Manage every shop screen from one dashboard

OutDeck runs on an Android TV, Android TV box, tablet or phone on Android 8.0 or newer, or a Windows 10 or 11 PC. If your TV runs a different system, plug an Android TV box into one of its HDMI ports and manage the box instead.

Install the free OutDeck Player app from Google Play. On a TV it shows up on the Android TV home screen, and the first time you open it, it shows a pairing code. On a tablet or phone it asks you to sign in, or you can pair it with a code.

On a Windows 10 or 11 PC, download OutDeck Player for Windows from our website. It asks you to sign in, or you can pair it with a code.

Type the code shown on the screen into your dashboard. Open Devices, press Add screen, type the code, pick the shop and choose portrait or landscape (landscape unless you change it). A screen name and a playlist are optional. This works from any browser on a laptop or phone, iPhone included.

Codes look like XXXX-XXXX and leave out characters that are easy to mix up, so there is no 0 and O or 1 and I. Lower case, spaces or a missing dash are fine. A code lasts 15 minutes. While the screen is online it shows a fresh code by itself when one runs out, and on a TV pressing OK on the remote gets you a new one straight away.

On a tablet or phone you can skip the code: sign in on the screen with your OutDeck account, pick the shop and a playlist, and the screen pairs itself. If your account has more than one business, pair it with a code instead.

Pairing checks that your plan has room for another screen. You can rename a screen or change its orientation later.

The Devices page shows how many screens are online and offline, and lists each screen with its status, when it last checked in, its OutDeck app version and its free storage. Filter the list to online or offline screens, or sort it by last seen.

A screen counts as online when it has checked in within about two of its check-in intervals. At the default setting, that is about 10 minutes. The same screen health table is in Reports, for one shop or all of them.

Within seconds for screens that are online. Editing a playlist, saving a schedule or assigning a playlist sends the update by itself, and you can still press Sync now for one screen or Sync all screens for a whole shop. Every screen also checks in on its own, every 5 minutes by default, and you can set that anywhere from 1 minute to 24 hours.

A new version of the playlist that is already playing starts at the end of the current loop. A screen that is offline gets your changes when it reconnects.

Yes. Press Identify screen and that screen shows a card with its name, a short screen code and its orientation for about 15 seconds, while your content keeps playing underneath. The same screen code appears next to the screen in your dashboard. Identify all screens does this for every screen in a shop. The screen needs to be online to show the card.

Restart screen restarts the OutDeck player app on that screen, and Restart all screens does the same for a whole shop. The TV, tablet or phone itself stays on. The app comes back within a few seconds, and the screen is blank for that moment. If a screen is offline, the restart waits up to 30 minutes for it to reconnect.

Yes. Set display hours on each screen: an on time, an off time and the days of the week. Leave the days unticked to run every day. Late hours such as 6pm to 2am work too.

Outside those hours OutDeck blacks out the screen and turns the brightness right down. It does not switch the screen off, and the player keeps running behind the black screen, so turn the volume down if your videos have sound. Display hours follow your shop's time, using OutDeck's clock from the screen's last check-in, so a wrong clock on the TV or tablet does not throw them off. They keep working when the internet is down, because the hours are saved on the screen.

The first three are settings for each screen in your dashboard, and changes reach the screen at its next check-in. Crash recovery is always on.

• Start on boot (auto-start): on an Android screen, the OutDeck app opens by itself when the screen powers on. On by default, and reliable once you allow “Display over other apps” for OutDeck Player, a one-time step. The screen asks for it, and Show prompt on the screen asks again. A few low-memory TV boxes cannot allow it.
• Keep awake: an Android screen stays on and no screensaver takes over. On by default. A few TVs also need their own screensaver turned off in the TV settings.
• Nightly restart: an optional daily restart of the player app at a time you choose. Off by default.
• Crash recovery: if the app stops because of an error, it opens itself again. If it crashes again and again in quick succession, it stops retrying so it cannot get stuck in a loop.

Move a screen to another shop in the same business from its settings. Moving clears its playlist, its group memberships and any schedules aimed at that one screen, so set new ones in its new shop. The new shop needs room for another screen on your plan.

Removing a screen for good asks for your password. The app on it then goes back to its setup screen, ready to pair again.

Screen groups, such as Front window or Counter, are made per shop. Add or remove screens at any time, then point a schedule at the whole group.

A quick guide to the screen controls in your dashboard.