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How to lock your phone so your child can't leave an app (Android and iPhone)

25 October 2026 · 3 min read

You hand your phone to your toddler for five minutes, and somehow they have called your boss, deleted a photo and opened the camera settings. Little fingers tap everything.

The good news: both Android and iPhone have a built-in way to lock the phone to a single app. Your child can use that one app, and nothing else, until you unlock it with your PIN. It takes about two minutes to set up once.

Android: App pinning

Turn it on (once)

  1. Open Settings and search for "pin". The name depends on your phone: App pinning, Screen pinning, or Pin windows on Samsung.
  2. Turn it on.
  3. Turn on Ask for PIN before unpinning (on some phones: Lock device when unpinning). This is the important part. Without it, anyone can unpin the app.

Pin an app

  1. Open the app your child will use.
  2. Open the Recents screen: swipe up from the bottom and hold, or tap the square button.
  3. Tap the app's icon at the top of its card and choose Pin.

Unpin when you're done

  • With gesture navigation: swipe up from the bottom and hold.
  • With three buttons: touch and hold Back and Recents together.

Your phone then asks for your PIN. Google explains the details in its help page on pinning screens.

iPhone and iPad: Guided Access

Turn it on (once)

  1. Go to Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access and turn it on.
  2. Tap Passcode Settings → Set Guided Access Passcode. Pick a code your child doesn't know. It can be different from your phone's passcode.
  3. Optional: under Time Limits, choose a sound that plays shortly before time runs out.

Start a session

  1. Open the app.
  2. Triple-click the side button (or the Home button on older models).
  3. If you like, circle any part of the screen you want to switch off, then tap Start.

End a session

Triple-click again, enter your Guided Access passcode, and tap End. Apple's guide: Use Guided Access with iPhone.

Tips that save tears

  • Set it up before you hand over the phone, not in the middle of a meltdown.
  • Use a code your child hasn't watched you type. Toddlers are excellent spies.
  • Switch on airplane mode if the app works offline. No calls or notifications pop up in the middle of a video.
  • Pair it with a time limit so the end is predictable: Screen Time on iPhone, Digital Wellbeing or Google Family Link on Android.
  • Warn before the end: "Two more videos, then we land." A heads-up makes the hand-back much easier.

What about kids' modes and child profiles?

Some tablets have a separate kids' space, and Google Family Link or Apple's Screen Time can manage a child's own device. For the everyday "can I have your phone?" moment, though, pinning or Guided Access is the fastest and simplest option.

How Child Runway does it

Child Runway has a Seatbelt in the Grown-ups corner that walks you through App pinning on Android and Guided Access on iPhone the first time, plus a daily time limit that ends with a gentle "time to land" screen. There are no ads or links that lead out of the app, and purchases always sit behind a grown-up check.