Being the parent of a toddler, who just loves to get his grubby little paws on my iPad, Guided Access has become one of my best friends. Let me show you why.
Here's the scenario: The family is on a roadtrip, and the toddler needs some entertainment in the back seat. He just loves to watch his favorite show, Dinosaur Train. I've purchased several episodes from iTunes and have loaded them on my iPad mini for him to enjoy. But toddlers are inquisitive, and love pressing buttons to see what they do.
How can I keep him from getting access to Real Racing 3, crashing my car and making me spend all that hard-earned racing money to fix my car? Enter Guided Access! With the tweak of a few settings, I can set up my iPad so that the ONLY thing he can do is watch Dinosaur Train!
To activate Guided Access, navigate to: Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access
Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access
Flip the switch to 'On' and then tap on Set Passcode. This will be a secret, 4-digit code that you'll use to disable Guided Access when it's in use. Pick something you can remember, but don't let the toddler see. I would also suggest flipping the switch for Enable Screen Sleep to ON, otherwise you may end up draining your battery faster than you like when the little guy in the back seat falls asleep and leaves the iPad running. Now, exit out to your home screen.
Now that everything is set up, it's time to put it to use. Here's what to do: get a video started, then triple-click on the home button. This activates Guided Access for the application.
Guided Access activated, with available settings shown
From here, there are a couple of settings that are available to choose... the Hardware Buttons are set to Always OFF. I turn off Touch and leave Motion ON. Turning off Touch disables the entire touch screen, which prevents the little guy from prematurely ending his video.
Another option is to turn this on, and then select areas of the screen that you'd like to be disabled. Leaving Motion turned on still allows for the screen to orient itself based on how the iPad is being held. Once you're happy with the settings you've chosen, tap on Start in the upper right corner.
To exit out of Guided Access, triple-click the home button, and then tap in your secret 4-digit passcode. You'll be taken back to the Guided Access settings screen, where you can tap on the End button in the upper left corner, or you can tap on Resume in the upper right corner.
Exit out of Guided Access by triple-clicking the home button and tapping in your secret code
Now you can safely hand your iPad over to the little guy, and he's off for a ride on the Dinosaur Train without being able to crash your car in Real Racing 3!