We’ve all been there — someone asks you about something on your phone and you hand it over with great hesitation, hoping and praying they don’t stumble into your photos or private messages. In this post, we will show you how you can protect your personal data and still share your phone securely with friends, family and even that random person on the bus.
Use Guided Access
Guided Access is a feature of iOS that allows you to lock a device to a particular app so it will only run that app. To exit the app and explore the rest of the phone, the user needs a password. The system is designed for parents who let their young children use their iOS device, but we can use it here to protect our device when it is in the hands of others. Guided Access is the easiest method to implement as it is built right into iOS and does not require any third-party tools. You simply enable the feature in the settings, open the desired app and then activate the lock by triple clicking the home button. The user then is free to explore that app and nowhere else on your system.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General -> Accessibility.
- Scroll until you see Guided Access.
- Tap Guided Access and enable the Guided Access toggle. (Green is enabled, while grey is disabled).
Once enabled, you can activate Guided Access whenever you need it and disable it when you are done. It allows you to hand your phone over to someone else safe in the knowledge that they cannot stray outside the intended app without your authorization.
Third Party Apps
If Guided Access does not suit your needs, you also can use third party apps to secure your messages or photos. Snapchat is one of the most popular apps for keeping your text messages “relatively” safe. Send a message to a friend and once it is viewed, it will be disappear from the recipient’s device. Of course, the recipient can take a screen capture or use a variety of tools to capture the chats before they disappear, so you still want to watch what you send. Other similar secure messaging apps include Wickr and Confide.
On the photos side, there are apps likePrivate Photo Vault or Best Secret Folder, both of which allow you to send photos to the app and hide them behind a password. Best Secret is even more stealthy by appearing with the name “My Utilities” on the home screen. People browsing through your phone will pass right by the icon, thinking it contains some boring utility tool and not your most secret photos.
