Devices
The Devices tab is where every physical piece of Zavo hardware in your restaurant lives — the iPad at the front counter, the kitchen screen on the pass, the iPhone your servers carry to the table. Every device has to be registered here before it can sign in and start taking orders.
Three kinds of devices show up on this page:
- Kiosks (POS) — full-size iPads running the Zavo POS. These are your tills.
- Kitchen Displays (KDS) — iPads mounted in the kitchen showing incoming orders. No payments happen here.
- Handhelds (iPhone) — pocket-sized devices your waiters carry around for tableside ordering and payment.
Registering a device is what turns a blank Zavo app on an iPad into your till. Until a device appears as Active on this page, the iPad just shows a registration screen asking for a code.
The layout
Nothing fancy — a single page with the list of every device you’ve registered.
- Header — “Devices” title, short subtitle, and two buttons on the right:
- Purchase Hardware — opens a small dialog with a Contact Account Manager mailto button
- Add Device (blue, primary) — the one you’ll use every time you set up a new iPad
- The list underneath showing every device, filtered by the location or account you’ve got selected in the sidebar
The list
Above the list, an All Devices heading sits on the left and a small Refresh button on the right — tap it to force a re-fetch. Handy when an iPad has finished registering on site but the row is still showing Pending.
One row per device, with these columns:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Device | A type icon (tablet / monitor / phone) + the device’s name. Serial number appears underneath in smaller text if we’ve got it |
| Type | Kiosk (POS), Kitchen Display, or Handheld (iPhone) |
| Registration Code | The 6-character code (e.g. ABC123) that’s been / will be typed into the iPad. Displayed in monospace so it’s easy to read |
| Location | Which of your sites the device lives at |
| Status | A coloured dot + label — see the status cheat-sheet below |
| Actions | Three-dot menu on the right (hover the row to reveal it) |
Click any column header — Device, Type, Location, or Status — to sort; click again to reverse; a third click clears it.
Status cheat-sheet
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active (green) | The iPad has typed in its code and is signed in. All good |
| Pending (grey) | You’ve generated a code but nobody has typed it into an iPad yet |
| Revoked (red) | The device was active but has been switched off from here — it’s signed out on the iPad and can’t get back in without being reactivated or re-registered |
If you haven’t registered anything yet, you’ll see a big tablet icon and a friendly “No devices registered” message with an Add Device button to get you going.
Add a device — the registration flow
Every iPad or iPhone you want to use with Zavo goes through the same two-step dance: generate a code on the dashboard, then type that code into the app on the device.
Step 1 — Generate a code on the dashboard
Tap Add Device
Top right of the page, the blue Add Device button.
Pick the device type
Three big buttons in a row:
- Kiosk — for a front-of-house till (iPad)
- KDS — for a kitchen display screen (iPad)
- Handheld — for a waiter iPhone
Pick the one you’re setting up. If you’ve run out of seats on your subscription for a particular type, it’ll show up greyed out — talk to your account manager (Purchase Hardware button) to add more.
Name the device
Something you’ll recognise in the list later. The placeholder adapts to the device type:
- e.g. Front Counter POS
- e.g. Kitchen Display 1
- e.g. Waiter Device 1
Good names describe where the device lives, not who’s using it. Staff rotate; the till stays put.
Pick a location
The site the device belongs to. Every order it takes will be attributed to this location.
Tap Generate Code
The button stays disabled until name and location are filled in. Tap it and a Device Registered dialog appears.
The code dialog
A green ✓ at the top, then the fresh 6-character code in huge monospace digits with a Copy button (turns into a tick for 2 seconds when you’ve copied). Underneath, a short “How to connect” reminder:
- Download and open the Zavo app on your device
- Enter the 6-digit code shown above
- The device will connect automatically
Leave this dialog up on your screen while you walk to the iPad — or hit Done to close it. The code is also visible on the device’s row back in the list if you need to come back to it later.
Step 2 — Enter the code on the iPad
Walk the iPad (or iPhone) to the venue and open the Zavo app. Fresh devices land on a Welcome Back! screen asking for a registration code.
Type the 6 characters
Into the box labelled Registration Code. Case doesn’t matter.
Tap Register Device
The iPad checks the code against the dashboard, signs itself in, and syncs down your menu, floor plan, staff list, and settings.
You're live
The home screen appears and the iPad is ready to take orders. Back on the dashboard, the device’s status flips from Pending (grey) to Active (green).
The iPad shows “Registration failed. Please check your code and try again.” That usually means one of:
- You’ve mistyped a character — Copy from the dashboard instead
- Someone regenerated the code, making the old one dead
- The registration was deleted before the iPad used it
Generate a fresh code and try again.
The row menu — what you can do per device
Hover any row and click the three-dot button on the right. The menu changes a little depending on the device’s status, but these are all the options you’ll see.
Rename device
Opens a small dialog with the current name pre-filled. Type a new one, tap Save. The new name shows up immediately — on the list here, on receipts, and anywhere else the device name appears.
Reassign location
For when you move a physical device between venues — e.g. moving an iPad from Soho to Shoreditch for the weekend.
- Dialog shows the device’s current location (“Currently at: Soho”)
- Pick the new location from the dropdown
- Tap Reassign
The change takes effect straight away. The iPad will start syncing the new location’s menu and settings on its next refresh.
Operation Mode — Kiosk only
This is one of the more powerful settings. A Kiosk iPad can run in up to three modes at the same time, and you decide which ones are available. Picking this option from the menu opens the Operation Mode dialog.
At the top you’ll see the device’s name and location for context. Below, the three modes, each with a short description and a coloured pill on the right:
| Mode | Pill | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Full service mode | Pay later | Table service — guests order, eat, and pay at the end |
| Quick service mode | Pay first | Counter/takeaway — guests pay before they get the order |
| Reception mode | No payments | Host stand — manages reservations and seats tables without processing orders or payments |
Tap each one to toggle it on (tick appears) or off. Pick as many as fit how that till is used:
- A till that’s only ever a counter till? Leave just Quick service mode on and the iPad skips the full-service features entirely.
- A till that doubles as a host-stand reservation screen in the morning and a full-service till at night? Enable Reception and Full service — staff pick which view they want on the iPad.
Tap Save Changes. The iPad will pick up the change on its next refresh.
If you open Operation Mode on a KDS or Handheld device, you’ll see just one locked option with the message “This device type has a fixed operation mode”. Those devices can’t be switched to POS mode — it’s a hardware-role decision.
Regenerate code
For when the code has been lost, or you want to “kick” a device and have it re-register (perhaps you’re migrating it to new hardware). Open the menu and tap Regenerate Code.
- A fresh 6-character code is created and the Device Registered dialog pops up with the new one
- The old code stops working immediately
- If the iPad is currently signed in, it keeps working until it next tries to check in — but you should plan to re-register it soon
Regenerate Code only shows up on Active and Revoked rows — the idea is that a Pending code has never been used, so there’s nothing to rotate. If you need a different code for a Pending device, Delete Registration and go through Add Device again.
Delete Registration — Pending only
For a device that was never actually set up. Opens a confirmation dialog (red Delete button) that warns the registration code will stop working. On confirm, the record is permanently removed from the list.
Use this for:
- A code you generated by mistake
- A code you generated last week that you never got round to using
Revoke Access — Active only
The emergency button. For when a device is lost, stolen, or otherwise needs to go offline right now.
Open the menu on the device's row
Three-dot menu → Revoke Access (red).
Confirm on the prompt
“The device will be immediately signed out and will need to be re-registered to use again.” Tap Revoke Access.
The iPad is kicked out
Whichever session was running drops back to the registration screen. The row stays in your list with a red Revoked status so you know what happened — no code on that row will work until you either reactivate or regenerate it.
Revoking is instant. Do it before you start looking for the missing device — it cuts off all access to your menu, orders, and customer data immediately. You can always reactivate it later if it turns up in a drawer.
Reactivate — Revoked only
Brings a revoked device back online with the same code. Opens the menu on a revoked row and taps Reactivate — the status flips back to Active and the iPad can sign in again with the same code.
If you don’t want the old code to work (e.g. you revoked because the device was stolen and you’ve now recovered it), Regenerate Code first and give the new one to whoever is re-setting it up.
Click the device row for quick info
Clicking anywhere on a row (other than the three-dot menu) opens a small Device info panel showing:
- The device’s name, type, and icon
- Its 6-character registration code with a copy button
- The location it’s assigned to
- Its current status
For Pending devices, the panel also includes a short “How to activate” reminder so you can hand the iPad to a staff member to do the registration themselves without having to log into the dashboard.
Nothing is editable from this panel — changes happen via the three-dot menu.
Licences and seats
Each device type (Kiosk, KDS, Handheld) is a separate line on your Zavo subscription. The Add Device flow shows which types you still have seats for:
- If you’re fully licensed, everything’s selectable
- If you’ve hit your limit on a type, that button is greyed out in the picker
- If you hit the limit on every type, the whole Add Device button is disabled
Occasionally the dashboard can’t fetch your seat count — it shows a red “Failed to load subscription info. Please refresh and try again.” banner at the top of the page with a Retry button, and the Add Device button stays disabled until it resolves. Hit Retry, or refresh the page.
Click Purchase Hardware in the top right to open a quick dialog with a Contact Account Manager button. It opens your email client with a pre-filled address for our sales team — they’ll sort out additional seats or new hardware.
Quick recap — the moves you’ll do every week
- Setting up a brand-new till → Add Device → Kiosk → name + location → generate code → type code into the iPad → done
- Setting up a kitchen screen → Add Device → KDS → name + location → generate code → type into the kitchen iPad
- A new waiter iPhone → Add Device → Handheld → name + location → generate code → type into the iPhone
- Moving an iPad to another venue → device’s row menu → Reassign Location
- Turning a till into a counter-service till → device’s row menu → Operation Mode → tick only Quick service mode → Save
- iPad has been stolen / lost → device’s row menu → Revoke Access → confirm (do this first!)
- iPad recovered after being revoked → row menu → Reactivate (or Regenerate Code first if you want the old code dead)
- Typed the code wrong and now the iPad won’t register → dashboard → device row menu → Regenerate Code → copy the new one → try again
- Cleaning up never-used codes → any Pending row → menu → Delete Registration
Next steps
- Terminals — Pair Adyen card terminals to your venues and customise their home-screen background
- Permissions — Decide what each staff role can do on a registered iPad
- Users — Create the POS Staff PINs that sign in on these devices
- Floor Plan — The restaurant layout each Kiosk pulls in after registering