Overview
The POPcomms Beta Installer is designed to simplify the installation of a specific experience into kiosk mode.
This installer is currently in beta.
Functionality may change, with some features and keyboard shortcuts included for testing and verification purposes.
To request an installer for your experience, please use this form here, and a member of the team will be in touch.
Once installed, your experience will run automatically in kiosk mode.
Installation
You must allow sufficient time before any event or usage to fully install, download and test your experience.
We highly recommend having a physical keyboard available, either wired or wireless, connected to the machine running the experience to make exiting the app easier.
| No. | Step | Screenshot or Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Download the installer from the link provided to you by the POPcomms team | Please note that you may see a download warning as per these instructions |
| 2 | Open the installer | |
| 3 | Select “Only for me”, then click “Next” |  |
| 4 | Click “Install” (you do not need to change the destination location). |  Please note: the space required is for the Beta Installer only. You will still need to allow additional space for the experience itself, and the amount needed will depend on the level of content within your experience. |
| 5 | To immediately run the experience, ensure that “Run POPcomms Beta Installer” is checked, then click “Finish”. The app will then open in fullscreen kiosk mode. This will also create a shortcut on your desktop called “POPcomms”. |  |
| 6 | Once you have signed in or have access to your experience, initiate a full content download. To initiate a full content download – on the keyboard, press ALT + F8, which will close & reload the app. On reload, the full content download will commence. | For your experience to work offline, you must initiate a content download and wait for to complete in full. |
Download Warnings
When you initially download the installer, you may receive a warning and this differs if you are downloading via Edge, or via Chrome. Your IT department may also restrict certain files, and this will be handled on a case by case basis.
Downloading via Edge
| When the download has finished, you may see this warning, you need to click on the three dots to the right when you hover over the tile, and click “Keep” |  |
| Then on the following dialogue, click “Show more” then click “Keep Anyway”. |  |
Downloading via Chrome
| When the download has finished and you go to open the file, you may see this warning, you need to click “More Info” then “Run Anyway” |  |
🧭 Keyboard Shortcuts (Kiosk Controls)
The following keyboard shortcuts are registered globally for kiosk control and debugging, arranged by severity of reload or control action:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Alt + F2 | Open config file in default editor |
Alt + F5 | Soft reload (retain cache and state) |
Alt + F6 | Hard reload (bypass HTTP cache, retain state) |
Alt + F7 | Clear HTTP cache and CacheStorage, reload, and trigger SW update |
Alt + F8 | Quit and immediately restart the app |
Alt + F9 | Quit the app |
Ctrl + Alt + F10 | Clear all storage and relaunch the app |
Alt + F11 | Reload the app using the current config URL |
Alt + F12 | Toggle Developer Tools |
📘 Shortcut Use Case Details
Alt + F2: Open Config File
Your app will come preloaded with the correct experience URL and page scaling/zoom factor (as per installer version 1.4.0).
The POPcomms team may instruct you to change the URL or page scaling and this shortcut will enable this.
Opens config.json using the system default editor.
Alt + F5: Soft Reload
Reloads the current page without clearing cache or storage.
✅ Keeps: cache, localStorage, cookies, service workers
Alt + F6: Hard Reload
Bypasses HTTP cache to force fresh asset loading, similar to Ctrl + Shift + R.
✅ Keeps: localStorage, cookies, session data
Alt + F7: Deep Asset Refresh + SW Update
- Clear of HTTP cache (JS, CSS, images)
- Clear of CacheStorage (offline PWA assets)
- Reload ignoring cache
- Service worker update trigger
✅ Keeps: localStorage, cookies, IndexedDB
Alt + F8: Quit and Restart App
Cleanly shuts down and relaunches the app.
✅ Keeps: everything (no data loss)
🧠 Use for: applying updated config or refreshing environment
Alt + F9: Quit App
Fully exits the app without relaunch.
✅ Keeps: everything
🧠 Use for: manual shutdown or during maintenance
Ctrl + Alt + F10: Full Wipe and Relaunch
Please Note
This shortcut will clear all downloaded and cached data, this is only recommended when there are cache or offline issues, with a reliable internet connection available for redownload.
Clears all app storage including localStorage, IndexedDB, cookies, service workers, and caches.
🧠 Use for: full reset to “factory state” — removes logins, data, cache
Alt + F11: Reload From Config
Reloads the app using the current config.json URL.
✅ Keeps: storage, cache, login sessions
🧠 Use for: applying URL or zoom/scaling changes made with Alt + F2
If the config.json needs to be updated on site:
- Initial install is configured to load with a predetermined URL.
- On site, update the URL or zoom/scaling by pressing
Alt + F2
This opens theconfig.jsonfile where you can change the URL and zoom/scaling if instructed by the POPcomms team. - Press
Alt + F10to reload the app immediately using the new config.
This avoids restarting the entire application and retains any local storage or session data.
Alt + F12: Toggle Developer Tools
Opens or closes the Chromium DevTools pane.
🧠 Use for: advanced debugging, inspecting logs, checking storage
Release Notes
Version 1.4.0 – Introduced the ability to alter the page zoom / scaling through the config file, accessible through ALT+F2 shortcut.
Version 1.5.0 – On uninstall, removes all cached files.