How to Disable Certain Areas of The Screen on iOS Devices

Are you a parent who allow your kids to play with your iOS devices? If you are one, you might know how things could be quite a mess after they are done with your device. You might be surprised to find that some of your apps were deleted or some of the icons moved around.

If this is a problem for you, this guide will help.

There’s a feature in iOS 6 named ”Guided Access”, which allows you to lock your iOS devices into one app. Under lockdown, certain parts of the screen can be disabled. This means that your kids can only use the app you have selected for them, and will need you to make any changes or open another app.

How To Enable ‘Guided Access’

To enable ”Guided Access” in your iOS device, tap on Settings > General.

Then scroll down and tap on Accessibility. Scroll down and tap on ‘Guided Access’.

Turn ON the feature.

You can set a passcode to enable ‘Guided Access’. Only the person who knows the passcode will be able to enter the ‘Guided Access’ page when it is activated.

How To Disable Access To Certain Areas Of The Screen

To disable access to certain areas of the screen, first, tap on an app to run it. We are going to use Tweetbot as an example. When you’re in the app, press on the home button 3 times. This puts you in ‘Guided Access’ mode.

At the bottom left, there is an Option button. Tapping on it will reveal a page where you can set a few options.

If you turn off “Touch”, the entire screen will be disabled. And if you choose to turn off “Motion” your iPhone will be locked in either portrait or landscape mode, depending on the app.

To disable certain parts of the screen, draw a circle on the area that you want to disable. Just ensure that the starting point and the ending point of the circle meets and the area will be automatically selected.

You can draw on more than one area, to disable more than one part of the screen.

Tap on Start. Now the gray part of the screen (in the shot below) is disabled; this means all the icons are not functional. The only thing that is functioning is the non-grayscaled part.

Stop ‘Guided Access’

To stop ‘Guided Access’, triple press the home button. It will ask you for the passcode that you entered earlier. Enter the passcode.

Then, on the ‘Guided Access’ page, tap on End. When ‘Guided Access’ ends, your iPhone will return to normal.

To Note

Here are a few things to note about using ‘Guided Access’.

1. Under ‘Guided Access’ is an option called ‘Enable Screen Sleep’. If you have this option OFF, when ‘Guided Access’ is activated, the power button will lose its functionality. Your screen will always stay lit up. If you do not want this function, have the option ON.

2. When you are using ‘Guided Access’ mode, your Home button will not function as normal. This means you cannot leave the app even if you press the Home button, as you have been locked in to the app.

3. To get out of ‘Guided Access’ mode, you have to triple press the Home button.