How do I set up a tablet as a checkout or return station?

This guide explains how to set up a tablet as a USEFULL checkout station or return station using your campus's 4-digit access code, and how to lock the tablet so nobody can leave the USEFULL app.

As of October 15, 2026, every campus uses an access code to start and stop checkout and return stations. Signing in with a personal or shared USEFULL account is no longer supported.

Before you start

• You need your campus's 4-digit access code. Don't know it? Ask your USEFULL account manager.
• Use a tablet. USEFULL doesn't recommend using a phone as a return or checkout station.
• Keep your access code somewhere safe, and don't post it anywhere students could see it. The same code works on every tablet on your campus.

Start a Station

1. Open the USEFULL app on the tablet.
2. On the home screen, tap Return Station (for students to scan containers when returning them) or Checkout Station (for students to checkout containers at the cashier).
3. Select your community. If you don't see it, your campus hasn't been set up for access codes yet. Contact your account manager.
4. Enter your 4-digit access code.
5. Select the location where the station is set up, then tap Launch Return Station.

You're now in return station mode, and students can return containers by scanning their QR codes. Next, lock the tablet to the USEFULL app (below).

Exit Station mode

Tap Exit, then enter your campus's access code.

Checkout station or return station?

• Checkout station: where containers go out. Customers scan containers, then scan their USEFULL QR codes (or, at some stations, tap their credit cards).
• Return station: where containers come back. Customers scan each container's QR code to return it, then deposit the containers in a bin.

Each location in USEFULL is set up as either a checkout or a return station, so the locations you see depend on which station you choose.

Lock the tablet to the USEFULL app

If USEFULL supplied your return station or checkout station hardware, it's already locked down and you can skip this section. 

If your campus uses its own tablet, USEFULL recommends locking it to the USEFULL app so nobody can leave the app without a passcode. Follow the steps for your tablet: Guided Access on iPads, or app pinning on Android tablets.

iPad: Guided Access

Turn on Guided Access

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Under General, tap Guided Access.
4. Turn on the Guided Access switch.
5. Tap Passcode Settings, then Set Guided Access Passcode, and create a passcode. Use a different passcode from your USEFULL access code.

Start a Guided Access session

1. Open the USEFULL app and launch the return station.
2. Triple-press the Home button (or the top button on iPads without a Home button).
3. Optionally, turn off hardware buttons or touch areas you don't want used.
4. Tap Start.

End a Guided Access session

1. Triple-press the Home button or top button.
2. Enter your Guided Access passcode.
3. Tap End.

Android tablet: app pinning

App pinning keeps the tablet in the USEFULL app until someone enters the tablet's PIN. Unlike Guided Access, it doesn't turn off the power or volume buttons. Menu names vary a little between tablet brands and Android versions.

Turn on app pinning

1. Set a screen lock PIN on the tablet if it doesn't have one (Settings > Lock screen > Screen lock type).
2. Open Settings > Security and privacy > More security settings > Pin app. On some tablets this is Settings > Security > App pinning.
3. Turn on Pin app, then turn on Ask for PIN before unpinning.

Pin the USEFULL app

1. Open the USEFULL app and launch the return station.
2. Open the Recent apps view.
3. Tap the USEFULL app icon at the top of its preview, then tap Pin this app.

Unpin the app

1. If your tablet has navigation buttons, touch and hold Back and Recent apps at the same time. If it uses swipe gestures, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold.
2. Enter the tablet's PIN.

Used to sign in with an email and password?

That method stopped working on October 15, 2026. Use your campus's access code instead. If you don't have it, contact your account manager.