Home Assistant Dashboard on the Wall: Setting Up a Tablet as a Wall Panel

Which tablet is suitable as a wall panel?

You do not need a current model for a Home Assistant dashboard. The dashboard runs in the browser or in the Companion app and generally makes no high demands on the hardware - Wi-Fi and a reasonably up-to-date browser are usually enough. A retired tablet from the drawer is therefore often a good candidate. More important than computing power are two questions: stable Wi-Fi at the mounting spot, and the decision between portrait and landscape, because the layout of your dashboard will follow it. A practical detail: with our mounts, the front camera remains uncovered in case you want to use it for presence detection or video calls. Whether a precisely fitting mount is available for your model is shown by the model finder.

Starting the dashboard in kiosk mode

A wall panel should show exactly one thing: your dashboard, full screen, without status bars and without a way back to the home screen. Depending on the platform, there are several ways to get there:

• Companion app for Home Assistant: The official app for iOS and Android can, depending on the version, be set up to start directly with your dashboard and stay in the foreground.
• Kiosk browser apps for Android: Apps such as the Fully Kiosk Browser offer, for example, a full-screen mode, a start page lock and often screen control via motion detection.
• Guided Access on your iPad: iPadOS usually includes a built-in feature that restricts the tablet to a single app - often sufficient for a pure display device.

For the wall, a dedicated dashboard is worth it instead of the smartphone view: large tiles, the most important switches right on the start page, few sub-levels. What you rarely need stays in the app on your phone - the wall panel is there for the quick taps in passing.

Continuous operation: display and charging

A wall panel runs around the clock - which is honestly a battery and energy topic, because constant full brightness and permanent charging can take a toll on the battery over time. A combination of three measures has proven useful, depending on what your device and app offer:

• Display timeout instead of always-on: The display switches off after a short time and wakes on touch. Some kiosk apps additionally offer wake-up via motion detection through the front camera, which remains uncovered with our mounts.
• Use a charging limit: Many tablets now offer a charging limit or optimized charging that does not keep the battery at 100 percent permanently. If your device has such a feature, enable it.
• Charging via automation: If the Companion app reports the battery level to Home Assistant, you can automate a smart plug to charge, for example, only below 30 percent and switch off again above 80 percent.

The power supply itself is handled by the mount: the charging cable runs concealed through a side cutout of about 5 mm or a cable channel about 2 cm wide. If there is a flush-mounted wall box behind the tablet, the mount covers a standard box - the cable stays concealed from the outside. There is no wireless charging with our mounts; charging works via cable with your own power adapter. You will find all the details in the guide Tablet Wall Mount with Charging.

Permanently mounted or removable?

For a wall panel, the enclosure variant is the usual candidate: a screwed-on frame holds your tablet, and only the display remains usable. There are deliberately no cutouts for the buttons: this helps avoid accidental inputs. Removal is designed to require tools, which makes unauthorized access harder. Especially in households with children or in places like hallways, entrance areas or holiday flats, that is a plus. If, on the other hand, the tablet should occasionally join you in the kitchen or on the couch, the slide-in variant is the fit: insert, charge, remove at any time. All variants can be mounted in portrait or landscape, and the back of the mount is additionally compatible with VESA 100x100.

All our tablet wall mounts are made in Germany using 3D printing, precisely for your tablet model. Which variant suits your device is shown by the model finder - and for the basic setup from mounting spot to software, the overview guide Your Tablet as a Smart Home Hub on the Wall is worth a look.