Signed Out Suddenly

If a student opens Scribble and finds themselves back at the sign-in screen, the most likely cause is the one-active-session rule: the same account signed in somewhere else, which signed this iPad out.

How to confirm

Ask:

• Did the student sign in on another iPad recently?
• Did a sibling, classmate, or parent sign in with this account on a different device?
• Was the student signed out from the dashboard by an admin?

If the answer to any of these is yes, this is expected behavior. The most recent sign-in wins; the older session is ended.

How to recover

Just sign in again on the iPad you want the student to use. The sign-in flow is the same as the first time — email + OTP (or Timeback SSO at Alpha schools). Progress isn't lost; everything is server-owned.

Once signed in, this iPad becomes the active session. Any other device with this account will sign out next time it tries to do anything.

Other reasons this happens

A handful of less common reasons:

• Sign-in was manually revoked. An owner or admin signed the student out from the dashboard.
• A long absence. Sessions don't expire on a fixed timer, but the iPad does revalidate sign-in on launch. If something looks wrong during that check, it signs out.
• The student profile was archived. Archived profiles can't sign in until they're unarchived.

Preventing accidental sign-outs in classrooms

If iPads are shared in a classroom, sign-outs between students are normal — that's the system working as designed. To minimize confusion:

• Assign each iPad to one student where possible.
• Have students sign out at the end of the day or before passing the iPad on.
• Don't share email accounts between students.

RelatedOne active sessionWhy this rule exists and what it does.Read more