How to Lock Specific Apps On iPhone

Your smartphone is important and a private accessory for you. You have your personal documents, photos, apps and many other things which you don’t wish to share with others. All iPhone users must wonder if apps could be locked and data could be made more secure.

3 Ways to Lock Apps on iPhone

In this article, we will talk about the ways to lock your apps in iPhone 5s/ 6/ 6s/ SE/ 7/ 7 Plus/x and other versions through different ways.

1. Enable Restrictions/Parental Control Feature to Lock iPhone Apps–

Restrictions/Parental Control feature in iPhone allows you to apply restrictions on native apps, websites, content types, privacy settings and cellular data use to control the functionality of the same. It prevents others or your kids from the unsuitable content or altering the settings of the phone.

To turn on Restrictions on your iPhone, please follow these simple steps

• Go to Settings. Navigate to General then click on Restrictions.

• To enable Restrictions, you should set a passcode which you must reminisce to change the settings or disable Restrictions. In case you forgot the passcode, you have to reset the device.

• You can set on what apps or settings, content; you wish to restrict the usage of. You can toggle the slider to the left on the apps which you don’t want others to access.
• To set another passcode, you need to disable restrictions and enable them again then, it would ask you to set another passcode.

The biggest con of the feature is, it doesn’t restrict the access to third party apps.

2. Use Guided Access To Lock Apps on iPhone

Guided Access is a wonderful feature present on iPhone. It enables you to stay focused on a task while using your iPhone. It confines your phone to a single app and lets you control which app features should be available. It prevents others to access any other app when you don’t wish them to. To set the guided access on the phone –

• Go to Settings. Navigate to General then click on Accessibility.

• Look for Guided Access.

• Turn on Guided Access and set a passcode for it.
• Once you set up Guided Access, you can start a Guided Access session. Navigate to any app you want to open and triple click the Home button, then circle any area on the screen that you would want to be inaccessible. You can check the Options to adjust settings for the session.
• Tap on Start at the top of the screen to begin Guided Access.

Image Source : www.cisdem.com

3. Lock Apps on iPhone via Third-Party Apps –

To use third party app to lock apps on your iPhone, you need to jailbreak it. You can use BioProtect to lock apps on iPhone. BioProtect is available for $2.99 on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. This app allows you to protect your apps by setting a passcode or Touch ID from inquisitive people around you. To enable the lock feature, you need to follow these steps –

• First thing is to make your iOS Jailbreak.
• Launch Cydia on your device.
• Tap on Manage > Sources > BigBoss repo source, and search BioProtect.
• Purchase it and install it.
• Touch ID should be enabled as to access this app; you will need Touch ID every time you open the app.

Image Source : www.cisdem.com

• Launch Settings-> Applications ->BioProtect, verify your fingerprint, access BioProtect settings.
• Don’t forget to turn on Protect AppSwitcher and Vibrate on error.
• Under Protected Applications, choose what apps you want to lock.
• Now every time you access the locked app, it will ask for a Touch ID or passcode.

If you wish to use a password to protect your apps instead of Touch ID, AppLocker for iOS is a good option. However, you can also set a Touch ID for it.

AppLocker is also available on www.cydia.saurik.com. To enable the app, follow these steps –

• Launch Settings-> Applications ->AppLocker.
• Set a password.
• Go back to AppLocker main menu and select Application Locker
• Choose apps, you want to lock.
• Now every time you open locked app, you must enter the set password.

This app not only allows you to lock your apps, but you can also lock the folders (the one which is used to categorize and organize the apps) on the phone.

It is very important to lock apps and folders to prevent people from disturbing your privacy.  If you have any other suggestions to secure your data on iPhone, please let us know in comment section below.