It’s no secret that iOS lags behind Android in many ways in terms of features. Of course, iOS 14 brings many improvements, including better home screen customization for iPhone users, new widgets for iOS 14, and more. However, it still lacks some key features. For example, iPhones do not have a simple way to lock apps. Many apps like WhatsApp these days offer built-in app locking mechanisms. But it would be better if Apple integrated this feature natively and let us lock any app we want. If you are desperate to lock your iOS apps, here is how you can lock apps on your iPhone.
Lock Apps on iPhone (2021)
Lock iPhone Apps with Password
If you want to use a passcode to lock your iPhone apps, here is what you need to do. Note that this method is a workaround, but works pretty well, as Apple doesn’t offer an app locking mechanism.
1. On your iPhone go to ‘Settings -> Screen Time’ and set a ‘Screen Time Password’. You can also choose to enable Touch ID or Face ID at this point.
2. Now tap on ‘App Limits’ and then ‘Add Limit’.
3. Select the app you want to lock by first tapping the category (left image) and then selecting the app (right image). For example, let’s say I want to lock Snapchat. To do this I will tap on the ‘Social’ category and select ‘Snapchat’ from the list.
4. Next, tap ‘Next’, set the time limit to 1 minute and tap ‘Add’ in the upper right corner. Make sure the switch next to ‘Block End of Border’ is turned on.
The app you selected will be locked after 1 minute of use. In my case for apps you open multiple times a day like Snapchat, a minute is almost nothing. So, this method is a pretty good workaround to lock iPhone apps. Once the app is locked, you will need to enter your Screen Time passcode to access it.
note: The Screen Time passcode is different from your iPhone passcode. Make sure you remember the passcode you set for Screen Time on your iPhone as it is difficult to reset the Screen Time passcode. If it’s on your mind, you can check out our handy guide via the attached link.
Lock Apps on iPhone Using Siri Shortcuts
Alternatively, you can also lock iPhone apps using Siri Shortcuts. You can also do some fun tricks with them.
1. Open Shortcuts on your iPhone and create a new shortcut.
2. Tap ‘Add Action’, ‘Request Input’ searchSelect and select .
3. You can choose from ‘Text’, ‘Number’, ‘URL’ and more. For this example I will use ‘Number’ as input. Also add a prompt for password by tapping on ‘Ask’ and typing anything you want.
4. Now add another action. Search for ‘if’ and add it to your Shortcut. Tap on ‘Condition’ and select ‘is’.
5. Now again tap on ‘Number’ in the first action and type the password you want. For this example I’m using 1234 as the password (you shouldn’t use such weak passwords).
Now we have created the basic foundation for locking an app. Let’s go ahead and get things done.
6. Add new ‘Open App’ action shortcut and drag between the ‘If’ and ‘Other’ blocks.
7. Select the app you want to lock. For the sake of this tutorial, I’m going to lock the Calculator app.
And voila, this Shortcut can be applied. What will happen now is that the Shortcut will ask us for the password and if we enter the correct password (1234) it will open the Calculator. Otherwise, it does nothing.
But that’s not interesting enough, is it? If someone is trying to open our secret calculator app, we should know who committed the breach. So let’s add some pitfalls here.
8. Add another action to your shortcut. Search for ‘take a photo’ and change ‘Rear’ camera to ‘Front’ camera.
9. Tap on ‘Show More’ and Disable the ‘Show Camera Preview’ toggle.
10. Drag this action between the ‘Otherwise’ and ‘Finish if’ blocks.
11. Next, Add action ‘Save to Photo Album’ Go to the shortcut and drag it under the Take Photo block.
So what did we do here? If someone enters the wrong passcode, your iPhone clicks a picture from the front camera and saves it in the Recents album. Now you can see who is trying to sneak into one of your password protected apps.
Our shortcut is now almost complete. Now all we have to do is replace the actual app icon with our Shortcut and place it on your iPhone home screen. Let’s do this right now.
12. Tap ‘Next’ at the top right and Give your shortcut a name. I’m naming it Bifrost. After specifying the name, tap on ‘Done’.
13. Shortcut Open the shortcut from your Gallery and tap the three-dot icon. Here, Select ‘Add to Home Screen’.
Set the shortcut’s name to the name of the app you’re locking (Calculator in this case) and replace the icon with a calculator icon. You can use anything here, but I recommend using a similar icon to make the trap more believable. Tap ‘Add’ to see the Shortcut appear on your home screen.
14. When you tap this Shortcut, it will ask you for a password. To open the application, simply enter your password. If you enter an incorrect password, the Shortcut takes a picture and saves it in your Photos app. It’s clean, isn’t it?
You should also remove the actual app from your home screen and replace it with your Shortcut. Therefore, anyone trying to spy on your iPhone will launch the Shortcut instead of the app itself.
Protect Your Apps From Peeping Toms
While it’s high time Apple added a real app-lock feature to iOS, it’s impossible to say when the company will be able to do that. Until then, these workarounds are pretty much all we have. After all, we all know someone or the other who always tries to sneak into our iPhones. Android has been offering an app lock feature for a long time. So, do you think Apple should bring native app lock support to iOS as well? Let us know in the comments below. Feel free to comment if you have any problems locking your apps or following the instructions.
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