Your phone is the most personal device you own, but there are times when someone else might need to use it. Maybe you want them to see recent photos from a holiday or play a game you love. Or perhaps there’s just a problem that needs fixing.
On any iPhone, this comes with very real risks. Handing over your unlocked phone means the person is just a few taps away from potentially accessing private information that you’d rather they didn’t see.
Currently, your best bet is to lock or hide each sensitive app, but it takes a huge amount of time and effort. However, a better solution could be on the way.
A recently published patent (reported by The Mac Observer) indicates that Apple is considering introducing a kind of “guest mode” in a future version of iOS.
According to the patent, any iPhone owner could set up a guest mode for other users. The guest mode would have limited access to apps and files, with the owner deciding what the guest users can and cannot see. It means you’d be able to let someone else use your iPhone without the risk of them accessing, or worse deleting, something important.
The patent mentions that access could be given to the other user after they are authenticated in some way. This could provide an extra layer of security so that not just anyone can access the guest mode. In addition, it would be possible to control guest access from another device (like another iPhone or iPad), allowing you to change settings remotely.
Recently, iOS 18 introduced hidden and locked apps, which can be hidden or protected with a passcode or Face ID. Mac users, on the other hand, have had the option to create guest accounts for years, which has helped keep important apps, documents and operating system features separate from those who don’t need access to them.
iOS users may finally have the same opportunity in the future. As usual, a patent doesn’t mean it’ll actually be shipped in the future, but hopefully the iPhone guest mode will become a reality.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication Macworld Sweden and was translated and adapted from Swedish.