How to Lock Any App on Your iPhone With Passcode.
Unlike Android, there is no way on iOS to protect your apps. You can’t have a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID unless the app developer implements them. But I can’t wait for the developer, so I found a rough workaround. This is not the best way, but it definitely works and blocks apps on my iPhone. Let me show you.
Lock apps on iPhone
While researching another iOS feature, Screen Time, I found that you can lock the app. The iPhone won’t let you access the app unless you enter a password. This is perfect for adding a password to any application. However, it has two supposed loopholes, which is why I call this a crude workaround.
- The access code will not take effect if you do not use the application for at least 1 minute every day.
- The passcode will unlock the application for at least 15 minutes. If you open the app again within 15 minutes, there will be no password. That being said, if you use any application often enough, this shouldn’t be a problem.
To set a password, open your iPhone and go to Settings. Go to Screen Time and tap to open its page.
We will now set a password for the apps we want to block. This is a four-digit passcode and may be different from your six-digit passcode on iPhone. It adds an extra layer of protection to apps should you ever have to share your iPhone’s password with someone.
After you set a password, Screen Time will prompt you to configure a recovery option. You must use your Apple ID to set it up. This will come in handy when unlocking the app if you ever forget your password. Then click on Application Restrictions to start protecting your apps.
Click the Add Limit button and a list of all applications installed on your iPhone will open. You can block all applications except the Phone application. After selecting all applications, click Next.
Now set a time limit for these apps where you can get unlimited access to it, choose one minute. Also, do not forget to enable the “Block at the end of the limit” option. That’s all you need to do. Your apps are now password protected.
Now all password-locked apps will look like the image below. When you try to open a locked application, a splash screen appears that says, “You have reached the limit for this application.” When you click OK, the app exits, but if you click Ask for more time, it will ask for a password and give you access to the app.
I have mentioned the alleged loopholes in this workaround. One minute is the minimum limit you can set for an application. This means that to keep the application secure, you will have to use it for at least one minute every day. Until then, the application will only open with the password set in the Screen Time application.
The second loophole in this workaround is that when you enter the password to access the app, it will unlock the app for at least fifteen minutes, and there is currently no way to shorten that time.
There is no original way to lock apps on iPhone
Apple offers passcode, Touch ID, and Face ID to protect your iPhone from unauthorized users. While it’s pretty safe, nothing stops people unless your phone is locked. Few companies have included Face ID and Touch ID in their apps. For example, WhatsApp allows you to enable Face ID and Touch ID, so even if you leave your iPhone unlocked, no one can access your private messages. This is also true of Edison, an email client application that can password protect your email.
Closing words
I know this workaround doesn’t look very pretty, but it works great if you fix those two loopholes. Basically, these should be apps that you use frequently, such as Instagram, Twitter, or Tinder. Hence, the 1 minute barrier is not that difficult. What do you think? Does it make sense to block apps using screen time? Let me know in the comments or tweet if you have a better alternative.