How to Set Up Assistive Access on Your Child's iPhone

Turn a child's iPhone into a "dumb iPhone" using assistive access to limit which apps are available on the device with a simple and kid-friendly interface.

Tech Lockdown Team

Updated July 31, 2026

If you want a simpler iPhone experience for a very young child or a shared family iPad, Assistive Access replaces the usual home screen with larger icons, fewer distractions, and a limited number of apps you choose in advance. Assistive Access is a very restrictive approach that is designed to simplify how an iPhone can be used, and this means that it can be repurposed by parents to create a minimalist, completely dumb iPhone for kids.

Assistive Access can also be combined with Screen Time and Apple Family Sharing .

When does Assistive Access help parents?

Assistive Access is basically a dumb iPhone for kids. The usual home screen and Settings app are gone, and the child can open only the apps you add; each one shows up as a large, easy-to-tap icon. Apple designed the experience to stay simple on purpose, so it tends to work well for younger children and for a shared family iPad that stays in one room.

You can also control who reaches your child through Messages. If you allow only contacts you know and trust, strangers cannot start new conversations with them.

Assistive Access pairs naturally with Screen Time when you set up parental controls through Apple Family Sharing . It already narrows what is on the device, but Screen Time is still worth using: you can block websites, cap time on the apps you do allow in Assistive Access, and keep content restrictions in place from your parent iPhone without having to disable Assistive Access each time you want to make a change.

Prerequisites

Before getting started with Assistive Access, we recommend parents check a few things on their child's device first:

Confirm the iPhone is signed in to the child's own Apple Account. If the child is under 13, create a managed account under your Family Group instead of sharing yours.

Set up Apple Family Sharing on your parent account so you can manage the child's iPhone remotely.

As a part of setting up Apple Family Sharing, we also walk parents through what kind of features they can manage and our recommendations, so it's worth checking out if you're just getting started. The important part is to ensure that Screen Time is locked and that you can see your child's name listed on your own devices. Your Screen Time passcode will be reused for Assistive Access.

We also recommend adding contacts for your child before you configure Assistive Access. When you limit Messages to favorite contacts only, the child cannot receive messages from anyone not on that list. For many parents, that limitation is one of the biggest practical wins of Assistive Access on a young child's phone.

You will also work with two separate passcodes on the same device. The device passcode unlocks the iPhone from the Lock Screen. The Assistive Access passcode is a four-digit code that enters and exits simplified mode. If you already set a Screen Time passcode, your Screen Time passcode is going to be used to disable Assistive Access.

Official reference

Apple documents Assistive Access setup in the Assistive Access User Guide for iPhone.

Getting started with Assistive Access

Run the setup wizard on the child's iPhone while Assistive Access is off.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Assistive Access.

If you have not set up Assistive Access before, the screen shows Set Up Assistive Access and a short description of simplified mode. After setup, the same screen lists your layout, apps, and passcode options.

Tap Set Up Assistive Access, then tap Continue.

On Verify the Apple Account, confirm the account shown is the child's. Tap Change Apple Account if you need to sign in to a different account.

On Choose the layout for apps, pick Rows (list) or Grid (large icons). Grid works well for very young children.

On Select Apps, tap + next to each app you want on the simplified home screen. You can add Apple's optimized apps and most other installed apps. Skip the App Store; it cannot be added to Assistive Access.

Tap each app you want the child to see. Apple's optimized apps (Calls, Camera, Messages, Music, Photos, and others) open in a simplified design inside Assistive Access.

On Verify the device passcode, confirm the child can unlock the iPhone if they need to. Tap Change Security Settings to adjust Face ID, Touch ID, or the device passcode.

On Set the Assistive Access passcode, enter the same four-digit Screen Time passcode you already set if Screen Time is locked on this iPhone.

On the recovery Apple Account step, tap Set Recovery Apple Account and sign in with a parent Apple Account you control. If you skip recovery and forget the Assistive Access passcode later, you may need to erase the iPhone.

Review how to exit: triple-click the side button (Face ID models) or Home button, tap Exit Assistive Access, then enter the Assistive Access passcode.

Tap Start Using Assistive Access and enter the Assistive Access passcode to enter simplified mode now, or tap Done and start it later from Settings > Accessibility > Assistive Access > Start Assistive Access.

Some apps can be configured specifically for Assistive Access. During setup, you choose which apps appear on the simplified home screen; for Calls and Messages, you can also limit who the child can reach once simplified mode is on.

The Messages app allows only contacts to send or receive messages by default. We recommend keeping that setting if you include Messages.

The Calls app also limits calls to contacts only by default, and that is worth keeping as well.

You can change these options later by exiting Assistive Access, then going to Settings > Accessibility > Assistive Access and tapping the app in the list that appears.

Assistive Access changes how the home screen looks; it does not turn off Screen Time when the child's iPhone is managed through Apple Family Sharing.

Set App Limits, Downtime, and Content & Privacy Restrictions from your parent device under Settings > [Family] > [child] > Screen Time before or after you enable Assistive Access.

Confirm web content limits and age ratings under Content & Privacy Restrictions > Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content.

Leave Lock Screen Time Settings enabled so the child cannot change those rules without your passcode.

App Limits, web content rules, and similar Screen Time settings continue to apply while the child uses Assistive Access on a Family Sharing-managed iPhone.

Parents who want visibility into how a simplified phone is used can still add screenshot monitoring; see monitor your child's iPhone for a broader stack beyond Apple's usage reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Assistive Access be used with Screen Time?

Yes, App Limits and content restrictions you've set with Screen Time still apply inside Assistive Access.

Can my teenager enable Assistive Access without my permission?

If Screen Time is locked with a passcode on the child's iPhone, they must enter that Screen Time passcode to activate Assistive Access. Keep Lock Screen Time Settings on and follow preventing your child from disabling Screen Time so they cannot remove that lock.

Can we use Assistive Access on a shared family iPad?

Yes. Many families enable Assistive Access on a shared iPad so every user sees the same small set of apps. Set up Screen Time for each child's account if they have separate profiles, or use one managed account for the shared device.

What happens if I reset Assistive Access?

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Assistive Access > Reset Assistive Access > Reset. Reset removes Assistive Access configuration but does not delete the child's photos, messages, or music on the device. You can run setup again afterward.

Yes, although we would recommend against allowing a young child access to these platforms. On a shared device, it may make more sense to also use Screen Time limits.