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When you hand over your iPhone or iPad to your kid (or someone else’s), make sure it’s safe for both of you. Children should be able to play games and watch videos but not accidentally wipe out all your email or land on a site with adult content.

A few settings inside iOS let you lock down your device so that a curious kid (or a naughty friend) can’t poke around apps that contain sensitive data. Additionally, some settings block adult content without restricting access to the entire device, which is useful for older kids who might merit a little more freedom to surf and play.

Also, you may want to protect your device physically as well with a good case and screen protector. Here are a few options.

How to Kid-Proof Your iPhone or iPad BY JILL DUFFY

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My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access. It’s way down at the bottom. Why it’s not under Privacy is beyond me. Remembering that it’s an Accessibility feature is the first tricky bit.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS)

Turn on Guided Access.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Set a passcode or TouchID fingerprint to turn Guided Access on and off. You’ll also see an option for Time Limit. I’ll talk about that in Step 9. It’s not exactly straightforward.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Turn on the Accessibility Shortcut. This setting allows you to turn on the restrictions by triple-tapping the Home Button.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Open the app you want to let your kid use.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Triple-tap the Home Button.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

You’ll see Guided Access enabled. You’ll also see instructions to circle the areas of the screen you want to disable. Circle or draw a rectangle around any on-screen buttons that might get kids into trouble. For example, in Instagram, you might disable the icons that let the user post photos, and send direct messages. As you draw those circles and rectangles, the areas of the screen to be restricted are grayed out. Guided Access remembers those areas within the app the next time you use the feature.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Now press Options in the bottom left. Here you can disable physical buttons such as the Volume and the Sleep/Wake button. You can also set a time limit.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS) My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

My favorite iOS feature for parents is called Guided Access. It’s not exactly a one-touch setting, but it’s the best one to learn to use, because it goes the furthest toward locking down your device before you let a child borrow it. Here’s how to use it.

Decide how long you want the child to use the device. When the time limit runs out, the device locks. Back in the main settings for Guided Access (Settings > General > Accessi- bility > Guided Access), you can enable an audio notification that alert you about 30 seconds before the phone locks. It locks on a screen that says Time Expired. Then you’ll have to triple-tap the Home Button and enter the passcode or TouchID to get back to the normal phone settings.

HOW TO LOCK IPAD OR IPHONE CONTENT FROM KIDS (USING GUIDED ACCESS)

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