How to Enable iOS Lock Mode

by James · October 26, 2022

Learning how to enable iOS Lock Mode is important if you want to keep your iPhone safe from hackers. Introduced with iOS 16, Lockdown Mode is designed to provide the ultimate protection to users who may be vulnerable to advanced cyber attacks.

According to Apple, this feature is primarily designed for people who are at an unusually high risk of hacking and malware attacks due to their public profile or the sensitive information they handle – such as politicians and journalists.

That doesn’t mean Lock Mode isn’t worthwhile for other people. More recently, we’ve seen Google report Predator spyware attacks on Android devices, identification of malicious malware apps in the Play Store, and reports from Meta of over 400 malware apps found in both iOS and Android app stores. In short, cybersecurity is now more important than ever, so it’s good for iPhone users to have more options to protect themselves. It seems manufacturers are starting to realize that competing with the best phones on the market requires taking cyber threats seriously.

Apple says Lockdown Mode is designed “to reduce the attack surface potentially exploitable by highly targeted mercenary spyware”. Essentially, it means limiting certain features that can be used as backdoors, and limiting the number of avenues of attack a hacker has.

According to Apple, lock mode affects the following features:

Messages — “Most types of message attachments will be blocked, except for some images, video and audio. Some features, such as links and link previews, will be unavailable.”

Scroll through – “Some complex web technologies will be blocked, which may cause some sites to load more slowly or not function properly. In addition, web fonts may not appear and images may be replaced with a missing image icon.”

Video calls — “Incoming FaceTime calls will be blocked unless you have previously called that person or contact.”

Service Invitations – “Incoming invitations to Apple services, such as invitations to manage a home in the Home app, will be blocked unless you have previously invited that person.

iOS Photos — “Shared albums will be removed from the Photos app, and new invitations to shared albums will be blocked.”

Connections and accessories — “To connect the device to a USB accessory or another computer, the device must be unlocked.”

Device configurations (eg iOS betas) — “Configuration profiles cannot be installed and the device cannot be registered in Mobile Device Management or Device Monitoring while in locked mode.”

Needless to say, turning on iOS Lockdown Mode leads to some pretty extensive restrictions. However, if you work in a role that requires handling sensitive data, or you use the internet without one of the best VPNs on a public network, you may want to enable it. This is how.