Lock-down iPhone/iPod/iPad so it can only run one app

Asked 16/2, 2011 at 2:0 Answered 14/1, 2013 at 13:17

Solved iphone security ipad ipod jailbreak

We'd like to 'lock-down' an iPhone/iPod/iPad so that the user can only run one app (we've developed this app internally). I'm guessing we'd be looking at jailbreaking, and then replacing (?) the default Springboard app.

Can we do this? If so, how?

EDIT: iOS 7 now includes an 'App Lock' payload as part of the device configuration profile. From the Apple docs:

"By installing an app lock payload, the device is locked to a single application until the payload is removed. The home button is disabled, and the device returns to the specified application automatically upon wake or reboot."

Apomixis answered 16/2, 2011 at 2:0 Comment(5)

Why would you want to do this? your more likely to create a very unhappy user by giving them a device that is so heavily crippled. Plus the moment they come up with a good reason (and they will) to put something else on there (email, web browsing, etc), you will have wasted your effort. I would suggest that in the long run, it would be better to pre-load the app for your users and not crippling the device. – Conferee 16/2, 2011 at 2:25

The 'users' are techs in our company. We're giving them devices to help them accomplish a very specific task and we've developed software to assist them. They are not personal devices, they're company devices that will be docked in the workshop at the end of each day to charge. We don't want the techs browsing the web/playing games/music/emailing etc. Sounds nazi-ish, I know... but that's the way it is. – Apomixis 16/2, 2011 at 2:50

This answer may help you (using the built-in Restrictions feature). – Strong 16/2, 2011 at 2:57

This is a feature of iOS 6 that can be used without hacky attempts. It's called 'guided access' see my answer below. – Foreleg 18/10, 2012 at 11:6

Very nice. Been looking for something like this for my 3GS on iOS 5. The phone is being used for skype calling only by a non technical elderly person. Limiting the device to only use skype saves a lot of hassle for the user. – Avant 24/3, 2014 at 14:59

It is possible to put an iPad or iPhone into 'Store Demo' mode so that the home button and swipe to home gesture is disabled. If you have seen the iPads in the Apple Store running the smart sign apps then you will know what I mean.

It is actually pretty trivial to make this work, all you need to do is install a correctly formatted mobile config plist over the air from a web server.

To deliver your config from the web all you have to do is direct the iPhone to a url containing the profile. Just open the link to your .mobileconfig file in safari. If you don't have web space you can just use dropbox public folder URLs or switch on your mac webserver.

~~It's possible that you can load the config using IPCU too but I have not tried this.~~ This config file will not load in the iPhone Configuration Utility as it uses keys that IPCU doesn't know about. You can combine this with whatever other enterprise configuration profiles you have in play.

EDIT: @cocoanetics pointed out that IPCU is not required to remove the profile. However note that to get your device back to normal you would need to do the following:

Reboot
Open the settings app FIRST - don't open anything else or you will need to reboot again
Settings->General->Profiles->[your profile] remove it.
Reboot

you should be back to normal.

I have included an example plist that will disable the home button and lock your device into the app.

BEWARE

Once this profile is installed the first app that is launched when the device is rebooted will be the only app that will run until you reboot the device again. As @Cawas has said this completely disables the ability to return to the home screen (unless your app crashes) including accessibility assistive touch.

Note that after installing the profile you must reboot the device (power off, power on) for it to take effect. To remove the profile plug the device into IPCU and delete it then reboot the device. Everything will be back to normal.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>PayloadContent</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>PayloadDescription</key>
            <string>Disables home</string>
            <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
            <string>Home Button Lock</string>
            <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.hbkill.kiosk</string>
            <key>PayloadOrganization</key>
            <string>My Org</string>
            <key>PayloadType</key>
            <string>com.apple.defaults.managed</string>
            <key>PayloadUUID</key>
            <string>B2D02E2D-BAC5-431B-8A29-4B91F71C9FC1</string>
            <key>PayloadVersion</key>
            <integer>1</integer>
            <key>PayloadContent</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>DefaultsDomainName</key>
                    <string>com.apple.springboard</string>
                    <key>DefaultsData</key>
                    <dict>
                    <key>SBStoreDemoAppLock</key>
                    <true/>
                    </dict>
                </dict>
            </array>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>PayloadDescription</key>
    <string>Disables Home Button</string>
    <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
    <string>Home Button Lock</string>
    <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.hbkill</string>
    <key>PayloadOrganization</key>
    <string>My Org</string>
    <key>PayloadType</key>
    <string>Configuration</string>
    <key>PayloadUUID</key>
    <string>614D1FE3-F80D-4643-AF6B-D10C4CC8737A</string>
    <key>PayloadVersion</key>
    <integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

You may well have moved on from this but I thought I would post this answer here as I came across the question while I was trying to figure out how to do the same thing.

Sleepy answered 24/1, 2012 at 21:48 Comment(22)

Important note, your file must be named something.mobileconfig I spent about an hour of frustration realizing this. Thanks for posting Rick, this it is exactly what I needed. – Tansy 16/2, 2012 at 5:33

@TheDog yes, good point. I'll make that clearer in the answer – Sleepy 16/2, 2012 at 11:28

I've found some troubles removing the config. It doesn't show in the IPCU. – Neckwear 22/2, 2012 at 17:22

@Neckwear I haven't ever had that issue. You can't edit the profile with IPCU but you should be able to add/remove it without problem. You can always reboot the device then go straight into settings and remove it from there. – Sleepy 27/2, 2012 at 8:2

You can also remove the profile via Settings app. No need for IPCU. – Gil 29/2, 2012 at 16:3

@Gil yes, but only if you got straight to settings (do not pass go, do not collect £200) as otherwise you are locked in to the first app you open, which in this case should be settings app. You do have to reboot the device again after removing the setting using settings app. – Sleepy 6/3, 2012 at 17:19

How can you find the Application ID for a WebApp? – Winterfeed 6/4, 2012 at 16:5

@Winterfeed I am not quite sure what you mean by the Application ID. If you mean the value for the PayloadUUID key then the actual value is arbitrary so long as it its value is unique to the device you are installing it to. The easiest method is to use the OSX command line tool uuidgen. StudioIMac:~ rick$ uuidgen 85E0851C-AC7F-4CB2-ACBF-82B46E544043 – Sleepy 8/4, 2012 at 19:7

Well, I did not understand how to say which application should start first, I thought I should pass the ID of the app. Seems that SBStoreDemoAppLock is the app that is started first, is this right? So how can I change it to start a webapp instead (if it is possible)? Thanks :) – Winterfeed 9/4, 2012 at 10:48

All the config does is disable the home button so it doesn't matter what you start first. It is up to the user who is in control of the device at boot time what app to start. – Sleepy 10/4, 2012 at 8:52

Rick, you should add @Gil into your answer... And the config doesn't simply disable the button. Anything related to "going home" stop working, including gestures and accessibility tools. – Maribeth 14/5, 2012 at 23:0

@Rick, I'm getting the following error while trying to install. : (Error) MC: Failed to parse profile data. Error: NSError: Desc : Invalid Profile US Desc: Invalid Profile Domain : MCProfileErrorDomain Code : 1000 Type : MCFatalError Can you please help me out.. – Gustie 15/5, 2012 at 15:34

@Cawas I said up top it also disables the gestures, not sure what you mean by "you should add Cocoanetics into your answer". – Sleepy 17/5, 2012 at 19:44

@Bhushan its possible the latest version of iOS has killed this. As it also killed the home screen shortcut methods. I have never seen that error before sorry. – Sleepy 17/5, 2012 at 19:44

I was responding to your comment "all the config does is disable the home button", didn't notice you mentioned gestures in the answer. Nice! So now you're just missing the accessibility tools and Cocoanetics comment (about not needing IPCU) on your answer. ;) – Maribeth 17/5, 2012 at 20:8

@cawas ahh I get you. yes I did clarify it in a comment reply, but who reads the comments eh? I'll updated it for completeness. – Sleepy 18/5, 2012 at 14:12

Apparently, I do read the comments, even more than answers! :P – Maribeth 18/5, 2012 at 16:24

Anyone found a way to automatically launch an app at boot time? – Wirework 4/7, 2012 at 11:24

Thanks for a great answer. One question -- you say the first app you run will be the only app that will run, since you can't get back to home. But if that app launches another app (via a URL scheme), will that still work? – Kerstin 8/2, 2013 at 3:33

@Kerstin Yes. In fact I have relied on this in "production" by trampolining from a crashing application into another launcher app that then causes the initial app to restart. – Sleepy 19/2, 2013 at 15:36

It doesn't install in iOS7.iOS 6 Configuration profile reference(developer.apple.com/library/ios/featuredarticles/…) specifies for App Lock Payload (PayLoadType=com.apple.app.lock). kindly share your take on this @Sleepy – Giorgi 20/1, 2014 at 12:6

FYI:Some Important parts of the config profile are SPRINGBOARD and SBStoreDemoAppLock. com.apple.springboard is a plist file in iOS . SBStoreDemoAppLock is a key and we enable it by giving true.Actually SPRINGBOARD is the standard application that manages the iOS home screen and some of its other tasks are launching and bootstrapping applications and setting some of the device settings on startup.To know more about SPRINGBOARD Plz refer en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpringBoard To know the basics of creating configuration profile Plz refer petri.co.il/iphone-configuration-utility.htm – Giorgi 12/2, 2014 at 12:12

This is a feature of iOS 6 that can be used without hacky attempts. It's called 'guided access'. I small tutorial is here.

EDIT: In case the device's battery runs empty while it's in the hands of a restricted user, the user could reload the device and it will reboot without guided access. However, if you choose to use a password for the device, this shouldn't be a problem.

Foreleg answered 18/10, 2012 at 11:5 Comment(0)

An alternative to the (admittedly much simpler) approach described by Rick is to:

disable the home button (e.g. physically covering it),
disable the five-finger gesture and screen lock in the Settings, and
install a “Trampoline” to relaunch the app should it crash.

None answered 1/3, 2012 at 10:40 Comment(0)

http://www.apple.com/support/ipad/enterprise/

Apple provides enterprise configuration tools which allow control over which applications are permitted etc. This is done through profile management it seems. See link for more details

Ruperto answered 20/1, 2012 at 5:49 Comment(0)

I agree with a comment from some hours ago: Settings > General > Restrictions should do the trick. If the user can't install anything, can't access Safari or Mail, then there is no reason to ever quit your app.

Region answered 16/2, 2011 at 15:4 Comment(0)

Block internet access from device (MAC-filter on wi-fi can do the trick). Any other non-internet related problem (music, games, etc) should already be solvable by the current IT infrastructure (unless your developers plays and listen to MP3 at work).

Questa answered 16/2, 2011 at 3:48 Comment(0)

i found one way to quit this home-lock state. i have install "backgrounder" via cydia which make your app run in background if you press home button for one second or more. and now, when i longpress home button, i back to the home screen.

that is all.

pay attention on longpress.

Flannery answered 14/9, 2012 at 7:24 Comment(0)

Um- wasn't sure if this is an answer or a comment but - the solution that is now part of the question has a weakness - our support staff used this and found that if you "Tap the power button to ‘soft-off’ then hold the home button as you power on and slide to unlock. Sometimes iPad will start on the home page or else XXAPPLCATIONXX will hang and then drop out to the home page. Eitherway X is able to access the home page without the passcode."

Homestead answered 14/1, 2013 at 13:17 Comment(2)

Is this with guided access mode, or the provisioning profile? – Apomixis 17/1, 2013 at 20:52

Correct. As Rick notes in his answer, all the provisioning profile does is disable the home button. Also, iPad will always start on the home screen when it is first powered on ;) (Whether the iPad has the provisioning profile installed or not.) – Apomixis 19/1, 2013 at 4:52

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