The iPhone could be adding a guest mode

As first reported by The Mac Observer, Apple has filed a patent which indicates that the company may be working on bringing a guest mode to the iPhone. Guest modes already exist on other products, such as the Vision Pro and Android phones, and you’ve been able to set up alternate accounts on your Mac for years.

A guest mode on the iPhone would allow you to hand your iPhone to someone else but restrict what they are able to access. You could lock down specific apps, for example, or restrict access to certain files or photos.

If you’re a parent, this probably sounds like music to your ears. Handing your iPhone to a child is a great way to keep them quiet for an hour or five, but you always have the nagging worry that they might somehow end up in your settings and disable something vital or find their way onto Safari and end up viewing content that is wholly inappropriate. A guest mode on the iPhone would be the perfect solution for parents, making it possible to pass on your iPhone to your kids knowing exactly what they can and can’t access.

Apple’s patent clearly relates to adding a guest mode

Guests would have limited access to apps and other features

Apple’s patent US20240330491 was published on October 3 and includes the following abstract:

A first user of an electronic device operates the electronic device in a first mode with access to a plurality of features. The first user optionally configures the electronic device to provide permission for another user to use the electronic device in a second mode with access to a subset of the plurality of features. The first user optionally uses another electronic device to update the permissions to use the electronic device in the second mode while another user is using the electronic device.

Let’s break this awkward language down a little. In essence, an iPhone user would be able to give permission for another person to use their iPhone “in a second mode with access to a subset of the plurality of features”. In other words, a guest mode in which the guest does not have the same level of access that the owner does.

This is backed up by images in the patent, including an image of the settings page that would allow users to grant or deny access to specific apps for users in guest mode. Other images indicate the possibility of being able to choose which photos or documents on an iPhone guests would be able to have access to.

The second part of the abstract refers to updating permissions from another electronic device. This indicates that it would be possible to change guest mode settings remotely. If a guest was using the iPhone in guest mode and wanted access to a specific app that wasn’t currently available to them, for example, they could send a request from the iPhone that would appear on another device. An image in the patent shows an iPhone notification for a guest request asking for access to a specific app, with options to block or allow the request.

A guest mode on iPhone would be perfect for parents

You could let your kids use your iPhone without worry

Crossy Road

As a parent, guest mode is a feature that I hope Apple brings to the iPhone as soon as possible. That’s because it would be ideal for ensuring that when you hand your iPhone to your kids to keep them entertained for a while, you wouldn’t need to worry about them accessing any apps or content that wasn’t appropriate or that you didn’t want them to see.

It would be similar to the Amazon Fire Kids tablet that my children use, which is set up with Amazon Kids+. This subscription gives them access to a curated selection of apps, books, videos, and games that are all age-appropriate. If they want to add a specific app or other content, they can make a request, which comes through as an email for me to approve or deny.

The guest mode on the iPhone would work in much the same way. I could set my iPhone to guest mode, hand it to my kids, and not have to worry about what they were accessing. Even if I was working on my Mac, I could receive and approve or deny requests to access other apps on my iPhone. It would mean that I could lock down anything I didn’t want them to have access to, such as browsing or streaming apps, and leave them with access to apps such as YouTube Kids and Disney+.

Once they were done, all I’d need to do would be to turn off guest mode, and my iPhone would be back to normal.

Guest mode for iPhone may not be coming soon, if at all

Features from previous patents have never materialized

Before parents get too excited, Apple applies for patents all the time, and many of them never see the light or day or take years before they become part of Apple products. For example, Apple was granted a patent all the way back in 2015 for a “flexible display device” and we’re still yet to see a foldable iPhone (iPhold? I’m patenting that).

This patent is a little different, however, since it refers to something that would be achieved through software, rather than hardware. It would be far easier to add this feature to iOS 19 than it would to build an iPhold™.

Considering that a similar guest mode already exists on the Vision Pro, and that Android phones already have a guest mode feature, there is a reasonable amount of hope for parents that this feature could become a reality sooner rather than later.

There are ways to make current iPhones safer for kids

Parents can currently lock apps or use Guided Access

Pocket-lint

If you can’t wait for guest mode to make it to the iPhone, there are other things you can do in the meantime. You could switch to an Android phone and have far more control over your device than is possible on an iPhone, for example. However, if you’re all in on the Apple ecosystem, there are still some useful options available.

In iOS 18, it’s now possible to lock and hide specific apps so that they can only be opened using Face ID. This is great for parents, as you can lock any apps you don’t want your kids to be able to access, and then hand them your iPhone without so much worry. You can even completely hide apps if you don’t want them to discover that you still have Fruit Ninja on your iPhone because you’re worried that they’ll break your high score.

If you want to go even more extreme, you can use the Guided Access feature to lock down your iPhone to one single app. Guided access is an accessibility feature that limits your access to one app only, and even allows you to restrict certain areas of the screen from being tapped. This is useful if your kids only ever want to play Angry Birds on your iPhone, as you can restrict them to only being able to use that app. We’ll have to make do with these features while we’re waiting for iPhone guest mode to arrive.

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