Here’s How You Can Password Protect Apps In iOS 12

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Apple introduced Screen Time and App Limits with the iOS 12 mainly to address the criticism from parents that the company isn’t doing enough to limit iPhone usage by kids. The main objective of these two features is to let users know how they are using their device and also limit the use of apps by the children. Apart from these two intended uses, it appears the features serve an unintended and very useful purpose as well, i.e., to password protect apps in iOS 12.

How to password protect apps in iOS 12?

To password protect apps in the iOS 12, the first thing you need to do is select the app; it can be any app like Messages, Photos or any other. Then set the App Limit for that app, and set the timeout at the lowest. For instance, if you want to protect Photos with the passcode, select the app > set time limit of a minute. To confirm if it is working, open the app until the iOS tells you that the time is up.

After the setup is done, if anyone is using the app with a passcode set up in Screen Time settings, they will have to enter the code to access the app. Such a setup will ensure that users without the passcode are unable to access the app.

Downtime is a useful feature coming with the iOS 12. Sometimes you don’t want your kid to use their iPhone, for instance, when it’s time for bed. For such situations, you can use Downtime to limit one or some or all the apps on your child’s iPhone. The feature works similar to Do Not Disturb, where you can set the start and end time frames for the apps.

When Downtime is active, the child will be able to access only the approved apps. If you choose “Block At Downtime,” all the apps and functions will stop. You can find the “Downtime” controls under the Screen Time menu only.

A user can also lock the iPhone or iPad for a single app. This feature comes in handy if you want your kid to use a specific app, but don’t want them to access your photos and email. To lock a single app, head to the Settings, General, Accessibility, and select Guided Access. Then click Passcode Settings to create a PIN, and make sure you don’t forget it. In the iPhone X, you can directly access a Guided Access session by double-pressing the side button.

Next, chose the app that you want to put into the Guided Access mode. Then, press the home button three times to launch the Guided Access interface. Now you can select the areas on the screen that you don’t want others to access. Next, click Start to trigger the Guided Access mode. To undo the Guided Access mode, click the home button three times and enter the passcode that you set earlier.

How to lock Apps in iOS 11?

Separately, if you are looking to lock Apps on an iPhone in the iOS 11 there are several ways to do it. For locking apps – such as Notes – on the iPhone X/8/7 with password, open the Notes App on your iOS device, then click the note that you wish to lock and then click the Share button. Next, click on Lock Note and set the password.

If you want to lock the apps on the iPhone 8/8 Plus with Touch ID on the iOS 11, first you need to make sure that you have Touch ID on your phone. If not, then go to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode to register your fingerprint. Next, go to the app that you wish to lock via Touch ID, and then to the settings option within the app and select Passcode & Touch ID. Next, enable the Use Touch ID option, and that’s it.

Apple also allows users to lock apps on the iPhone 7/8/X with Restrictions, i.e., hide the app completely. To hide the app, head to the Settings App on your iPhone device, next select General and then click Restrictions. Next, select the option Enable Restrictions and then enter Restriction Passcode.

For hiding Stock apps all that you need to do is disable the switch next to the app that you wish to hide. To hide the downloaded app, scroll down to the Apps under the ALLOWED CONTENT section. Here you can hide all the downloaded apps by selecting Don’t Allow Apps or hide downloaded Apps and choose a specific age group.

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