Phone upload not working

The Phone Print feature creates a local Wi-Fi hotspot and serves an upload web page to the customer's phone. When something breaks in this chain (the QR code, the hotspot, the web server, the upload itself), customers report it as "I can't get my photo on the kiosk."

Symptom: Customer can't scan the QR, can't connect to the booth's Wi-Fi, can't open the upload page, or upload fails.

How Phone Print is supposed to work

A quick recap of the flow so you know what to check:

The kiosk creates a local Wi-Fi network (a hotspot) using its built-in Wi-Fi adapter.
The kiosk runs a small web server on its own (port 8080).
The kiosk shows a QR code that encodes the Wi-Fi info AND the upload URL.
The customer's phone scans the QR code.
The phone connects to the kiosk's Wi-Fi network.
The phone opens the upload page in a browser.
The customer picks photos and uploads.
The kiosk shows received photos on screen.

If any step fails, the customer can't print. Walk through the steps to find which one.

Step 1: Confirm the WiFi adapter is active

Phone Print needs a working Wi-Fi adapter on the kiosk:

Open admin → WiFi tab.
Look at the WiFi Adapter card.
If it says Active, you're good.
If it says Inactive or "No WiFi adapter detected", the adapter is offline. Power-cycle the kiosk and check again.
If it's still offline after a power cycle, contact support. Phone Print won't work without a wireless adapter.

Step 2: Confirm Phone Print is enabled

Open admin → Products tab.
Find the Smartphone Print product card.
Confirm it's enabled (toggle on).
If it's disabled, enable it and tap Save.

If Phone Print is disabled, the customer won't even see the option on the product selection screen.

Step 3: Check the firewall rule

The BoothIQ installer adds a Windows Firewall rule called "BoothIQ Photo Upload Server" scoped to the local subnet. This rule should be present from day one. Operators don't manage it.

If you suspect the firewall rule is missing or has been removed, contact support. There's no operator-side way to recreate it.

Step 4: Customer can't scan the QR code

The customer is at the Phone Print screen but their phone won't scan the QR code:

Phone camera too far / too close. Tell the customer to hold the phone about 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) from the screen.
Phone camera is dirty. Have them wipe the lens.
Older phone. Some older Android phones don't scan QR codes natively in the camera app. They may need a dedicated QR scanner app.
iPhone-specific: the customer may need to tap the on-screen notification when the camera detects the QR.
Glare on the kiosk screen. Adjust the booth's position relative to lighting, or have the customer angle their phone to avoid glare.

If multiple customers in a row can't scan, check the QR display on the kiosk. The QR may be too small or the screen may have a smudge over it.

Step 5: Customer scanned the QR but their phone won't connect to the Wi-Fi

The phone recognized the QR code as Wi-Fi info but isn't joining the network:

Customer is already connected to a different Wi-Fi. Tell them to disconnect from the venue's Wi-Fi temporarily and try again.
Customer's phone is in airplane mode. Tell them to turn off airplane mode.
Phone shows "no internet, do you want to stay connected?" This is normal. The kiosk hotspot has no internet, just a local upload page. Tell them to stay connected. Some phones (especially Android) try to drop the connection when there's no internet.
Phone is on cellular data only. Tell them to enable Wi-Fi.

Step 6: Phone is connected but the upload page won't open

The customer is on the kiosk's Wi-Fi but the upload page isn't loading in their browser:

Wait a few seconds after connecting before opening the URL.
Use the URL shown on the kiosk screen exactly. Copy/type the URL from the kiosk's Phone Print screen instead of the QR.
Try a different browser on the phone (Chrome, Safari, Firefox).
Restart the kiosk's Phone Print session. Have the customer go back to the welcome screen and start over.

Step 7: Upload starts but fails

The customer picks a photo and the upload begins but never completes:

Photo is huge (panorama, RAW, 50+ MB). The local upload should still work but slowly. Be patient.
Phone moved out of range of the kiosk Wi-Fi. Tell them to stay close to the booth during upload.
Phone went to sleep during upload. Tell them to keep the phone awake.

If multiple customers can't upload regardless of phone, the kiosk's upload service may be wedged. Power-cycle the kiosk.

Step 8: Upload succeeded but the kiosk doesn't show the photo

The customer uploaded but the kiosk screen doesn't update:

Wait 10-15 seconds. Large photos take time to process.
If the kiosk still doesn't show the photo, the customer may need to upload again.
If repeat uploads also don't show, end the customer's session and start over.

Step 9: Phone Print works for some customers but not others

Phone Print's reliability depends heavily on the customer's phone, OS version, and how recent it is:

iPhone (iOS 14+): generally works well
Recent Android (Android 10+): generally works well
Older Android (Android 8 or earlier): may not auto-connect from QR; customer may need to connect Wi-Fi manually
Locked-down corporate phones: may refuse to connect to local hotspots

Don't promise Phone Print will work with every phone. It works for the majority but not 100%.

When to call support

Contact support if:

The Phone Print feature has stopped working entirely (no customer can use it)
The WiFi adapter is genuinely missing on a kiosk that's supposed to have it
The firewall rule is gone and you can't restore it
The upload page returns server errors (500, etc.) consistently

Workarounds for unhappy customers

If a customer can't get Phone Print to work, offer them:

A retake using the booth's camera instead. They might get a better photo on the booth's camera anyway, and they'll feel less frustrated.
Switch to Free Play and let them try again without paying.