Lock an app on iOS 26
These steps are for iOS 26. They cover locking an app so it asks before it opens, opening it again, and taking the lock off. The icon stays on the Home Screen.
How to lock an app
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Go to the Home Screen
The control is on the icon, not in 「Settings」.
Go to the Home Screen.
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Touch and hold the app icon
Hold until the menu opens. A short tap only opens the app.
Touch and hold the app you want to lock until the menu opens.
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Tap 「Require Face ID」
The label matches this iPhone.
Tap 「Require Face ID」, 「Require Touch ID」, or 「Require Passcode」.
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Tap 「Require Face ID」 again
That button is on the next screen. 「Hide and Require Face ID」 on that screen hides the app instead.
Tap 「Require Face ID」, 「Require Touch ID」, or 「Require Passcode」 again.
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Authenticate
Face ID comes after the second tap. The lock turns on once it succeeds.
Use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
The icon stays where it was. The next open asks for the same check. After you quit the app, it locks again.
Some apps that come with the iPhone cannot be locked. Apple’s list includes 「Calculator」, 「Camera」, 「Clock」, 「Contacts」, 「Find My」, 「Maps」, 「Shortcuts」, and 「Settings」. 「Photos」 is not on that list. The steps for the 「Photos」 icon, and for the lock on 「Hidden」, are in how to lock photos on iPhone.
To hide the icon as well, see how to hide apps on iPhone.
How to open a locked app
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Go to the Home Screen
The icon is still there.
Go to the Home Screen.
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Tap the app
You do not need the menu.
Tap the locked app.
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Unlock
This is the same check that unlocks the iPhone.
Use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.
After you leave the app, the next open asks again.
Take the lock off
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Touch and hold the app icon
Same menu you used to turn the lock on.
Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen.
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Tap 「Don’t Require Face ID」
The label matches the lock you turned on.
Tap 「Don’t Require Face ID」, 「Don’t Require Touch ID」, or 「Don’t Require Passcode」, then authenticate.
What the lock still lets through
The lock stays on this iPhone only. It does not follow the app to another device through iCloud.
What is inside the app no longer shows in notification previews, search, Siri suggestions, or call history. It also stays out of CarPlay.
Anyone who can pass Face ID or the passcode can open the app. The name still shows on the Home Screen, in 「Screen Time」, and under Battery Usage By App in 「Settings」.
If Stolen Device Protection is on and the iPhone is away from places it knows, a locked app asks for Face ID or Touch ID and does not offer the passcode.
When you want a password of your own
Locking an app uses the same Face ID or passcode that unlocks the iPhone.
Privately is the option when one album should have a password of its own. Photos in a locked album leave the library, search, and favorites, and they are encrypted on the device.
Download Privately and try a locked album there.