Lock Apps With Face ID
Lock individual iPhone apps
with Face ID.
Protect private apps without installing anything: iPhone can require Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode whenever an app is reopened.
Lock individual iPhone apps
Quick steps: find the app on your Home Screen, touch and hold its icon, tap Require Face ID, then authenticate. On a Touch ID model or when biometrics are unavailable, the wording uses Touch ID or passcode.
After you leave the app, it relocks. Locked app information is also withheld from places such as notification previews, Search, Siri suggestions, CarPlay, and call history where applicable. The setting protects privacy on this iPhone; it does not sync to your other devices.
How to lock an iPhone app step by step
1. Go to the Home Screen. Locate the app you want to protect. If it is only in App Library, first find it there.
2. Touch and hold the icon. Wait for the Quick Actions menu rather than opening the app.
3. Tap Require Face ID. Confirm the request and authenticate. The label changes to Require Touch ID or Require Passcode on other configurations.
4. Test the lock. Open the app, authenticate, leave it, and open it again. Authentication is required again after quitting.
To remove the lock, touch and hold the icon, choose Don't Require Face ID, and authenticate.
Apps and situations the lock does not cover
Some built-in apps cannot be locked. Apple's current list includes Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts, and Settings. Available options can change with iOS.
The device passcode remains a fallback. Face ID is convenient, but anyone who knows the iPhone passcode may be able to authenticate. This is not protection from a person who already has full device credentials.
The lock is device-specific. Locking an app on your iPhone does not lock the same service on an iPad, Mac, website, or another phone.
It is not parental control. Family organizers should use Screen Time and Family Sharing for limits, age ratings, purchases, and child-device settings, including blocking new app installs and preventing app deletion on a child’s iPhone.
Face ID lock versus Screen Time versus Fella
| Goal | Best tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stop another person browsing an app | Require Face ID | Fast privacy authentication on every open. |
| Hide an app's presence | Hide and Require Face ID | Moves eligible downloaded apps to Hidden in App Library. |
| Allow daily minutes or scheduled hours | Screen Time | Provides App Limits and Downtime. |
| Stop your own automatic opening | Fella | Selected apps stay blocked all day with one 5-minute emergency unlock per session. |
Face ID adds almost no friction for you because authentication takes a moment. Use it for privacy, not as a serious self-control method. Fella is not a privacy vault and Screen Time is not a substitute for protecting sensitive content from someone holding an unlocked phone.
Troubleshooting Require Face ID
Update iOS. Native per-app locking arrived in iOS 18, so older systems do not show the menu. Check Settings > General > Software Update.
Confirm Face ID works. Review Settings > Face ID & Passcode and test device unlock.
Check whether the app is excluded. The option will not appear for unsupported built-in apps.
Restart and try from the Home Screen. Use the app icon itself, not a widget, notification, or App Store listing.
Locking content instead of the whole app
Notes has its own lock separate from Require Face ID. Open a note, tap the share icon, and choose Lock Note; unlocking asks for Face ID, Touch ID, or a dedicated Notes password rather than your device passcode. This is useful when the rest of the Notes app should stay open but one note shouldn't.
Photos has a similar layered system. A Hidden album keeps selected photos out of the main grid, and Settings > Apps > Photos includes a Locked Apps or Use Face ID toggle that requires authentication just to open the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums—without locking the entire Photos app the way Require Face ID would.
These per-content locks and Require Face ID for the whole app solve slightly different problems: one hides a specific note or album, the other protects everything inside an app the moment it opens.
Locking iPhone apps FAQ
Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen, tap Require Face ID, then authenticate. The app requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode each time you reopen it.
Your iPhone may need a current iOS version, or the app may be one Apple does not allow you to lock, such as Settings, Camera, Maps, Clock, Find My, Contacts, Calculator, or Shortcuts.
No. Apple's locked or hidden status applies only to that device and does not sync through iCloud.
Yes. Apple's app lock supports Face ID, Touch ID, or the device passcode. Protect your passcode and do not share it.
Not usually, because you can authenticate immediately. Face ID locking protects privacy; Screen Time or Fella is better for limiting your own access.
Yes. Notes has its own per-note lock, and Photos has a Hidden album plus a Face ID toggle under Settings > Apps > Photos, both independent of locking the whole app.
It works system-wide from the Home Screen, though some apps also offer their own separate in-app biometric lock in their settings.
iOS falls back to your device passcode after a few failed Face ID attempts, the same fallback used to unlock the phone itself.
