Idle timeouts and screen behavior

BoothIQ aggressively returns to the welcome screen if a customer walks away mid-session. This prevents the booth from getting stuck on an abandoned session and makes sure the next customer starts fresh.

This article lists the approximate idle timeout for every customer-facing screen. Values are approximate and may differ slightly in your version.

The table

  • Welcome screen. No timeout. The booth sits on the welcome screen indefinitely
  • Product Selection. 60 seconds. Warning, then back to welcome
  • Template Selection. 60 seconds. Warning, then back to welcome
  • Look At Camera. Advances on its own after a few seconds. Auto-advances to capture
  • Template Capture. Per-photo delays, aggressive abandonment detection. Returns to welcome if no activity
  • Photo Offer Screen. 60 seconds. Warning, then auto-continues
  • Photo Edit Screen. 120 seconds. Warning, then back to offer/continue
  • Extra Prints / Cross-sell. 180 seconds. Warning, then auto-advances
  • Photo 4×6 Selection. 180 seconds. Warning, then auto-advances
  • Payment Screen. 120 seconds. Warning, then cancels back to previous screen
  • Phone Print (QR). 180 seconds. Warning, then back to welcome
  • Phone Image Editor. 120 seconds. Warning, then auto-continues
  • Print Thank You. About 30 seconds. Auto-advances to thank-you screen
  • Thank You. Few seconds. Auto-returns to welcome

Warning banners

Most screens show a warning message before they actually time out. Typically:

  • At about 15 seconds before timeout ("Are you still there?")
  • At about 5 seconds before timeout ("Returning to welcome...")
  • Then the timeout action fires

The exact warning times may differ. The pattern is consistent: you get at least one clear warning before the screen actually advances or resets.

Why these timeouts exist

  • Prevent orphan sessions. A customer who walks away shouldn't leave the booth stuck
  • Reset the next customer experience. When a new customer walks up, they should see the welcome screen, not a half-finished session
  • Protect paid state. Most timeouts preserve credits if the customer inserted any; the credits stay in the booth's balance for them or the next customer
  • Avoid hardware wear. Don't leave the camera preview running indefinitely

Can I change the timeouts?

Timeout values are not operator-configurable in the version of BoothIQ described in these docs. They're baked into each screen.

If your venue needs different timing (e.g. slower customers who need more time to make decisions), talk to your BoothIQ point of contact.

Timeouts and the payment screen

The payment screen is worth calling out separately:

  • Timeout is about 120 seconds.
  • A 2.5-second initial delay at the start of the screen prevents stale pulses from a previous session being credited to this one.
  • If the customer inserts some credits but not enough, the timeout still fires. The partial credits stay in the balance.
  • If the customer inserts enough credits, the booth auto-advances to printing immediately (before the timeout).