Does iPhone have a Guest Mode? What to use instead

On most Android phones, you can swipe down the notification shade, tap the user avatar, and switch into a clean Guest profile with an empty gallery and no signed-⁠in chat apps. On an iPhone, that feature does not exist: iOS is strictly single-⁠user.

Whenever you hand your unlocked iPhone to a child to play a game, a friend to look at vacation pictures, or a clerk to read a barcode, they are holding your live account. Fortunately, combining two built-⁠in iOS features with a separate photo vault gives you a practical iPhone Guest Mode for every situation.

Pick the right iPhone “Guest Mode” for the situation

Method 1: Pin your iPhone to a single app with Guided Access

Apple built Guided Access as an accessibility tool for classrooms and kiosks, and it works as a single-⁠app guest lock on every iPhone:

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, scroll to the bottom under General, tap Guided Access, and switch it on.
2. Tap Passcode Settings, tap Set Guided Access Passcode, choose a 6-⁠digit code that is different from your main iPhone unlock passcode, and turn on Face ID so you can end sessions quickly yourself.
3. Open the app (or the single photo) you want to hand over, then triple-⁠click the right-⁠hand side button and tap Guided Access.
4. Before tapping Start in the top-⁠right corner, tap Options in the bottom-⁠left corner if you want to disable Touch entirely (for example when showing a single photo or boarding pass so the person cannot swipe left or right), then tap Start.

While Guided Access is active, swiping up from the bottom bar does nothing, tapping notification banners does nothing, and Siri is disabled. To exit when you get your phone back, double-⁠click the side button and look at the screen for Face ID (or triple-⁠click and enter your Guided Access passcode).

Method 2: Lock individual apps with Require Face ID (iOS 18 and later)

If you want to hand your phone over without triple-clicking into Guided Access every time, lock your most sensitive apps once on the Home Screen (iPhone User Guide):

• Touch and hold the icon for Photos, Messages, Mail, Notes, WhatsApp or Files on your Home Screen.
• Tap Require Face ID and confirm.
• Locked apps also stop showing message previews or photo thumbnails inside notification banners, Spotlight search and Siri suggestions.

Important caveat: if the person borrowing your phone already knows your iPhone passcode, Require Face ID will let them in as soon as Face ID fails twice and offers Enter Passcode (unless you have turned on Stolen Device Protection and set Require Security Delay to Always).

Method 3: Use a Guest Vault when someone wants to browse your photos

Guided Access and Require Face ID both have one social awkwardness: if a partner, family member or friend asks to scroll through your trip photos, or sees a photo vault icon on your phone and asks you to open it, refusing or freezing the screen raises more questions than it answers.

A multi-⁠vault app where each pattern opens a separate vault solves that cleanly:

• Your primary pattern opens your real vault.
• A second guest pattern opens a completely separate vault where you keep 15 or 20 everyday photos (holiday landscapes, pets, receipts or home projects).
• Because the app displays no vault switcher, no vault counter and no “Guest mode” banner on screen, the person scrolling the guest vault sees a normal, working photo vault and nothing else. Read our full walkthrough on what to do when handing your phone to someone.