Use case
Keep a dashboard screen switched on
AwakeTab keeps a dashboard screen on as long as AwakeTab itself is visible on a display of that computer: in a small window beside the dashboard, side by side, or on another monitor attached to the same machine. Send the wall screen a link with ?autostart=1 and it starts itself when the page loads; Safari and iPad need one tap the first time. Keep the device plugged in.
Try it
Start a session, switch tabs, then come back and watch the pill.
On this page
Make the wall screen start itself
- Choose ∞ and a quiet face.Pick Minimal or Clock mode (below). To let the screen sleep out of hours, use "Until…" with a time such as 6:00 PM instead.
- Copy a link that starts itself.Open Share, turn on "Start automatically" and copy the link. It ends in
?autostart=1and carries the length you chose. - Open that link when the wall computer starts.Set the browser to open it at start-up. After a reload, AwakeTab restores its session.
What to expect from across the room
In Chrome and Edge the session starts as soon as the page loads. Safari and iPad need one tap the first time, because Safari asks for a recent tap before it will keep a screen on.
The pill at the top of the tool tells you what the browser is doing:
- Screen awake
- With a running time, the display is being kept on.
- Paused — tab hidden
- Something, such as a full-screen dashboard, covers AwakeTab. Uncover it and AwakeTab asks again.
- Blocked — here's the fix
- The browser refused, for example because the page is embedded in a frame whose policy blocks wake locks. The card shows the fix.
Put AwakeTab where the browser can see it
A dashboard in full screen (F11) on the same monitor covers it. Three layouts work:
- A small window in a corner. Resize AwakeTab to a strip at the edge. An unfocused window still counts if nothing covers it.
- Side by side. Snap the dashboard to one side and AwakeTab to the other.
- Another monitor on the same computer. AwakeTab on the laptop screen, the dashboard on the big display. The display timeout is shared, so both stay lit.
On a Chromebook driving a wall screen, closing the lid sleeps it unless “Sleep when cover is closed” is turned off, and a managed Chromebook may not let you change that. Keep a Chromebook screen on has the steps.
Choose a quiet face
Minimal is a dim screen with a small elapsed time, so AwakeTab doesn’t compete with your charts. Clock shows the time in large numerals, handy where people also glance for the time.
Power and the panel
A screen lit all day needs mains power. In Chrome and Edge, AwakeTab can stop itself at a battery level you pick, which protects a laptop someone unplugged.
OLED and some LCD panels can keep a faint image of anything that sits still for weeks. AwakeTab shifts its own face by a couple of pixels every minute, but it can’t move your dashboard, so use the panel’s screen-care settings or rotate between views.
Many screens, or a lobby
For a reception screen, a shop or a row of wall displays, the Kiosk licence adds your logo. It costs $19 once for one site or $49 for five, where a site is one location with any number of screens. AwakeTab is not a kiosk browser: it doesn’t lock the device down or launch itself, so pair it with your operating system’s kiosk mode.
Before you leave it on the wall
0 of 4 checkedQuestions
Can one AwakeTab window keep two monitors on?
Usually, yes. The display timeout on Windows and macOS covers every screen attached to the computer, so AwakeTab on the small laptop screen keeps the big monitor lit too. A monitor that powers down on its own when the signal drops is using its own setting and needs changing on the monitor.
Will the wall screen start again after a power cut?
Only if the computer boots, signs in and opens the browser at your autostart link. Those steps are operating-system and browser settings. Once the page loads, Chrome and Edge start the session by themselves; Safari waits for one tap.
Does AwakeTab refresh my dashboard or keep me signed in to it?
No. It never touches other tabs or sites. If your dashboard signs you out overnight or needs its own auto-refresh, set that in the dashboard tool. AwakeTab’s only job is to keep the display on.
Do I need a Kiosk licence for one TV in the office?
No. The free web page works on any number of screens. The licence is for putting your own logo on screens that customers or visitors see, and it is priced per location, not per screen.