Troubleshooting
Most kiosk issues fall into one of a handful of categories. This is the lookup table.
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| Camera permission denied. App shows a black square or a permission error instead of the camera preview. | Go to Settings → Apps → TimePally → Permissions and enable Camera. Reopen the app. If the system never asked for the permission, uninstall and reinstall the app. |
| Face not recognised repeatedly. Same member fails verification several days in a row. | Check lighting (no backlight behind them). Ask them to remove any hat brim, sunglasses, or new accessories. If problems persist, an admin should re-enrol them on the Primary terminal, their appearance has likely drifted from the original templates. |
| ”Subscription expired” lock screen. Kiosk shows a lock state and refuses to accept clock-ins. | This is a server-driven lock. See Subscription to bring the account current. The kiosk re-checks subscription status every 5 minutes and unlocks within minutes of payment. |
| Device shows wrong time. Clock-in times are off by hours or days. | Go to Settings → Date & time on the device and enable Set automatically (both date/time and time zone). The kiosk validates against trusted network time and refuses to record clock events if it suspects the device clock has been tampered with. |
| Sync indicator stuck above 0. Pending count isn’t dropping. | Walk through the four-step checklist on Offline Mode & Sync: network, restart, support. |
| App closes or gets backgrounded and sync stops. Pending count keeps climbing. | TimePally syncs only while the app is open and on-screen. Lock the kiosk into the foreground by enabling Kiosk Mode. If the process keeps getting killed by the OS on Tecno, Infinix, or Itel devices, also follow the optional battery whitelist steps so the WorkManager safety net can drain the queue. |
| Kiosk shows “Not registered”. The activation screen comes back even though the device was working before. | The device record was deleted from the dashboard (or the server cleared the auth token for security reasons). Have an admin generate a new 6-digit code in the Devices page and register the device again. |
| App refuses to enrol — “Only the Primary terminal can perform enrolment.” | You’re on a Secondary device. Move to the Primary terminal at this location, or have an admin change the device’s role from the dashboard. See Primary vs Secondary Terminals. |
| ”No network connection” during activation or enrolment. | Both activation and face enrolment require internet. Connect the device to Wi-Fi or mobile data and retry. Daily clock-ins do not need internet. |
| Need to replace a damaged or lost device. | Do not delete the old device record : Every device counts against your subscription’s device limit, so deleting and re-creating risks hitting the cap unnecessarily. Instead, open the Devices dashboard page, click the old device in the list, and choose Reactivate (see Reactivate a device). This un-pairs the original hardware while keeping the same 6-digit code. Install the TimePally app on the replacement device and enter that same code on its activation screen. The device slot, its location assignment, and its Primary/Secondary role are all preserved. Members do not need to re-enrol, face templates are stored server-side, not on the device. |
| Liveness check fails on every attempt. | The device may be looking at a photo, a screen, or a printed face. If it’s a real member, check lighting, extreme glare can confuse the liveness detector. Try a different position relative to ceiling lights. |
| App won’t open at all after install. | Make sure the device is on Android 7.0 (Nougat) or newer. The app refuses to install on older Android versions. Check Settings → About phone → Android version. |
| Kiosk Mode didn’t auto-restore after a reboot. | This is expected. Kiosk Mode does not survive a device power-cycle. Open the TimePally app from the launcher and it will re-pin itself. See Kiosk Mode → After a reboot. |
| ”Internet & Network” row is missing in Kiosk Mode. | That row requires Android 10 (API 29) or newer. On older devices, turn Kiosk Mode off briefly to change network settings, then turn it back on. |
| A member swiped out of the app while it was pinned. | Kiosk Mode has no PIN gating in the current release, anyone with physical access can turn it off. Mount the device so members can’t easily reach the screen, or assign a trusted member to monitor the kiosk during peak hours. PIN protection for Kiosk Mode is planned. |
Still stuck?
If none of the above apply, gather this information before contacting support:
- Device model and Android version : Settings → About phone.
- App version : TimePally overflow menu (⋮) → Settings → About.
- Device ID : TimePally overflow menu (⋮) → Terminal Status.
- A photo or screen recording of the error.
- Approximate time the issue started.
Send the details via Contact or directly to your account manager.
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