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Hidden iOS 8 trick stops people from digging through your library when you show them a photo

Updated Oct 29th, 2014 10:55AM EDT
iOS 8 Tips
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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It’s happened to all of us. There’s a photo on your iPhone or iPad that you want to show to a friend or relative. Maybe it’s a picture of your new baby or a photo you snapped while on vacation. The person spends a few seconds looking at the image while oooing and ahhing, and then quickly proceeds to begin swiping through the rest of your photo library.

Having to leap forward and snatch an iPhone out of your grandmother’s hands before she gets to your naked selfies is never fun, but there’s a great hidden trick in iOS 8 to make sure it never happens again.

FROM EARLIER: This hidden iOS 8 trick will add a great dimming effect to your iPhone’s screen

Apple’s Accessibility settings are obviously intended to help people with various disabilities and other issues, but they’re also packed full of nifty tricks that most iPhone and iPad users don’t know about. One such trick is called “Guided Access,” and it’s definitely one you’ll want to remember.

As noted in a recent blog post by Christopher Phin, a Guided Access feature can be activated in the settings on iOS 8.1, iOS 8 or any earlier version after iOS 6. The feature allows users to lock the screen and prevent people without a special PIN from doing anything on an iPhone or iPad.

Phin’s video explaining how to enable the trick is embedded below, and more details can be found in his blog post by following the source link.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.