Use This Neat Trick To Childproof Your iPhone

This post was originally published on August 4, 2017
The latest update to this post was made 6 years ago.

Use This Neat Trick To Childproof Your iPhone

Nearly every parent has downloaded a kid friendly app on their phone and handed their device off to their kiddo; only to soon realize it is extremely difficult to keep a child focused on one app.

You may hand over your phone with a kid friendly app open, but with 1 click of the home button your child can access any app on the device including your email, Facebook and photos.  If only there was an app or setting that would put your phone in a sort of “child mode” so the app you open can’t be closed!  Read below to find out how iPhone and iPad users can do just that!

Both iPhones and iPads have a built in accessibility feature called ‘Guided Access‘ which, when activated, limits the users access to the app that is currently open.  This means that if you open an app for your child, then activate guided access, your child will not be able to exit the app without the correct password.

To turn on the ‘guided access’ feature follow these steps:

1. Open the settings application on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Select ‘General’
3. Select ‘Accessibility’
4. Select ‘Guided Access’ which is under the Learning section.
5. Switch ‘Guided Access’ on
6. After guided access has been switched on select ‘Passcode Settings’
7. Select ‘Set Guided Access Passcode’ and you will be prompted to set a 4 digit passcode.

Now that you have enabled the guided access feature, let’s go over how to use it!

1. Launch the app you want to use
2. Triple click the home button to launch guided access. You will now be unable to exit the application.
3. To exit guided access, triple click the home button and you will be prompted to enter the passcode.
4. Once entered you will be prompted to either End or Resume guided access. There will also be an Options setting at the bottom of the screen. Options enables you to circle areas on the screen you wish to disable, allowing you to further limit access within an app.

Now that you know how to enable and use guided access, you can feel free to hand your phone over to your child without having to worry about which applications they are using!

Tags: #family #kids #technology #howto #iphone