llms.txt
# Canned Web
> Canned Web is a native macOS app that locks a Mac to a single website, a sealed, fullscreen kiosk. Visitors can interact with the page but can't quit the app, reach the desktop, use Spotlight or Cmd-Tab, take screenshots, or navigate off the site. macOS has no built-in kiosk mode and full-screen Safari is not escape-proof; Canned Web fills that gap. One-time €49 per machine (no subscription), 14-day free trial, macOS 14+. Not on the App Store (it uses a private system API to block system shortcuts), it ships notarized and direct, with Sparkle for updates.
## Key facts
- Platform: macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel.
- Price: one-time €49 per machine. No subscription, no cloud account, no MDM required.
- What it blocks: Spotlight, Cmd-Tab, Cmd-Q, Mission Control, the screenshot tools, media/aux keys; auto-starts back into the sealed site after a reboot; a watchdog relaunches it if it ever exits.
- URL rules: locks navigation to your domain and its subdomains, to a single path (e.g. /exhibits/), or to an allowlist of extra trusted domains you add for a checkout or SSO redirect. (No per-URL blacklists or regex.)
- Between visitors: optional idle reset back to your home page (clears navigation, scroll and form state), a scroll-only "look, don't touch" mode, and optional on-screen back/forward/home/refresh controls; choose which display it runs on.
- Network resilience: if the connection drops it shows a clean offline screen and keeps retrying every few seconds, then reloads and recovers on its own when the Wi-Fi returns; it also detects "connected but no internet" cases (captive portals, or the site being down). A local-content kiosk needs no network at all.
- Multiple Macs: one license per machine, buy any number (a single key unlocks the quantity bought); each Mac is configured locally, no MDM, server or account. There is no central management console; for a large centrally-managed fleet, an MDM or a console-based tool may fit better.
- Honest limitation: no app can disable a Mac's physical power / Touch ID button, macOS doesn't expose it. Workaround for unattended use: a Mac mini (button around the back) plus "no password on wake". For hostile environments, layer FileVault + a standard non-admin account on top.
- Common uses: museum and gallery interactive exhibits, trade-show and product demos, digital signage, reception and info screens, escape rooms.
## Pages
- [Home](https://cannedweb.app/): what it is, how it works, pricing.
- [How it works / macOS kiosk mode](https://cannedweb.app/mac-kiosk/): the hub page on locking a Mac to one website without MDM.
- [How to lock a Mac to one website](https://cannedweb.app/lock-mac-to-one-website/): the direct answer, then the three honest routes (DIY standard account + Screen Time, MDM for managed fleets, a kiosk browser app) and when to pick each.
- [Setup guide](https://cannedweb.app/setup/): hardware, one-time macOS settings, install, sealing a site, hardening for hostile environments.
- [FAQs](https://cannedweb.app/faqs/): offline use, touch displays, moving licenses, exiting the kiosk.
- [Museums & galleries](https://cannedweb.app/museum-kiosk/): escape-proof interactive exhibits on a Mac.
- [Digital signage](https://cannedweb.app/digital-signage-mac/): web signage on a Mac, no subscription.
- [Trade-show demos](https://cannedweb.app/trade-show-demo-kiosk-mac/): sealing a demo for a booth.
- [Mac mini kiosk](https://cannedweb.app/mac-mini-kiosk/): the classic Mac kiosk box, sealed to one site.
- [Boot a Mac into a website](https://cannedweb.app/mac-boot-into-website/): auto-login + auto-start, recover after a power cut.
- [Disable Cmd-Tab / Spotlight / screenshots](https://cannedweb.app/disable-cmd-tab-spotlight-mac/): why some shortcuts need a special approach.
- [Safari kiosk mode on a Mac](https://cannedweb.app/safari-kiosk-mode-mac/): Safari has no real kiosk mode; full-screen is not escape-proof.
## Comparisons
- [KioWare alternative for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/kioware-alternative-mac/): KioWare has no macOS client.
- [Fully Kiosk for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/fully-kiosk-mac/): Fully Kiosk Browser is Android-only.
- [SiteKiosk alternative for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/sitekiosk-alternative-mac/): SiteKiosk is Windows-focused.
- [Kiosker for Mac?](https://cannedweb.app/kiosker-mac/): Kiosker is an iPad/iPhone app, not a native Mac app.
- [WebKiosk alternative for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/webkiosk-alternative-mac/): honest head-to-head; WebKiosk is a $129 Mac App Store browser, Canned Web is a €49 focused seal.
- [Best Mac kiosk software, compared](https://cannedweb.app/best-mac-kiosk-software/): honest roundup of native macOS kiosk apps (and which popular tools are not actually Mac-native).
- [Is there a free Mac kiosk app?](https://cannedweb.app/free-mac-kiosk/): the good free options (like NeatKiosk) are iPad apps that can't lock a Mac; the sandbox reason why.
- [KioskAI alternative for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/kioskai-alternative-mac/): KioskAI is an early-access, per-device subscription that runs on top of your MDM with fleet recovery and monitoring; Canned Web needs no MDM, one-time €49 per machine.
- [xStand alternative for Mac](https://cannedweb.app/xstand-alternative-mac/): xStand's last release was Jan 2021, Intel-only; Canned Web is the current native option.
## Contact
- Email: david@okaybrand.co
- [Contact page](https://cannedweb.app/contact/)
