Comparison

KingKiosk vs DimDash

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

KingKiosk

Transform any iOS device into a customizable multi-window display. Compose, control, and orchestrate real-time content across various tiles using MQTT. Ideal for creating dynamic dashboards, interactive displays, and smart home control panels.

Highlights
  • Multi-window display system
  • Real-time MQTT control
  • 35+ built-in widgets
  • Deep Home Assistant integration
  • AI voice control
  • Intercom and broadcast features
  • Privacy-first, local-first design
Features
Read full description

King Kiosk is the world's first Programmable Display Runtime — turn any iPad or iPhone into a multi-window display surface you can compose, control, and orchestrate in real time over MQTT. It's not digital signage. It's not a kiosk. It's not a dashboard. It's all of those — and none of them — because you decide what every screen becomes by sending it instructions. A REAL WINDOWING SYSTEM ON iOS Run a clock, a weather widget, a live camera feed, a Home Assistant panel, and a media player on the same screen, each in its own resizable, independently controllable tile. Floating mode for pixel-perfect layouts, or tiling mode for automatic, non-overlapping grids. 35+ BUILT-IN WIDGETS Clocks, weather, media player, YouTube, image carousels, gauges, charts, maps, calendars, PDF viewer, animated text, RSS feeds, MQTT-driven images and buttons, an Alarmo security panel, an LED light panel, DLNA player, an intercom, games, and a real-time canvas widget for declarative graphics. MQTT-NATIVE FROM THE GROUND UP Every widget, every layout, every system setting is addressable over MQTT. 100+ commands. Build automations in Home Assistant, Node-RED, or any tool that speaks MQTT. Save entire layouts as named "screen states" and recall them on schedule. DEEP HOME ASSISTANT INTEGRATION Auto-discovers itself to Home Assistant. Publishes sensor data (battery, network, location, presence). Responds to automations. Bidirectional calendar sync. Person and object detection feeds straight into HA. AI VOICE CONTROL Connect to Home Assistant conversation agents, Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, or local Ollama. Your displays can listen, understand, and respond. INTERCOM & BROADCAST Two-way WebRTC audio between devices, room-to-room paging, and full-fleet broadcast — built on the same engine as professional installed-audio gear. PRIVACY-FIRST, LOCAL-FIRST Your data stays on your network. Crash reports are off by default and explicitly opt-in. No analytics. No tracking. No cloud lock-in. GUIDED ACCESS KIOSK MODE Lock the device to King Kiosk for wall-mounted iPads, lobby displays, intercom stations, or smart-home control panels. Optional command signing (HMAC) for enterprise deployments. BUILT FOR FLEETS Deploy one device or a thousand. Replicate layouts across an entire fleet with a single MQTT message. Schedule layout changes by time of day or day of week. --- A new category for every screen. Visit kingkiosk.kallinnovations.com to see what's possible. Patent pending. Programmable Display Runtime™ is a trademark of Kall Innovations.

About

DimDash

Features
Read full description

DimDash turns your iPad into a beautiful, always-on smart home dashboard with intelligent auto-dimming, device display controls, and full-screen kiosk mode for wall-mounted setups. Point DimDash at any Home Assistant, Grafana, Dashy, Homarr, Glance, Node-RED, or Flame dashboard and walk away. When you stop interacting with the screen, DimDash smoothly dims the display so it does not burn in or blast light across the room at night. Touch anywhere to wake it instantly. How it works DimDash loads your dashboard URL in a full-screen web view. An idle timer starts after your last interaction. When it expires, a smooth overlay fades in to dim the display. Touch the screen and the overlay fades out with your dashboard exactly where you left it. Device display controls DimDash can keep your device awake while the app is open so your wall panel does not lock. You can also enable DimDash Brightness to apply a chosen device brightness whenever the app is active. Dashboard customization Hide Home Assistant header or sidebar chrome with built-in kiosk URL controls. Use opt-in JavaScript Injection snippets to hide common nav bars, prefer dark mode, disable text selection, hide scrollbars, or add your own validated script that runs after the dashboard loads. Integration templates Getting started takes seconds. Choose from built-in templates for Home Assistant, Grafana, Dashy, Homarr, Glance, Node-RED, and Flame. DimDash auto-fills recommended settings. For Home Assistant, DimDash can discover local instances, run OAuth sign-in, pick a dashboard, securely store credentials, and silently refresh access inside the web view. Made for wall panels Full-screen display with no visible browser chrome. Keeps the screen awake while DimDash is open. Optional device brightness control. Pull-to-refresh for stuck dashboards. Supports HTTP and HTTPS, including local network addresses. Home Assistant header/sidebar hiding and JavaScript Injection with helpful snippets and syntax validation. Works on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 16 or later. DimDash Pro DimDash Pro is an App Store subscription that unlocks the full kiosk experience: Multi-Dashboard: configure up to 5 dashboards. Dashboard Cycling: automatically rotate through selected dashboards in your chosen order, with a custom duration for each dashboard. Preloaded Cycling: cycle dashboards stay loaded in the background for smoother transitions. Cycle Dimming Control: choose whether dimming applies to the whole cycle or stays disabled while cycling. Proximity Detection: uses the front camera locally to detect your presence, dim when you leave, and wake when you return. No video is recorded or transmitted. Scheduled Night Mode: apply deeper dimming during quiet hours. Custom Overlay Color: choose any dim overlay tint. Privacy first DimDash processes everything on-device. No account required. No analytics. No cloud backend. Dashboard credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain. Camera access for proximity detection is optional and can be revoked at any time. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.nick-renard.com/privacy

Screenshots

KingKiosk4 screens
DimDash1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: KingKiosk at none against DimDash's 2. DimDash's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. DimDash sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. KingKiosk asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

KingKiosk ships an update monthly, DimDash every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
KingKiosk versus DimDash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKingKioskDimDash
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size201 MB5 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperKall Innovations, LLCNicholas Renard

In-app purchases

None

KingKiosk

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

DimDash

Subscriptions2
  • DimDash Pro Monthly1 Month trial$0.991 Month
  • DimDash Pro Yearly$9.991 Year

Questions

Is KingKiosk free?
KingKiosk is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is DimDash free?
DimDash is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do KingKiosk or DimDash have ads?
Neither KingKiosk nor DimDash shows ads.
Which is updated more often, KingKiosk or DimDash?
KingKiosk ships an update monthly, and DimDash every 3 days. Most recently, KingKiosk was updated on September 30, 2026 and DimDash on October 1, 2026.

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