Most people picture a point of sale as a beige box under a counter. It does not have to be. If your POS runs in a browser, the register can be an iPad on a market stall, an Android tablet clipped to a waiter’s apron, or a phone in a delivery driver’s pocket — and none of them need an app store.
This is what makes a Progressive Web App the right shape for a WooCommerce POS on a tablet. Here is what that means in practice, and what to watch for on each platform.
What a Progressive Web App gives you
A PWA is a website that a device is willing to treat as an app. You open the register in a browser, choose “Add to Home Screen”, and from then on it launches full-screen from an icon, with no address bar and no browser chrome. The staff member cannot tell it apart from a native app, which is the point.
The consequences are more interesting than the icon:
- No app store review, no app store fee, no separate build. The register you ship is the site you host.
- Updates happen when you update the plugin. Nobody has to press “update” on nine tablets.
- It runs offline, because the app’s code and the product catalogue are cached on the device.
- Adding a device costs the price of the device. OpenPOS charges no per-register or per-cashier fee, so a fifth tablet is a hardware decision rather than a licensing one.
Installing on iPad
Open the register URL in Safari, tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”. It has to be Safari — Chrome on iOS cannot install a PWA, because on iOS every browser is Safari underneath and only Safari exposes the install path.
What to know about iPadOS:
- Printing goes through AirPrint or a cloud print service. A web app on iOS cannot open a USB or Bluetooth connection to a receipt printer. Star CloudPRNT and PrintNode both solve this, and both need an internet connection.
- Bluetooth barcode scanners work, because they pair as keyboards and iOS is happy to type into a web page.
- Camera scanning requires HTTPS. No certificate, no camera.
- Do not clear Safari’s website data if the register has unsynced offline orders. They live in that storage.
An iPad is the most pleasant register to use and the most constrained to connect hardware to. That trade is worth making at a café counter and worth reconsidering in a grocery shop with a scale, a scanner and a drawer.
Installing on Android
Open the register in Chrome, and Chrome will offer to install it; otherwise use the menu’s “Install app”. Android gives a web app more room to move: Bluetooth printers, network printers and scanners are all reachable, so an Android tablet is often the more capable register despite being the cheaper device.
Two settings save you a support call. Turn off the screen timeout on the device — a register that locks between customers is a register your staff will hate. And disable automatic sleep on the tablet’s Wi-Fi, because a dozing radio makes syncing look broken.
Windows, macOS and the fixed counter
On a desktop, install the PWA from Chrome or Edge and it becomes a windowed app you can pin to the taskbar. This is the register that talks to hardware most easily: USB scanner, USB or network receipt printer, cash drawer wired to the printer, and a scale on a serial port.
For a fixed till, a cheap Windows mini PC plus a touchscreen remains the most trouble-free thing you can buy. Tablets are for the shop floor.
Choosing a device
- Screen size. Ten inches is the practical minimum for a full shift. A phone is fine for a stall, painful for a shop.
- RAM. A large catalogue is held in the device’s storage; a 2GB tablet with ten thousand products will feel it. Prefer 4GB or more.
- Battery and charging. A register that dies at 4pm is not a register. Keep it plugged in, or buy two.
- Wi-Fi that reaches the counter. More POS problems are Wi-Fi problems than anyone admits.
Locking the device down
A tablet that a customer can pick up and browse the web on is a liability. Use Guided Access on iPadOS or Screen Pinning on Android to lock the device to the register app. Give each cashier their own login so sales are attributed correctly, and use the session view to see who is logged in, at which outlet, from which IP — and to log someone off remotely without destroying the cart they left open.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an OpenPOS app in the App Store?
It does not need one. You install it from your own site as a PWA, which is why there is no per-device charge and no store approval delay when a feature ships.
How many tablets can I use?
As many as you like. The licence covers the site, not the devices.
Will it work on an old iPad?
If it runs a current Safari, generally yes. Very old devices stop receiving browser updates and eventually stop supporting the web features the register relies on.
Can the same tablet serve two outlets?
Yes, by selecting the outlet at login — useful for a manager who covers two shops. Each order records the outlet it was rung up in.
Open the live demo on the tablet you are thinking of buying (admin / admin123) and add it to your home screen. That fifteen-minute test tells you more than any spec sheet. When you are ready, OpenPOS is one payment for unlimited devices.