Enable This Hidden Feature Before Handing Your iPhone To Your Kids

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When you hand 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 if you trust them. Kids, especially toddlers, are an entirely different story. If they get bored, they might try to switch what they’re watching. Since they don’t really know how to operate an iPhone, they may end up opening the camera, your company’s Slack, or even making an unintended purchase. Luckily, there’s a useful iPhone feature called Guided Access that forces them to stay in one place by blocking all gestures.

Too much screen time for kids has been shown to increase their risk of needing glasses in the future. However, there are times when you need to keep them occupied for an hour or two to handle grown-up business. 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, do the following:

Go to Settings Accessibility Guided Access.
Toggle on “Guided Access.”
Tap “Passcode Settings” and toggle on “Face ID.” This ensures that once you start Guided Access, it can only be ended with Face ID, not your passcode.
You can also tap “Set Guided Access Passcode” to create a unique passcode for the sessions.