This Hidden Apple Turns the iPhone Into the Perfect Kid’s Dumb Phone

It is called Getting Help. It was introduced by iOS 17Apple designed for those with mental disabilities. If you haven’t met or stumbled upon it, it’s a special experience for iOS: fewer options, more focused, easier to navigate. The design is perfect for children: the large, friendly tiles of these apps replace the small icons of the “normal” Apple interface.

This is how you are set it up: Enter Favoritespapa Reachablescroll down to General part at the very bottom, and click Getting Help. Now, click Configure Assistive Accessthat’s it Go ahead. It will ask you to choose your preferred layout: lines or grid. I recommend choosing this group. This is how you get the biggest tiles. Now the OS will ask you to select the allowed apps – click the green icon next to the apps you want to allow.

Most importantly, this is where, unlike Apple’s usual restrictions, you can choose to block web browsing by disallowing Safari, Chrome, or any other similar software. And, unlike viewing restrictions, if someone posts a link to your child, it won’t work. Why? Assistive Access is designed to prevent accidental browsing, so this system prevents unintended browsing.

Although Assistive Access on Apple devices allows access to the Internet, it is very limited by design, and is turned off by default. In this mode, the phone treats each link in the message as a simple text, preventing the user from accidentally leaving the simple text.

Designed for caregivers or trusted assistants, the user must add primarily web-based applications such as Messages, Safari, or third-party web applications to the Assistive Access interface. And once you add, say, Messages or Calls, then you decide whether your child can contact or be contacted by everyone, only their contacts, or only selected lovers.