**Using Shortcuts to Lock Applications on Your iPhone**

One way to lock applications on your iPhone is by using the Clock and Timer app. This method uses the built-in timer feature of the iPhone's operating system to create a time-based delay between when you start an app and when it closes, effectively locking the application out of use for a specified amount of time.

To set up this method, simply open the Clock and Timer app on your iPhone, choose the alarm or timer option, and then select the duration for which you want the lock to be in effect. For example, if you want to lock an application for three minutes, select that option when setting the timer. When the timer goes off, the music will stop playing, effectively "locking" the app out of use.

However, this method does have a limitation - it relies on having a background audio or video playing while the timer is active. If you don't have any media playing in the background, the lock will not work as intended.

**Alternative Method: Using Screen Time to Lock Applications**

Another way to lock applications on your iPhone is by using Screen Time, which allows users to restrict access to certain apps and limit their use of specific features. To set up this method, open the Settings app on your iPhone and navigate to Screen Time. From there, select "Content & Privacy Restrictions" and enable the "Allow Apps to Request Access" option.

Once enabled, you can select specific apps that you want to lock out of use, such as social media applications like Instagram or Snapchat. To do this, navigate to the "App Limitations" section and select the app(s) you want to restrict access to. You can also set a specific age limit for accessing these apps - in this case, setting it to four or nine plus will hide all social media applications.

When using Screen Time to lock applications, you'll need to enter your passcode when attempting to open a restricted app. This adds an extra layer of security and prevents unauthorized access to the locked apps.

**Limitations and Workarounds**

While both methods have their limitations, they can be effective ways to lock applications on your iPhone. However, neither method is perfect, and users may need to use workarounds or alternative solutions to achieve their desired level of app locking.

For example, some users may want a more seamless experience, where simply pressing an icon would trigger the lock. Currently, this feature is not built into iOS, but developers have created workarounds using shortcuts to achieve similar results.

Other limitations and challenges include the reliance on background media playback for the timer method and the need for user input (entering a passcode) when attempting to access locked apps through Screen Time. Despite these limitations, both methods can be effective solutions for users looking to lock applications on their iPhone.

**Conclusion**

Locking applications on your iPhone can be an important feature for users who want to manage their screen time and stay focused on tasks. While neither the Clock and Timer method nor the Screen Time method is perfect, they can both be effective ways to achieve this goal. By using these methods in conjunction with other solutions and workarounds, users can create a more streamlined experience that helps them stay on track.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhat's up guys, my name's Brandon.And today I'm going to be showing youhow to lock applications on your iPhoneusing face ID, touch ID, or a passcode.And this is going to work on iOS 14,iOS 15 and likely futureversions of iOS as well. Now,keep in mind that this is not a nativefeature of iOS, at least not yet.So there's no smooth, youknow, intuitive way to do this,but this little hack that I'm going tobe showing you in this video today willstill get the job done until appleeventually makes this a built-infeature. So there are a coupleof ways to hide and you know,kind of lock applications.But the main one we're going to beshowing today has to do with the shortcutsapplication. It's actually anautomation built in to shortcuts.So we're going to go aheadand jump straight into this.So what'd you guys need to do is goahead into these shortcuts application.And once you're on this page right here,just go to the automation tabdown at the bottom from here,go ahead and tap on the plusup in the top rights, tap on,create personal automation and you wantto go down until you see app right here,go and select on app. You want tomake sure that it's on is opened.And from here,you're going to be able to selectthe applications you want to lock.So go ahead and tap on app.And from here you could selectany application you want,that you want to lock on your phones.Let's say, I want a lock Snapchat.Let's say I want a lock Tesla. Let'ssay I want to lock. I don't know,YouTube and Zillow.So those are the applications youcould choose as many as you want.Let's go and tap on done right here.Let's go to next. And from here,we're going to go ahead and tapon add action. And from here,we're just going to go ahead andsearch for timer and with timer,you could see that start timer comesup. That's what we want to select.So go ahead and tap on start timerthen from here top where it shows 30,that is the default value.And they're right there.Let's go ahead and tap on one.So enter in one and we're going to changethis from minutes to seconds that wayafter one second, the starttimer action triggers.So from there we go ahead and tap on nextand you can see now kind of a summaryof what this automation does. So whenany of these applications are opened,do start timer and I'll show you howthis all kind of ties together here in amoment. But you want to make sureto de-select ask before running.We don't want this to ask ifwe want to run the automation.So we're going to go ahead and tap on.Don't ask, tap on done. And there we go.That's it. However,it's still not complete.Now we need to go into our clockapplication to go ahead and find the clockapplication. Then go totimer. And from here,you want to go to when a timer ends andyou want to go ahead all the way down tothe bottom and select stop playing.So select stop playing on the timer,go and tap on sets. And it doesn't matterwhat you set the timer as right there.Just make sure that whentimer ends is set on,stop playing and now theautomation will work.So let me go ahead andshow you how it works.So let's try to open up anapplication. Let's just say Snapchat.So now when we try to openup Snapchat and you can see,it gives us the notificationthat the shortcut has,and it takes us rightback to the lock screen,or we have to put in our faceID or touch ID or our passcode.So it basically goes into the applicationfor one second and then it runs thecommand to set the timer and that timeris set to stop playing and that biscuitsends it back to the lock screen.So you guys will notice that whenyou go ahead and open up one of theseapplications,you could see you get a notification upthere from the shortcuts application.And then also it appears on the lockscreen. As you can see right here,open any of our apps,running your automation. Now,if he wants to get rid of thisnotification, you can actually do that.So it's not as easy as goinginto your notification settings.There's kind of a littleworkaround for this.So what you want to do is go ahead intoyour settings and then go to screen timeand then go to see all activity,go all the way down to the bottom untilyou see notifications right down here.And this is where we're going togo ahead and select shortcuts. Now,if it doesn't show up right here,you can see mine does show up,but you can't actually click on it.So there's no little arrow over there toclick on shortcuts. So to bypass this,just tap on this back arrow righthere, and then back to the front arrow,just like, so, and then you shouldsee shortcuts. Now has the arrow.We can go ahead onto it right here.We can just go ahead anddisallow notification.So now when we go ahead and open upone of those applications, you can see,we can do not get anyshortcuts notification,and it just goes back to the lock screen.And whoever is on your phone will bevery confused as to why your phone justwent to his lock screen,because he won't even see any typeof notification from the shortcutsapplication. Now, if you want to disablethis, it's very easy. Just go ahead,back into the shortcuts application,go to the automation youjust created right here.And then just simply disable theautomation. So right where it says,enable this automation,de-select that press done?And I can go ahead and open upthese applications just like normal,and it will not kick you back tothe lock screen. Now, of course,the one downside to doing this method isthat you'll be using your clocks timer.So inside of clock and timer,you can not change that from whentimer ends to like a certain sound.It always needs to stay on stop playing.So that could be a disadvantage,you know, or kind of a downsidea con to using this method.If you use the timer for things.But one thing you can do as I kindof work around is just to, you know,play some music. And when your timergoes off, like when you set this,let's just say we set it tothree minutes right here.When we go and press on start, thetimer still works. So in three minutes,you know, I'm playing music or I'mplaying a YouTube video or whatever,when those three minutes were up,the music will just stop playing.So I'll know. So that's one kind ofworkaround. So that, of course it's not,you know, the bass it'snot natively built in,but that is one kind of way around that,where you'll still knowwhen the timer goes off.It's just whenever your mediastops playing and set up a sound.Now there is also another way to kindof lock and hide applications on youriPhone through screen time. So this isjust kind of an alternate way to do this,and it's not the same by any means,but you can go ahead and do this.I just want to share this as well in thisvideo in case guys did not know aboutthis. So if you go into your settingsand go to screen time right here,and then go to content and privacyrestrictions, and then enable this,you can actually kind of restrict andfully hide applications from your homescreen. So for instance, if it go to,let's just say aloud apps right here,you could disallow certain apps fromeven showing up on the home screens.Like for example, if Ichose on safari right here,you will notice that safari justdisappeared from my home screen.I can't search for it. So even if Isearched for safari, nothing comes up.I can not get to safari in any way whenthis is set up and to disable this,you actually have to put in your passcode,if you do set a passcode right there.So this could be another way to kindof hide applications on your iPhone orlocked applications on your iPhone.If you wants to reenable it,of course he could put it right there.And one thing you may have noticedis that inside of aloud applications,you don't see every application.It's only certain ones,but if you wanted to hide things likeyour social media apps, like Instagram,Snapchat, and things like that,you could go into here and then go tocontent restrictions. And then from here,you can go to apps and then onlyallow apps that are nine plus.So four plus or nine plus,and that will hide all of yoursocial media applications.And the reason for that is because mostsocial media applications require usersto be 12 and older. So if you put it onfour or nine, plus it's going to hide,you know,social media applications or anyapplication that the users have to be,you know, above 12 four.So that's just one little workaroundas well for kind of hiding or lockingapplications on at your iPhone. So again,neither of these are perfect solutions,but nothing ever will be until appleimplements this feature in a futureiOS release, which whoknows when that will be.We've been asking for this to bebuilt into iOS for a very long time.Now I would love to just be able tosimply have to press on an icon right hereand there just be an action for lock.And then when I go to try to open it up,it gives me the little face ID icon.I have to scan my face to get into theapplication. That would be, you know,what happens in an ideal world,but we're just not there yet.We have to use these little workarounds,like with shortcuts for the time being.But if you guys found this tutorialhelpful, I would appreciate a thumbs up.And if you want a short, easydigestible version of this video,you can find that on my tech talk page,which is also linked down below thatvideo did pretty well over on Tik talks tothat kind of motivated me to do afull fledged video here on YouTube,on locking applications onyour iPhone. But yeah, guys,I hope you enjoyed the video.And if you want to see futureiPhone tricks and hacks,make sure to subscribe to the channelbecause I will be bringing a lot more ofthose to the channel later onthis year. But anyways, guys,thanks again for watching..\n"