In Chrome OS, kiosk mode allows you to run a single app on a Chrome device and lock it down so no one can interfere with it. Also, if there's a power failure or the app crashes for some reason, the device will auto-launch the app again. This is very useful when using a Chrome device for digital signage when you're using the screen in a public area. When using ScreenCloud of a Chrome device, we highly recommended using kiosk mode to provide you the best experience.

In the past, Google supported unmanaged kiosk mode, which allowed you to login to Chrome OS and set up a single app to run in kiosk mode without any additional licenses or management tools. But recently, Google removed the unmanaged kiosk mode completely. This change is something that was bound to happen for some time. Google had already not recommended or supported this feature for some time, only recommending it for developer purposes, like a scenario where you are testing a Chrome app in single-app kiosk mode.

But why is this change so important and why is this something many Chrome OS users will miss? The answer is pretty simple, additional costs. The unmanaged kiosk mode feature allowed you to set up a single app to run in kiosk mode without any additional costs, while now the only way to do this is to purchase an additional Chrome subscription license, which gives you access to Google's Chrome Enterprise device management tools. Our team has created a very detailed guide about how you to purchase Chrome licenses and set up Google's Chrome Enterprise tools, which you can find here.

We feel that the additional costs are well worth it though. Using a Chrome license to setup your Chrome device in kiosk mode provides a number of benefits besides kiosk mode, with other key features that are helpful for your device such as: