Enable this hidden feature before handing your iPhone to your kids

When you give your iPhone to an adult who just wants to quickly Google something or watch a YouTube video, you don’t really have to worry about them accessing something you don’t want them to access if you trust them. Children, especially toddlers, are a whole different story. If they’re bored, they might try changing what they’re watching. Since they don’t really know how to use an iPhone, they may end up opening your company’s camera, Slack, or even making an unintentional purchase. Fortunately, there is a useful feature on iPhone called Guided Access that forces them to stay in one place by blocking all gestures.

Too much screen time for children has been shown to increase their risk of needing glasses in the future. However, there are times when you need to keep them busy for an hour or two to handle adult matters. Having them watch a cartoon on Netflix or YouTube Kids is a great distraction, giving you time to finish what you’re doing so you can give them the attention they need.

To enable Guided Access on your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access.

2. Enable “Guided Access”.

3. Tap “Passcode Settings” and enable “Face ID”. This ensures that once you start Guided Access, it can only be completed with Face ID, not your password.

4. You can also tap “Set Guided Passcode” to create a unique passcode for sessions.

Now that Guided Access is enabled, it doesn’t automatically mean that every app you open will start a session. To start a guided access session:

1. Open the app you want your toddler to use. Make sure no apps are overlapped, as Guided Access doesn’t work with more than one app open.

2. Triple-click the side button to open the Guided Access menu. This is one of the hidden functions of the side button.

3. Tap “Start” in the upper right corner of the screen.

You can also change additional settings to lock certain iPhone screen features and buttons during Guided Access. This can be useful if you don’t want them to access other content in the app, accidentally lock the screen by pressing the side button, or turn the volume up really loud. After accessing the Guided Access menu, do the following:

1. Tap “Session Settings” at the bottom.

2. Disable what you need to disable: “Side button”, “Volume buttons”, “Motion”, “Software keyboards” and “Touch”.

3. If you enable “Time Limit,” set when the screen should lock (requires a passcode or Face ID to unlock the phone).

4. Tap “Done” in the pop-up window.

5. Tap “Start” in the upper right corner.

To exit guided access:

1. Triple-click the side button again to display the Guided Access menu.

2. Wait for Face ID verification or enter the password.

3. Tap “End” in the upper left corner.