Guided Access Change in iOS 12

Published by eKeypad on

This help article is related to running eKeypad full time on a dedicated iPad. The best practices guide for this type of setup recommends using the Guided Access feature in iOS.

However, following the release of iOS 12, we became aware of a change in how Guided Access behaves. Starting in iOS 12, Guided Access ignores the system level configuration for auto lock (sleep mode) and uses its own setting. In iOS 2.1.1 a new Guided Access setting was added that needs to be set correctly.

The first step is to check the iOS version running on the iPad.

  • If the iOS version is prior to 12.0 then this article does not apply. See the best practices guide for how to disable the auto-lock.
  • If the iOS version is between 12.0 and 12.1.1 then the iOS device firmware must be updated to version 12.1.1 or higher.
  • If the iOS version 12.1.1 or higher you can move on to step two below.

The second step is to update the new Guided Access setting that first appeared in iOS version 12.1.1:

  1. Open the iOS Settings application on the iPad. This is the grey icon with the image of a gear.
  2. Navigate to the General -> Accessibility -> “Guided Access” screen.
  3. Switch the “Mirror Display Auto-Lock” setting to ON.

Restart eKeypad and Guided Access should now behave as expected.