If you have children (or grandchildren) that you occasionally let play educational apps/games on an iPhone or iPad, then there is a built-in setting to stop them accidentally (or purposely) getting out of that app/game and accessing other applications or data or accidentally wiping everything off the device.
You can also use this setting to restrict access to an adult using your an iPad or iPhone, such as when using a menu-app on an iPad in a cafe or letting someone use your phone to make an emergency call or any situation where you want to “lock” access to only one game or application and not give the user free-feign over all your apps and data.
I was intrigued to see recently at CES 2017 that manufacturers are producing plastic-cases for iPhones and iPads that prevented little-fingers from accessing/wiping things off that device.
As many commentators correctly pointed out … the same thing can be done for FREE, using built in features provided by Apple in the iOS operating system.
The feature is called Guided-Access and has been available for some time on any iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad.
Picture the scenario, your trying to have an in-depth conversation with a friend but little Johnny/Mary is demanding your attention and you need a little electronic-baby-sitter for 5 minutes.
You know you could simply hand over your iPhone/iPad to give them minutes or hours of unsupervised “fun” but you fear they may wipe your data, change your password or see “those-photos” that you forgot to erase?
The only game on your phone is “Super Mario Run“, so here is a quick step-by-step guide on how to give them access to that game and nothing else on your phone or iPad (this can be used for any application or app on your device)
Setting up Guided Access for the first time
This part is quite a few steps, but you only need to do this once. From then on the feature is turn on and off my means of a “triple-click” on the Home Button
First Time Setup. Open Settings -> Accessibility
Select “Guided Access”
Turn “Guided Access” On
Once switched “On” “Guided Access” Options appear as follows, not that you switch it on by hitting the “home” button three times (triple-click) and you can set a pass code to enable and disable the feature. You can even set a time limit for the access and restrict certain parts of the screen being accessed.
Set a passcode of your choosing …preferably not one known to the child
It is now all set to use…. next time you triple-click the home button.
Using Guided Access to restrict access to only one application
Locate your desired Application on your iPhone or iPad
Start the Game or Application and hit the Home button three times (Triple-click), and see the Guided Access menu appear for the Game/Application …simply click the “Start Button” in the top right of the screen
The “home button” is now disabled meaning the iPhone/iPad cannot be used for anything else except this Application/Game…. not until you triple-click on the home button and enter the passcode then select “End” in the top left of the screen, to return the device to normal operations.
You can find more information on the feature on the Apple site.
:jk:
