A good first handover.

Start in three simple steps.

1. 1
   Install and open Showroom.

   Download the Android beta, then open the downloaded APK. If Android asks, allow your browser to install this app and tap Install. You can turn that browser permission off afterward. Open Showroom and follow its first-run guide. The dashboard has Open albums and Open gallery; the top-right options button (⋯) opens Help & settings, including Quick guide.

2. 2
   Choose a few photos.

   Open your usual gallery, select the pictures you want to show, tap Share, and choose Showroom. You may need to tap More to find it.

3. 3
   Open, view, and lock.

   Swipe between photos and pinch to zoom. Tap Save album if you want to keep the selection for later. Once you have set up screen pinning, tap Lock viewing and accept Android’s prompt before handing over your phone.

Showroom works on Android 8 or newer. The Google Play and App Store releases are not available yet. These instructions describe the Android beta.

Set up locking once.

Showroom uses Android’s screen pinning to keep its photo viewer on screen. Android settings control whether leaving the pinned viewer requires your phone’s PIN, pattern, or password.

1. Set a screen lock on your phone. Use a PIN, pattern, or password in Android Settings if you do not already have one.
2. Find Screen pinning in Android Settings. Search for “Screen pinning” or “Pin app.” Depending on your phone, it may be under Security, More security settings, or Biometrics and security.
3. Turn screen pinning on. Also enable the option named something like “Ask for PIN before unpinning,” “Lock device when unpinning,” or “Use screen lock to unpin.” This is a separate setting and must be enabled manually.
4. Open photos in Showroom and tap Lock viewing. Accept Android’s screen pinning prompt. Android may explain the unpinning gesture or buttons for your phone.
5. Test the exit before handing over your phone. Tap Unlock & Done, or follow Android’s unpin instructions. Check that your phone requires your PIN, pattern, or password to leave. If it does not, revisit the unlock-on-unpin setting.

Showroom cannot turn on Android’s require-unlock setting for you. When you are finished, use the app’s exit control or Android’s unpin instructions and unlock with your phone’s credential.

A different lock protects your library.

Tapping Open albums requires authentication with your phone’s screen lock before the library, album names, or covers are shown. From that authenticated library you can open an album, rename it, or delete it. Saving a new shared selection also requires owner authentication.

Four albums. Easy to make your own.

Keep up to four saved albums in Showroom. They are local copies stored by the app on your phone, so you can reopen them offline.

• Add an album: select photos in your gallery, tap Share, and choose Showroom. In the viewer, tap Save album and authenticate. Choose New album, enter a name, and save.
• Open an album: tap Open albums and authenticate to see your library. Open the album you want, swipe or zoom, then lock viewing when you are ready to hand over.
• Rename an album: tap Open albums and authenticate. Tap the album’s options button (⋯), choose Rename, enter its new name, and save.
• Replace its photos: share a new selection from your gallery to Showroom. Tap Save album and authenticate, then explicitly choose the existing album to replace. Your gallery originals are unchanged.
• Delete an album: tap Open albums and authenticate. Tap the album’s options button (⋯), choose Delete, and confirm. This removes Showroom’s saved copies and frees an album slot; it does not delete your gallery originals.

If you already have four albums, replace the photos in one or delete an album before adding another.

Temporarily shared photos are not cached by Showroom. If you want to keep a selection for next time, explicitly save it as an album.

Updates, originals, and backups.

Updating from Showroom or Just These: download the new beta and install it over your existing app. Do not uninstall first. Your earlier saved album is retained in the new four-album library.

Your originals stay yours: saving an album creates copies inside Showroom. Renaming, replacing, or deleting those albums does not change the original gallery photos.

Keep another copy: saved albums are not an encrypted vault and have no automatic app backup. Uninstalling the app, clearing its storage, or losing your phone can remove its saved copies. Keep your originals or another backup.

If your browser opens an older download, return to the download section and check that the file is named showroom-0.3.1-expo-beta.apk.

A few things to try.

Showroom is missing from Share.

Try sharing a small selection of ordinary image files from your gallery. Expand the share sheet’s More or All apps option. Some gallery apps arrange or filter share destinations differently.

Lock viewing does not ask for my PIN when I leave.

Enable both screen pinning and its require-unlock setting in Android Settings. Then repeat the test in the locking guide. A PIN prompt is controlled by Android, not by the saved-album management lock.

An album will not save.

Check that a slot is available, your phone has free storage, and the images fit the limits above. Try a smaller selection. Keep the originals in your gallery while you test the beta.

The APK will not install.

Check that the download completed and your phone runs Android 8 or newer. Open it from your browser’s Downloads or your Files app, and follow Android’s install permission prompt. If you already have Showroom, keep it installed and report the exact error.