How to Use Guided Access to Let Kids and Others Use Your iPhone Temporarily

Guided Access allows limited accessibility to a single app while maintaining your iPhone's security

First thing's first - you should never, ever share your iPhone or iPad passcode with anyone you don’t implicitly trust. Because with access to your iOS passcode, someone could change your Apple ID password, and if you use iCloud for email, completely steal or otherwise abuse your online identity.

However, there are still many reasons you might want to give someone your iPhone. Perhaps you want to let your child play a game in the car while you focus on long drive. Or maybe you want someone to time your laps in a race using the Stopwatch app. Whatever the reason, you need to make sure you are sharing your phone in a safe way, and the solution is Guided Access.

Enabling and Configuring Guided Access

To turn Guided Access on, navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access (for older iPhones, try Settings > General > Accessibility), and flick the switch. While you’re here, check out the remaining settings:

• Passcode Settings: Create a passcode for getting out of Guided Access here (it can be different than your normal one), and choose whether you can use Touch ID or Face ID to exit as well.
• Time Limits: You don’t set time limits here, but you can set audio and spoken warnings before the time runs out.
• Accessibility Shortcut: Enable this if you also use triple-click for another Accessibility Shortcut like Magnifier.
• Display Auto-Lock: Choose how long the device can be inactive before the screen turns off. If the Guided Access user wakes up the device, they’ll still be in Guided Access.

With those settings configured, switch to the desired app and triple-click the side or Home button, and if necessary, tap Guided Access in the Accessibility Shortcut list. You can do five things:

• Set session-specific options: Tap Options in the lower-right corner to access various switches. If they’re disabled:
  • Side Button or Sleep/Wake Button: The user can’t put the device to sleep.
  • Volume Buttons: The user can’t change the volume.
  • Motion: The screen doesn’t change from the orientation (portrait or landscape) it was in when you started Guided Access.
  • Touch: The user can’t do anything with the screen at all—probably most appropriate for letting a young child watch a video.
  • Dictionary Lookup: Prevents word lookups in some apps.
• Set time limits: At the bottom of the Options list, tap Time Limit and set an amount of time after which the device can’t be used until you enter the Guided Access passcode.
• Disable specific areas on the screen: Draw circles around parts of the screen you want to make off-limits to the user. After making a circle, you can move it by dragging it, resize it by dragging any of its handles, or remove it by tapping its X button.
• Start/Resume Guided Access: In the upper-right corner, tap Start. If you haven’t yet set a passcode, you’ll be prompted to do that.
• Exit the setup screen: In the upper-left corner, tap End.

Using Guided Access

Once you tap Start, iOS tells you it’s entering Guided Access and lets you use the current app with the restrictions you’ve applied. If you decide that the restrictions aren’t right, triple-click the side or Home button to return to the setup screen. When you’re done, tap Resume in the upper-right corner.

To leave Guided Access, triple-click the side or Home button, enter the passcode, and in the setup screen, tap End in the upper-left corner.

Once you understand the various limitations of Guided Access, you’ll be able to turn it on and off quickly whenever you need to let someone use your iPhone or iPad for a while. It’s a subtle yet powerful tool for sharing your device without sacrificing the security of your sensitive information.

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