How to Set Child Lock in iOS on iPhone and iPad?

Nowadays advertisements are everywhere and iOS apps are not exception to that. Sometimes these advertisements are annoying and also offer in-app purchases. As disabling ads inside app is not possible the only available option is to disable the touch on the ad area. Nowadays iPad, mini iPad and iPhone are the common devices used among the kids and its necessary for the parents to control the features in order to avoid the kid touching on ads or even buying the app accidentally.

Most of the time it is necessary to lock the device within the app by disabling certain portions of the screen or disabling the home button. Even this is necessary for adults to avoid clicking the ads when using an app, especially when playing a game. Here is the step by step article on how to set child lock for iPad and iPhone in iOS.

What is Guided Access Option?

Apple provides this child lock option with the Guided Access feature of iOS. Once enabled this feature can be accessed within an app by tripple clicking the home button of your device. The purpose of the guided access is to provide the following restrictions within an app:

Step1 – Opening Guided Access Option in iOS

Tap on the “Settings” icon on your iPhone or iPad’s home screen and go to the “General > Accessibility” option.

Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and tap on the “Guided Access” option to enable it as shown in the below picture.

Step2 – Guided Access Settings

Guided Access will provide you the following settings:

• Guided Access – Enable this option by tapping on the button to make it green.
• Passcode Settings – set your six digit password which you can use it for child locking your device. You need to enter this password to disable the child lock within any app. You can also also use touch ID along with passcode.
• Time Limits – set alarm with sound and speak the remaining lock time before ending the guided access.
• Accessibility Shortcut – enable or disable shortcuts. Once enabled, the options will be shown during the child lock mode.

Step3 – Using Guided Access within an App

Guided access will work on all the apps except inside the “Settings”. Open any app on your iPhone or iPad. Go to the screen on which you want to disable the touch area on the ad or set child lock. For example, open the game your kid wanted to play and press the home button three times. You will see the guided access mode like below.

Tap on “Cancel” to come out of child lock mode. The “Options” allow you to set different options for your child lock like enable or disable volume and sleep buttons. Enable or disable the screen rotation by clicking on the “Motion” button.

Tap on “Done” to go back to guided access screen. Draw the area around the advertisement to disable the touch area and tap on “Start” to begin child lock mode. Now that even your kid tap on the selected area, it will not work until you unlock the child lock mode with password or touch id.

• You will see a message “Guided Access Started” when the child lock is starting.
• When you press the home button you will be prompted with a message that “Guided Access is enabled. Tripple-click the home button or use Touch ID to exit”.
• Tripple clicking on the home button will prompt you to enter the password you set in the above step 2. Then you can end the guided access or resume it again.

You will see a message “Guided Access Ended” and the child lock will be released.

Setting Time Limit for App Access

Besides disabling advertisements on the app, you can use guided access feature to set time limits. There are two steps in setting up time limit for accessing an app.

• First step is an option step you can enable an alarm sound and speak option to listen to the remaining time when accessing the app.
• Second step is the actual time control. After tripple clicking to enable the guided access, tap on the options and turn on “Time Limit” option. You can set how much time the app can be accessed when guided access is enabled. You will hear the alarm sound and the voice of the remaining time before end of the guided access. The app will not be accessible after the expiry of the time limit.

Setting time limit is a very good option allowing your kids to play the game for limited time.