iOS Passcode lock programmatically possible?

Question

I was hoping to create an app that could automatically enable the Passcode lock under certain conditions.

From searching around it sounds like this may not be possible, though I never came upon a remark about "programmatically influencing Passcode" explicitly.

Could someone please confirm if this is impossible or point me in the right direction for how this might be done if it is indeed possible?

Thanks!

I don't know the way to cause the phone to lock, but there are a lot of pin code view controller implementations which gives your application pin lock protection. — Eimantas
– Eimantas, Commented Nov 25, 2011 at 18:25

Amit Shah · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-25 19:27:11Z

2

This isn't possible I'm afraid. I think the main concern is some malicious app could trigger the lock, without informing the user. Effectively locking them out. There might be a way to open a URL to the settings app to display the settings for pascode locking however.

answered Nov 25, 2011 at 19:27

Amit Shah

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6 Comments

Steve Over a year ago

I agree it's probably not possible - but I'm not sure about the "malicious app" part... wouldn't be very malicious. The user should know their own passcode, right? Plus the apps have to get reviewed by Apple... so it shouldn't even make it into the app store. Even if the app perpetually triggered the lock, and got past the Apple reviewers... the user could always just reset their phone. More of an annoyance than malicious.

Amit Shah Over a year ago

Yes, malicous was probably the wrong word to use. I meant it more as a reasoning for Apple to not include it in the SDK.

surlac Over a year ago

Amit Shah, @Steve, is it possible to protect an app with iOS-wide passcode? So I create a view with textfield to enter passcode, user enters, I compare it with iOS-wide passcode?

Amit Shah Over a year ago

No it isn't. That would make things dangerous for the user (giving their passcode to an app)

JohnK Over a year ago

How about just a (separate) passcode for accessing certain screens within an app? I don't see why that would be a security concern; I basically just want a similar screen without having to import a whole library.

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