So I have come across a way to gain a bit of control over the little kids use of the iPad. You can actually “lock” them into one app, and set a timer so that firstly, they can’t leave ABC4Kids and send random emails, and secondly, once their time limit is up, that’s it, they can’t do anything! It is gold!
How you get to this wonderful setting is:
Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access
Turn it on and set a passcode. Try to remember this code, luckily for me I had touchID set on my phone or I would’ve been in trouble the other day. And make it different to the one you use to access your phone because three year olds are pretty cluey sometimes.
Click the Accessibility Shortcut to “on” – then you just have to Triple-Click the Home button and your shortcuts are displayed.
Once the setup is done, go to the App you want to Lock in and Triple-Click the Home button. This starts Guided Access. If you triple-click again, you can change the time limit and other options. It’s GOLD. Not only are the littlies locked in, they also just seem to magically accept that the times up and I no longer have ridiculous tantrums while trying to wrangle the iPad or iPhone out of their hands. Most times anyway.
You’re welcome!