Turn on App Pinning Before You Allow Others to Use Your Android Device.
There are likely times in your daily life when you allow someone else to use your phone, whether it’s your child playing a game or sharing content with a friend. You might do this without considering the privacy implications or what might happen if someone else gains access to all the contents of your device and—accidentally or intentionally—uses it to view your search history, view photos, or send messages to your contacts.
If you’re using Android, you should enable app pinning to prevent unauthorized access to your device. This feature locks the user in a pinned app until they enter their PIN, pattern, or password. (On iOS , a similar effect can be achieved with Guided Access , which also allows you to set time limits and disable keyboard and touch input.)
Enable app pinning on Android
To pin apps, you need to enable this feature in the Settings app on your phone. To do this, go to Security or Security & Location > Advanced > App Pinning and enable the “Use app pinning” and ” Require PIN before unpinning” options.
Before handing over your phone to another user, open the screen of the app you want to pin, then swipe up to the middle of the screen and hold to open the overview. Tap the app icon, then tap “Pin.” This will allow the user to remain in that app until you unpin them (using a PIN, pattern, or password).
Depending on your device’s navigation settings, there are several ways to unpin an app:
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Gesture navigation: Swipe up and hold.
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Two-button navigation: Press and hold the Back + Home buttons.
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3-button navigation: Press and hold the Back + Browse button.
Please note that pinning an app will not prevent anyone from using it fully, such as viewing photos or entering text in the search bar, as Android doesn’t have an option to disable touch controls. Pinned apps can also open other apps. At the very least, this will prevent unauthorized access to all the content on your device.