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Toddler Games

Lock the screen for kids

How to stop your toddler swiping out of the app, on every device.

If your kid swipes up from the bottom of the screen or down from the top, they can leave the game, open the notification panel, or switch apps. Toddler Games can't block these gestures. No web page can. The operating system owns those swipes, and that's a sensible choice for any device a grown-up uses too.

The good news: every modern phone and tablet has a built-in mode that locks the screen to one app. Setup takes about 30 seconds. Once it's on, edge swipes, stray taps, and accidental back-presses are all blocked until you unlock with your passcode.

Tip: If you haven't already, add Toddler Games to your home screen first. It launches without the browser bar, which gives the kid lock more screen to work with. See the "Can I add it to my home screen?" entry on the help page.

iPhone and iPad

Apple's feature is called Guided Access. It locks the device to whatever app is open until you triple-click the side button and enter a passcode.

Turn it on (once):

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap Accessibility
  3. Tap Guided Access (near the bottom of the list)
  4. Toggle Guided Access on
  5. Tap Passcode Settings and set a four-digit passcode, or turn on Face ID / Touch ID

Use it (each session):

  1. Open Toddler Games
  2. Triple-click the side button on iPhone, or the top button on iPad. On older devices with a home button, triple-click the home button
  3. Tap Start in the top right
  4. To exit: triple-click the same button, enter your passcode, tap End

Apple's full walkthrough →

Android phones and tablets

Google's feature is called app pinning(it used to be called "screen pinning"). It pins one app to the screen until you exit with a gesture and a PIN.

The menu path varies by manufacturer. On stock Android (Pixel, Motorola, Nokia):

  1. Open Settings
  2. Tap Security & privacy, then More security settings (or Advanced settings, depending on the version)
  3. Tap App pinning
  4. Toggle it on
  5. Also toggle on "Ask for PIN before unpinning". Without this, any swipe up exits the pin. With it on, your kid needs your lock screen PIN to leave the app.

To pin an app:

  1. Open Toddler Games
  2. Swipe up to open Recent apps, or tap the square button if you use three-button navigation
  3. Tap the app's icon at the top of the card
  4. Tap Pin
  5. To exit: swipe up and hold (or press back and recents together on older Androids), then enter your PIN

Google's full walkthrough →

Samsung Galaxy

Samsung's One UI has the same feature in a different place:

  1. Settings → Biometrics and security → Other security settings → Pin windows
  2. Toggle Pin windows on
  3. Toggle "Ask for unlock pattern, PIN, or password before unpinning" on

Then pin from the Recents view in the same way as stock Android.

Samsung also has a separate Samsung Kids mode with its own kid-safe launcher and time limits. It's heavier than app pinning, but useful if you want a fuller child profile. Samsung Kids overview →

Amazon Fire tablet

Fire tablets have a separate kid mode built in, called Amazon Kids (previously FreeTime). It runs a dedicated child launcher with a parent-controlled list of allowed apps.

  1. Swipe down from the top of the screen
  2. Tap the Amazon Kids icon (it might say "Profiles")
  3. Set up a child profile if you haven't already
  4. Add the browser to the allowed apps list, with Toddler Games bookmarked inside it

Amazon's setup guide →

Chromebook

Chromebooks don't have a true one-app lock. The closest options are:

  • Family Link. A child Google account with parent-controlled screen time and site allowlists. The most useful option for shared family laptops.
  • Guest mode.Limits what's available but doesn't pin a single app.

Family Link →

What it doesn't lock

Worth being honest about the limits:

  • The power button still turns the screen off. Some kids learn this and do it on purpose.
  • Volume buttons usually still work. Mute the game from the speaker icon in the game header if that's a problem.
  • A hard restart (holding the power button for around ten seconds) will exit Guided Access without the passcode. Most toddlers don't manage this, but it's worth knowing.
  • The lock protects gestures and taps. It can't fix a frozen browser or dropped Wi-Fi. Those need a refresh.

One thing to try today

If your kid plays on the same device most days, set this up before their next session. A five-minute job that pays back every time the screen stays where it's meant to be.

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