How to Lock Apps on iPhone With Face ID or Passcode

To lock an app on iPhone, touch and hold its icon on the Home Screen, then tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode, depending on your iPhone). From then on the app opens only after you authenticate. This is built into iOS 18 and later, so you do not need a separate app for it.

The built-in lock has limits that matter if you are locking apps against a specific person: a list of apps it cannot cover, a passcode fallback, and a lock that applies to the whole app. This guide covers the steps, what Apple says a locked app hides, and two older options, Screen Time and Guided Access. Every iOS detail links to the Apple page it comes from.

How to lock an app with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode

Apple’s description of locked apps: touch and hold the app that you want to lock on the Home Screen until the quick actions menu opens, then tap the option to require Face ID or Touch ID. Apple states that a locked app requires Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open.

1. Find the app on your Home Screen or in the App Library.
2. Touch and hold the icon until the menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (the wording follows your iPhone’s biometrics) and confirm.

To remove the lock, touch and hold the icon again and choose Don’t Require Face ID.

Apple’s personal safety guide adds that the locked or hidden status of an app does not sync with iCloud. If you also use an iPad, you lock the same app again there.

What a locked app hides

Locking does more than put a screen in front of the app. According to Apple, information inside a locked app won’t appear in some locations on your iPhone. Apple’s examples are notification previews, search, Siri suggestions and call history.

Leaks through previews and search are easy to overlook, and they happen while the phone is lying on a table.

Apps you cannot lock

Apple says some of the apps that come with iPhone can’t be locked. The list on its page includes Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings.

Apple’s list is about the apps that come with iPhone. For any other app, check the Quick Actions menu on your own device, because what you see there is what your iPhone allows.

Lock versus hide

Locking and hiding are two different features, and iOS offers both on the same menu. Hiding an app also locks it, and removes it from the Home Screen into a Hidden folder in the App Library. Apple notes the app is still visible in other places, for example Settings, Screen Time, Battery Health & Charging and your App Store purchase history.

If you want the app out of sight rather than just behind a lock, read how to hide apps on iPhone. It covers where hidden apps still show up, which is the part people tend to miss.

The passcode fallback

This is the detail most guides skip. The built-in app lock does not have its own password. Apple says a locked app opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode. Whoever knows your iPhone passcode can open every app you locked.

That matters when a partner, parent or friend knows your passcode, or has watched you type it, or when your passcode is short and easy to guess.

Stolen Device Protection changes this in one case. When it is on and your iPhone is away from familiar locations, Apple says a locked app can be opened only with Face ID or Touch ID, with no passcode fallback. At home it still falls back to the passcode.

The practical fix for the shared-passcode problem is a longer passcode that only you know, or storing the sensitive files somewhere with a separate lock. For photos, locking photos on iPhone goes through the choices, including a locked note and the Hidden album.

Older option: Screen Time App Limits

Before the iOS 18 app lock, people used Screen Time as a workaround. In Settings > Screen Time > App Limits you can set a time limit for a category of apps or for individual apps, choosing how much time per day.

It works as a workaround, but it is a limit on time, not a lock. Until the time is spent, the app opens as normal. That is not the same as asking for Face ID every time you open it, and it does nothing to keep content out of notification previews or search.

The weakness is the Screen Time passcode. Apple’s setup pages say you can set a passcode that is required before changing settings. Whoever has that passcode can change or remove the limits. If you set it yourself and a family member knows it, the protection is only as private as that code. We could not confirm from Apple’s pages exactly what the limit-reached screen offers, so test a limit yourself before relying on it.

For most people on iOS 18 or later, the Face ID lock is the better choice. Screen Time is still useful for a different job, such as limiting time in an app you want to use less.

Guided Access for handing over your phone

If the problem is that someone needs your phone for a minute and you do not want them leaving the app they are in, use Guided Access. It keeps iPhone in a single app and lets you disable parts of the screen.

Apple’s steps:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access, turn it on and set a Guided Access passcode. You can also allow Face ID or Touch ID to end a session.
2. Open the app you want to leave on screen.
3. Triple-click the side button. If the Accessibility Shortcuts panel appears, tap Guided Access.
4. Circle any screen areas you want to disable, open Session Settings to restrict buttons, volume, keyboard or touch, or add a time limit, then tap Start.

To end the session, triple-click the side button and authenticate with your Guided Access passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, then tap End. Apple notes that Crash Detection and Emergency Services are unavailable during a session, so end it first if you need them.

Guided Access suits a child watching a video or a friend looking at one photo. It is a session you start each time. It does not lock apps in the background the way Require Face ID does.

Which one should you use?

You want	Use
Face ID in front of one or more apps	Require Face ID (iOS 18 and later)
Message content kept out of previews and search	Lock the app, per Apple’s list above
The app gone from the Home Screen	Hide the app, see the hiding guide
To keep someone inside one app for a few minutes	Guided Access
Less time in an app	Screen Time App Limits
Files that need their own lock, not your passcode	A vault app

When a vault app makes sense

An app lock protects an app. It does not protect your files if the thing you worry about is whoever knows your passcode, because the lock falls back to it. A vault app keeps files in its own storage behind its own lock, so a different code stands between a person and your photos and videos.

Forevault is our app for this. It encrypts files on the device with AES-256-GCM and opens with a pattern on a 5×5 grid or a passcode or password, with Face ID as an option. You can keep separate vaults for different patterns, and the lock screen does not list them. You get a 12-word recovery phrase, an encrypted backup to your own iCloud with “Test a restore”, and free export to Photos or Files at any time. There is no account and no data collected. The free tier holds 100 photos, 10 videos and 3 vaults. It protects against someone holding your phone, not forensic analysis. Questions go to the support page. Download Forevault on the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

Can I lock apps on iPhone without Face ID?

Yes. Apple says a locked app opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. On an iPhone without Face ID, use Touch ID or the passcode option in the same menu.

Why can’t I lock some apps on my iPhone?

Apple says some of the apps that come with iPhone can’t be locked, including Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings. If you do not see a Require option in an app’s menu, that app is not available for locking on your iPhone.

Does the app lock work on iPhones older than iOS 18?

We found the Require Face ID option in Apple’s iOS 18 user guide and no Apple page describing it on earlier versions. The older options are Screen Time App Limits and Guided Access, which work differently, as described above.

Can someone open a locked app if they know my passcode?

Yes. A locked app opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode, per Apple. With Stolen Device Protection on and your iPhone away from familiar locations, the passcode option is removed for locked apps.

Is hiding an app the same as locking it?

No. Hiding also locks the app, and additionally removes it from the Home Screen into the Hidden folder in the App Library. The name can still show in places like Settings and your App Store purchase history, so see the hiding guide.