First start by updating the package library and installing a few packages on the PI by entering the terminal and running the following commands.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y chromium-browser unclutter x11-xserver-utils

The chromium-browser package may have been installed by default, but it is essentially the latest development branch of the popular Chrome browser. Next, the unclutter library will allow you to hide the cursor when the screen launches, and the x11-xserver-utils will allow you to stop the screen saver (also know as screen blanking or clearing).

Next update the start config for the PI by adding a few auto start commands.  You do this by editing the autostart file.

sudo nano .config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

Add the following commands at the top of that file to enable the chromium kiosk and set the launch url, unclutter for hiding the mouse, and xset for stopping the timer for screen blanking.

@/usr/bin/chromium-browser --incognito --start-maximized --kiosk http://LAUNCHURL.com
@unclutter
@xset s off
@xset s noblank
@xset -dpms

Finally, restart the PI and you should see the updated chromium browser starts up automatically on launch.

sudo reboot
David

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  • Martijn says:

    Since the 2018-11-13 update for Raspbian Stretch (with desktop) the commands above don’t work anymore, they have changed some things in the autostart location.

    Now we need:

    sudo nano /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

    Instead of the old:

    sudo nano .config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

    Furthermore the packages and the code are working fine.

    Thanks!

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