Runs on what you already own
Aura isn't a hardware bundle. It talks standard ESC/POS to any network receipt printer, takes input from any scanner that types, and runs on the tablets, desktops and browsers you have. Nothing is proprietary, nothing is leased.
Receipt printers
Any network ESC/POS printer — Epson, Star, Bixolon, Munbyn and the rest — in 80mm or 58mm, on TCP port 9100. Set the host or IP and the port in Settings on desktop and Android terminals.
Web terminals can't print — the button is disabled. iOS printing isn't available in this release.
Cash drawers
Connected through the receipt printer's kick port — the standard RJ11 arrangement. They open automatically on cash sales, and on a no-sale.
Because the drawer hangs off the printer, a drawer needs a printer. That's also why putting the printer on a UPS keeps the drawer working through an outage.
Barcode scanners
Any USB or Bluetooth scanner that presents as a keyboard. The scan lands in the search field and the Enter it sends adds the exact barcode or SKU match to the cart, then clears for the next scan. No drivers, no pairing rituals.
In shop mode, scanning the same item repeatedly bumps its quantity instead of adding duplicate lines. Scanning a variant SKU rings that exact variant.
Payment terminals
Yoco for card-present, plus card pre-authorisation on bar tabs and Tap to Pay where the SoftPOS integration is enabled. SnapScan and Zapper by QR — no extra hardware at all.
Screens & terminals
Any Android or iOS tablet, any Windows/Mac/Linux desktop, or Chrome and Safari in the browser. Mount a tablet in landscape for the kitchen display. A desktop till can drive a second monitor as the customer display.
Desktops and tablets persist their data to disk and are your real tills. Browser terminals don't survive a reload — use them as convenience screens. Why →
Network
Keep the terminals, the printers and the server link on the same reliable LAN — prep printing and receipt printing both go over it. Put the router on a UPS.
What a 60-seat restaurant typically runs
Not a requirement — an illustration of how the pieces fit. Scale it up or down.
| Device | How many | Doing what |
|---|---|---|
| Android tablet | 2–3 | Server tills on the floor — ringing, seating, billing. Battery-powered, so they ride out an outage. |
| Desktop PC | 1 | The main till at the pass or the front counter, wired to the receipt printer and cash drawer, driving the customer display on a second monitor. |
| Tablet, wall-mounted | 1–2 | Kitchen display on the hot line, filtered to the Hot station. A second at the bar filtered to Bar. |
| Network ESC/POS printer | 1 | Receipts, with the cash drawer on its kick port. On the UPS. |
| Prep printer (optional) | 0–2 | Paper tickets per station, if the kitchen wants paper as well as the screen. |
| Yoco card machine | 1–2 | Card-present payments. Tabs can take a pre-authorisation hold. |
| UPS | 1 | Router + receipt printer. The thing that turns load shedding into an inconvenience. |
| Guest phones | — | QR ordering, if you run it. No hardware from you beyond printing the table tents. |
A shop counter is simpler: one desktop or tablet, a printer with a drawer, a barcode scanner, and a card machine. See retail mode →
A standalone QR Ordering venue — a market stall, a beer garden, a ghost kitchen — is simpler still, and different in kind: a wall-mounted tablet for the kitchen display, a laptop or tablet for the back office, a UPS on the router, and no till and no card machine at all. The card machine is the guest's phone.
Tell us what you've got
Most venues already own most of this. Send us your current setup and we'll tell you what carries over and what doesn't.