How to Disable Touchscreen on iPhone and iPad Before Handing Them to Kids

Apr. 3, 2021

Imagine you are in a situation where you have no other option but to hand over your iPhone or iPad to your kid to watcheducational videosor attend online classes overZoom. Wouldn’t you feel concerned about damage to your sensitive files or your kids navigating to other websites or videos? Most probably, you would. Also, if you are handing over the device to a toddler, they have the tendency to tap around the whole screen. They could mess up your settings, send messages or call someone unknowingly. This is where Guided Access comes into play. Forbetter parental control, Guided Access in iOS 14 allows you to disable the touchscreen on an iPhone and iPad before handing it over to your kid. Using this feature, you can limit your kid’s access to a specific app, so let me show you how this neat parental control feature works:

To get the most out of this accessibility feature, it would be apt to get the basics out of the way first. You can use the table below to navigate to a relevant section at any point in time.

Guided Access is designed tolimit your iPhone or iPad to a single app, allowing you to control which features are available for use during that period. To be precise, it lets you offer anyone restricted access to your device.

Beyond parental controls, the ability to lock iPhone inside an app and completely disable touch can also come in super handy when you are ona long binge-watching spree. Yeah, you read that right! You can take advantage of this feature to prevent accidental touch or tap from halting the smooth playback.

As iOS offers a straightforward way to enable and disable Guided Access on iPhone, which is a nifty gesture, you can go back and forth with ease. That said, let’s dive straight into the steps and see how it works.

For starters, you will need to activate Guided Access and fine-tune it in line with your needs.

2. Now, tap onAccessibility.

3. Next, scroll down to the bottom and chooseGuided Access.

4. Next up, turn on the toggle for Guided Access.

Note:

5. Once you have activated Guided Access on your iOS device, launch the preferred app. For this guide, I’m going to useYouTube. So, open the app and play a video. After that,triple-click the side/power buttonand then tap onOptionsat the bottom left corner of the screen.

6. Next,toggle off Touchto disable the touchscreen.

7. Now, tap onStartat the top right corner of the screen and then set a Guided Access passcode (if you hadn’t set it earlier).

That’s pretty much it! You have successfully disabled the touchscreen on your iPhone/ iPad, and the person using the device is limited to one app, which is YouTube in this case.

Exiting Guided Access on iOS is super easy. Follow the steps below to re-enable the touchscreen on your iPhone or iPad:

Use Guided Access to Disable the Touchscreen of Your iPhone and iPad

That’s pretty much it! Now that you know how this hidden gem works, make the most of it to either prevent your kid from going overboard or enhance your media-watching experience. Personally, I make sure to bring it into action before kickstarting aMoney Heistor Friends binge-watching spree. I always keep Guided Access enabled on my iPhone, which means I can start using it with the quick triple-click gesture at any time.

Accessibility in iOS 14 has got a wide range of helpful features, includingMagnifier,Switch Control,VoiceOver,and Guided Access. Let me know your favorite and the reasons why you like them the most in the comments below.

An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.