May 29, 2023

Novoda Software

Software Guides and Reviews

How to Use Guided Access on iPhone and iPad to Keep Your Kids Locked into One App

If you’ve ever handed your iPhone or iPad to a baby or toddler to entertain them while you do something else, you’ll probably be aware of just how easily their little fingers can navigate into all manner of screens and settings they shouldn’t be messing with.


Fortunately, Apple includes a feature in iOS that allows you to keep your device locked into a single app and control which features are available. It’s called Guided Access, and this article explains how you can use it.

How to Enable Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌

  1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap Accessibility.
  4. Tap Guided Access under the General section at the bottom of the screen.
  5. Tap the switch next to Guided Access to toggle it to the green ON position and reveal further options.

How to Use Guided Access on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌

  1. Launch the app that you want the user to have access to. In our example, we’re using the BBC iPlayer app to play a kids’ show.
  2. If your device has a Home button, triple-click it to enter the Guided Access initialization screen. If your device has Face ID in lieu of a Home button, triple-click the Side button instead.
    guided access

With Guided Access enabled, the only way to leave the video is by double-chttps://www.novodasoftware.com/licking the Side button to activate Face ID, or by triple-clicking the Side/Home button and entering the pre-set passcode. So you can leave your little ones to watch their favorite video or play their favorite game, safe in the knowledge that they can’t delete your email account, phone a random number, or worse.

Apart from using the triple-click to bring up the Accessibility Shortcut, you can also add a Guided Access shortcut to your device’s Control Center.