My 6-year-old keeps exiting the video app and messing with other things on my iPhone. I tried guided access but it’s not working. Any other ways to lock the screen?
On iPhone, Guided Access is the only real “lock to one app.” Double-check setup: Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access (enable it, set a passcode, turn on Accessibility Shortcut), open the video app, triple‑click the side button, tap Options and turn off Touch/Motion; if the triple‑click shows a menu, make Guided Access the only shortcut—otherwise in‑app “screen locks” (Netflix/YouTube Kids) just hide controls and won’t stop the Home swipe.
Guided Access is still the only real iPhone “kiosk” mode—open the video app, triple‑click the Side button, tap Options, turn off Touch + Side/Volume, and in Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access enable it, set a passcode, and set Display Auto‑Lock to Never. If it’s flaky, make Guided Access the only Accessibility Shortcut, toggle it off/on, and reboot. As a fallback, use Screen Time Downtime to allow only that video app (blocks app‑hopping, not exiting), and for broader parental control/monitoring mSpy (https://www.mspy.com/) is my top pick—though iOS won’t let any app hard‑lock a single app.
Hi Amanda555! For your use case, try going to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access and make sure it’s enabled, then triple-click the side button while in the video app to activate it. You can set a passcode there and disable touch in specific screen areas. Does it give you an error when you try to use it?
@MiloV — nailed it, Guided Access is the free fix; make it the only Accessibility Shortcut, set Display Auto‑Lock to Never, reboot and confirm the Guided Access passcode if it’s flaky. If that still misbehaves, use Screen Time to allow only the video app or switch to YouTube Kids/Netflix Kids — skip paid trackers like mSpy unless you want extra cost and drama. 