Don't share the password with venue staff who only need User-level access — give them the user account instead.
• Write the new password down somewhere outside the kiosk (a password manager is ideal). If you forget it and you haven't set up the recovery PIN yet, your only way back in is the master password recovery flow, which takes longer.

Step 4: Set up your recovery PIN

After you save the new password, BoothIQ will (by default) walk you straight into a PIN Setup screen. The recovery PIN is a 4-6 digit number that lets you reset the admin password from the kiosk if you ever forget it.

1. Type a 4-6 digit PIN that you'll remember.
2. Type the same PIN again in the confirm field.
3. Tap Save.

A few rules:

• Don't use 0000, 1234, your phone number's last four, or anything else obvious. This PIN is what stands between you and a locked-out kiosk on a busy Saturday night.
• Write it down in the same place you wrote the new admin password.
• Each admin user has their own PIN. If you create more admin accounts later, each one needs its own PIN setup.

Step 5: Land on the admin dashboard

Once your password is changed and your PIN is saved, BoothIQ drops you into the admin dashboard. You'll see:

• A dark sidebar on the left with two sections — MAIN MENU (Sales & Analytics, Credits, Products, Templates, Layouts) and SYSTEM (Settings, Diagnostics, Cloud Sync, WiFi).
• A header bar at the top showing the current tab name, hardware status pills for Camera, Printer, and PCB, the current operation Mode (Coin Operated or Free Play), and a Prints remaining indicator.
• An Exit Admin button at the bottom of the sidebar that takes you back to the customer welcome screen.

You don't need to touch any of these tabs yet. We give each one its own article in the Admin Dashboard section (coming soon). For now, just confirm the sidebar and the header bar look right.

Step 6: Change the user account password too

The user account also has a default password (user123) and the same forced-change flag. If you give User-level access to staff, sign out of admin, sign in as user with user123, and walk through the same forced password change. Otherwise the default user123 is sitting there as a back-door for anyone who knows BoothIQ's defaults.

To sign out:

1. From any tab, tap Exit Admin at the bottom of the sidebar.
2. From the welcome screen, do the 5-tap sequence again.
3. Sign in with user / user123 and change the password.

Verify it worked

You're done when:

• You can sign in to admin with your new password (not admin123).
• The forced password change screen does not appear on subsequent sign-ins.
• You have a recovery PIN written down somewhere safe.
• The user account password has also been changed (or you've intentionally disabled the user account in Settings → User management (coming soon)).

Common problems

Next steps

• Your first print — Run a complete end-to-end test, from welcome screen to a finished photo.