If you want to prevent your family members from invading your privacy, you might want to lock the apps on your iPhone. Also, if you don’t want your kids to see what they aren’t supposed to see, then you can lock the apps on your phone.
While there isn’t a built-in feature to do that on iOS, the process is quite limited. However, there are a few workarounds, such as the Screen Time feature that was introduced by iOS and one of the many features that emerged with iOS 12. This feature enables you to lock the apps on your iOS.
How to Lock Apps on Your iPhone with a Password
While there is no pre-installed security tool that enables you to lock the apps on your iOS device, there is a hack available to achieve that. The steps below will show you how to use Screen Time to safeguard the apps on your iPhone with a password:
- Head over to the Settings icon on your phone, then Screen Time > Turn On Screen Time.
- Follow the instructions on the screen to enable the screen time.
- Click Use Screen Time Passcode. Enter a four-digit password.
- This password is different from the one that you use to unlock your phone.
- Head over to App Limits> Add Limit.
- Input your Screen Time passcode to access the page.
- Choose All Apps & Categories to lock all the apps on your iPhone with the Screen Time password.
- If you want to lock certain apps on your iPhone, you can swipe down on your screen to show the search bar and check apps from there.
- You can also click the drop-down arrow in every category to choose individual apps.
- After selecting the apps, click on
- You can set one minute for the app limit.
- Make sure that you enable the Block at End of Limit.
- Click Add to save your settings.
And there you have it. This is one of the ways that you can lock your apps on your iOS device. Although the screen time method seems ideal, it has its own drawbacks. Built-in apps such as Safari will not be added to the All Apps & Categories selection.
You also need to manually find the app by using the search bar. In addition, the screen time doesn’t enable you to lock some apps, such as Phone and Settings.
How to Lock Apps on Your iPhone With Guided Access
Locking your apps on an iPhone can be a little different if you are using Guided Access. When this feature is enabled, it blocks access to all the apps on your phone except the one that is currently running on your screen. This feature can be used to lock all the apps when someone borrows your phone except the one that the person wants to use. Here is how to lock apps on your iPhone with Guided Access:
- Head over to Settings > Accessibility and then go over to Guided Access.
- Next, toggle on Guided Access.
- Click on Passcode Settings> Set Guided Access Passcode.
- Input a six-digit password. This password will be different from the password that you use to unlock your iPhone.
- You can also toggle on Touch ID and Face ID to use a biometric password.
Then, if you want to lock the app on your iPhone and also limit its use to just one app, you will have to triple-click the side button for the newer version. However, if you are using the older version of the iPhone, you need to triple-click the Home button.
When your app is locked, Guided Access Started will pop up on your screen. If you want to exit Guided Access, then you will have to triple-click the Home button or the Side button again, enter the password, and click End. You can also exit Guided Access by double-clicking the button and then verifying yourself with a Touch ID or Face ID.
How To Lock Apps on Your iPhone With Touch ID or Face ID
Other than a password, another way to lock the apps on your iPhone is with a touch ID or Face ID. If you want to lock the apps on your phone without screen time, then this is an ideal alternative.
The first step is to set up Face ID on your iPhone, or if you have an older version of the iPhone that uses Touch ID, the step is still the same.
After you enable it, you can use the Touch ID or the Face ID to lock the apps on your iOS device. However, not all apps on iOS can be locked with Touch ID or Face ID.
