If you need to lend your mobile to someone but do not want to give the person access to all your apps, Android has a built-in system that makes it easy and secure for you. The almost hidden mode in Android is quite easy to use.
Lend an app – nothing more
To activate the Lock screen function, open your phone’s settings. Exactly how you find the function varies between different mobiles, but in most phones, it is hidden under the tab Security or Lock screen and security. At the bottom, under the heading Advanced, is the option to activate the function. If you do not find it, you can use the search engine in the settings panel. Search for “Attach” because the function has slightly different names in different smartphones.
We have now activated the Snap screen function. To get started with the feature, we start by opening the app we want to share.
Once we have opened the app, we click on the button for the application switch. On most phones, it is a square icon at the bottom right, but on Samsung phones, it is at the bottom left. We scroll down the page so that we see the entire card for the app we just had open. Now there should be an icon at the bottom right. Click on it. Now you should get a message on the screen saying that the screen is attached. If you click the home button, the phone refuses to go to the home screen.
When the Lock screen function is activated, you can lend out your phone. The person who borrows the phone can now only use the app that you attached. To access other apps, hold down the back key for more than one second, and then unlock the phone with a PIN or a fingerprint.
The feature blocks notices and certain services such as location services. It can be used with the phone app, but users can only dial a number and make a call. It is not possible to enter more numbers after a call has been started.
Android guest mode
If you instead want to lend your mobile to a child or someone else who needs access to more than just one app, Android has another interesting mode called Guest Mode. In Guest Mode, you can give a person access to multiple apps, without the person being allowed to see your private data and without that person’s users affecting your user account.
Has anyone approached you and asked if they could borrow your phone to make a call? However kind you may be, it can be a bad idea to actually lend your phone. Unlocking your phone with your private data and giving it to a stranger can be nice but also dangerous. In order for you to be kind but still keep your data safe, you can use your phone’s guest mode.
Unfortunately, this tip only works on Android phones as iOS does not have a similar feature but it is available on most Android phones with Android 5.0 or later. Unfortunately, some Android manufacturers have chosen to remove the Android Guest mode. Samsung has, among other things, removed the feature from some new phones.
Your phone – without your data
Drag the note bar down from the top of the screen. At the top right, you will find a small round avatar image. When you click on the small image, you can select Guest as a user. The first time you do this, it may take about a minute for the phone to be configured, but in the future you can switch over in less than five seconds. Every time you change guests, a new and clean usage session is started.
The guest user can not see your photos, read your messages, or access any of your private information. The guest can use the phone and all other pre-installed apps, but when you switch from guest mode, all data is deleted again. So you can lend your phone and the person who borrows it can do almost anything without affecting you and your phone.
To switch back to your user, just press the little avatar again and click on your user. If you have a PIN code, which is a requirement if the guest mode is of any significance to you, you must first enter it to switch back from the guest mode.
Not entirely safe
Although Android’s Guest mode is good, it’s not perfect. There is still a risk that someone may access your data, if the person, for example, has the opportunity to connect your phone with a cable to a computer. In other words, if you want to lend your phone to a stranger, it can still be good to keep track of what the person is doing with it.