Can Hexnode kiosk play video ads as an idle screensaver on Windows, macOS, Android, or Android TV?Solved

Yes, but the behavior depends on the operating system.

For Windows and macOS, Hexnode can configure native screensaver settings, but native screensavers on these platforms are limited when it comes to video playback.

Platform-wise behavior:

– Android / Android TV: Supports looping video ads and image ads natively through Hexnode kiosk configurations. Video files such as .mp4 can be used for kiosk/digital signage use cases.

– Windows: Supports image slideshow screensavers through policy configuration. However, the native Windows screensaver engine does not support video files as screensavers.

– macOS: Supports native screensavers such as image slideshows or system patterns. macOS does not natively support .mp4 or other video formats as screensavers.

If the requirement is specifically to loop video advertisements on Windows, consider using a Windows Digital Signage Display setup or a multi-app kiosk with a media player app that can continuously loop videos.

Regards,
Mary Romero

So on Windows, if I want the device to show ads while idle and then let the user continue to the app after touching the screen, I shouldn’t rely on the normal screensaver if the ads are videos?

Correct. For Windows, the native screensaver option is suitable for image slideshows only. Hexnode can enable the screensaver, set it to Photos, and cycle through uploaded images.

For video ads on Windows, use one of these approaches instead:

1. Windows Digital Signage Display, if the device is mainly intended to loop signage content.

2. Multi-app kiosk with a dedicated media player app, if you need video playback along with access to other apps.

The exact touch-to-dismiss and return-after-inactivity behavior would depend on how the signage or media player workflow is configured.

I would also like to add on that,

Android and Android TV are the best fit for this requirement if native video ad playback is important.

Hexnode supports Android Digital Signage Kiosk configurations where image slideshows and looping video ads can be added directly to the kiosk policy. This can be used for devices that need to display advertisements or signage content without requiring a separate screensaver workaround.

For a pure display-only setup, Android Digital Signage Kiosk can lock the device into continuous signage playback with no user interaction. If user interaction with apps is also required, configure the kiosk flow accordingly based on the intended app access and inactivity behavior.

Regards,
Mary Romero