Old iPad as a Family Kitchen Display

Turn an old iPad into the family's kitchen display

Family photos, today's plans, the kids' chores and a clock at night, on the tablet you stopped using.

Most families have an iPad in a drawer that's too slow for anything anymore. Stand it up in the kitchen, open HeyKit's frame page and it becomes the screen everyone glances at on the way past: family photos, what's on today, whose turn it is to feed the dog, and how many units are left on the meter. It runs on very old iPads, and it uses a read-only display link, so whoever walks past can look but can't change anything.

What's on the screen

The frame mixes a slideshow of your family photos with the things a household checks in the kitchen.

→Family photos you add from the app, shown as a slideshow
→Today's calendar events
→The kids' chores
→A dinner idea
→Whether the alarm is armed
→Prepaid electricity: units left and roughly when they'll run out
→A night clock after dark

Made for an old tablet

The frame page is built to run on very old iPads that can't keep up with today's apps. Open the frame page on the tablet, leave it on its stand, and that's it.

Read-only, so nobody can change anything

The tablet opens a display link, not your account. It can show your family's day but it can't add, edit or delete anything, so it's fine to leave in a busy kitchen with kids and visitors around.

Kind to the screen, calm when idle

A screen that's on all day needs a bit of care. The frame shifts its content by a few pixels now and then to protect the display, and falls back to an ambient slideshow when there's nothing else to show. After dark it switches to a night clock.

Your photos stay private

Photos are stored privately. The frame only gets short-lived links to show them, so there are no permanent public addresses for your family pictures.

What you can do with this

The 7am kitchen check

Lunchboxes on the counter, kettle on. One look at the frame shows today's events and who still has chores to do, without anyone picking up a phone.

Buying units in time

The frame shows the prepaid units left and roughly when they'll run out, so buying electricity happens before the lights go off, not after.

Grandparents' photos on rotation

Add new photos from the app after a weekend away and they join the slideshow in the kitchen.

Common questions

Can I use an old iPad as a digital photo frame?

Yes. Open HeyKit's frame page on the iPad and it runs a slideshow of the family photos you've added from the app, along with today's events, chores and more. It's made to work on very old iPads.

Can someone change things from the kitchen tablet?

No. The tablet uses a read-only display link. It shows your family's information but can't add, edit or delete anything.

Will leaving the screen on all day damage it?

The frame shifts its content slightly now and then to protect the screen, shows an ambient slideshow when idle, and switches to a night clock after dark.

Are our family photos public?

No. Photos are stored privately and the frame only receives short-lived links to display them.

How do I add photos to the frame?

Add them from the HeyKit app. They're picked up by the frame's slideshow.