I have a couple extra users on grapheneOS, so I can allow students to take pictures, listen to music, etc.
Looking now, app pinning is also available here too, so I will set that up aswell
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2026
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So...app pin?
Android has guest user/mode, even your screenshot talks about it.
There's also Repair mode if you want something more drastic
Guided access on ios.
I've used Android since the dawn of time, and i never knew this feature existed! Thanks! I work in IT so this will be helpful if I need to use a work app and hand my phone to someone else. Idk how I missed this feature for so many years.
I believe it's a relatively new feature, must have been added sometime after android 8
The way the article talks about it, it is literally just app pinning. They also suggest only allowing guests to see select photos in your gallery when handing your phone which seems like more effort than its worth. Maybe just show your photos to people you trust?
fossify gallery allows to, hide photos and albums and to put a password on hidden item visibility. (other apps probably allow for similar use cases)
together with the app pinning that would be enough no?
Yes, exactly. Several photo gallery apps do this.
Yeah. I believe it has a different name on iOS, but they both have the feature.
A really nice feature would be a hardware button triggering this mode!
And I think iOS literally lets you configure the button on the side of the phone to enable this mode by quickly pressing it three times or something like that.
"Guided access" on iOS, triple click the power button to activate. You can even draw on the screen to select different screen areas where you want to restrict access. It's also possible choose if you want to restrict the volume buttons, keyboard and so on.
Well that's useful. Good thing to learn!
for fellow Samsung users...
This is neat, i didn't know about it.
The article gives the example, though, of giving your phone to someone you specifically dont trust. The most dramatic example is an insurance card or ID to the police when you get pulled over. The best answer there is just dont ever do it.
This pin setting says the security on it is pretty weak and to not give it to people you dont trust.
Isn't this AOSP? Have it on pixel
Yeah, I've got it on my fairphone
I had this enabled, but i never figured out you have to tap the app icon to bring up a menu... Nothing else that i can think of works like that in Android.
Literally both of these things already exist.
Android example already posted, but for iOS:
it always takes me so long to write a blog post, and this person does it instead of doing one google search...