FocusEdgeIn short: to lock apps before giving your phone to your child, use app pinning if homework needs one app, or a study-mode app if it needs several. Pinning allows one app, Focus mode has no PIN, and kids mode must be switched on every time. FocusEdge locks everything except your chosen study apps until Study Mode ends.
The school sends homework on WhatsApp. The worksheet is a PDF, the maths help is on YouTube, and the project needs a Google search. So your child asks for your phone, and your phone also has games, Instagram, your chats, your photos and GPay.
Android has a few built-in ways to lock apps, and each one is useful. None of them lets your child use several study apps while everything else stays locked behind your PIN. That is what a study-mode app does.
What you want to lock
- Videos and games: YouTube, reels and games, where twenty minutes of homework turns into two hours.
- Social media: Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
- Your money: GPay, PhonePe, Paytm and your bank app. One wrong tap can send money or buy something inside a game.
- Your private things: WhatsApp, messages, email and photos.
- Settings and the Play Store: so nothing gets installed, removed or switched off.
- Unsafe websites: adult, violent and betting sites are one search away in any browser.
And you want the study apps to keep working: Google Classroom, Diksha, a PDF reader, the camera for photos of the notebook, and the websites the teacher sent.
Can I lock my phone to one app? (App pinning)
App pinning keeps one app on the screen. Your child can't go to the home screen or open another app until it is unpinned.
- Open Settings and search for App pinning (on some phones it is called Screen pinning or Pin windows, under Security).
- Turn it on, and turn on Ask for PIN before unpinning.
- Open the study app, open the recent apps screen, tap the app's icon at the top of its card, and tap Pin.
Good for: one app, for example watching a single online class.
Where it falls short: it is one app only. Homework usually needs two or three, like the class app, the PDF and the camera, and you have to unpin and pin again for each. If you pin a browser, every website on the internet is open.
Can Focus mode lock apps for my child?
Focus mode pauses the apps you pick, such as YouTube and Instagram, until it is turned off.
- Open Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls → Focus mode.
- Choose the distracting apps and tap Turn on now.
Good for: keeping yourself off your own phone.
Where it falls short: there is no PIN. Anyone can turn it off from the quick settings panel in one tap, and it does nothing about websites. Every app you don't pick, including GPay and WhatsApp, stays open.
Is my phone's kids mode enough?
Some phones, such as Samsung (Samsung Kids), come with a kids mode that has its own home screen and needs a PIN to exit.
Good for: young children playing on the phone.
Where it falls short: it is built for play, not homework, and not every phone has one. On most phones the browser is either fully open or fully closed, so you can't let in just the school's website. Samsung Kids is the exception: its My Browser can be limited to websites you add, but only inside Samsung Kids' home screen for young children. And kids mode only protects the phone if you remember to turn it on. (More in Kids mode on Samsung, Vivo, OPPO, realme and Redmi phones.)
What about Google Family Link?
Family Link is Google's parental control, and it is good at what it does. But it manages your child's own phone and Google account. It doesn't help when the phone is yours and you are handing it over for an hour.
Does an app lock work for homework?
An app lock puts a PIN on each app you choose. It works, but you have to lock every app one by one, including every new game that shows up later. Websites are still open in the browser. And your child sees a PIN screen on each app, so every attempt to open YouTube becomes a request. (More in App lock for kids.)
Which way of locking apps works best for homework?
| Several study apps at once | Needs your PIN to stop | Only the websites you pick | Blocks adult sites | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| App pinning | ✗ One app | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Focus mode | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Kids mode | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ All or none on most phones (Samsung Kids: chosen sites in My Browser) | Varies |
| App lock | ✓ | Per app | ✗ | ✗ |
| FocusEdge | ✓ | ✓ (or a timer you set) | ✓ | ✓ Always on |
How FocusEdge does it
FocusEdge is an app for parents in India whose child does homework on the parent's phone, on Android, iPhone and iPad. We made it for exactly this moment. You set it up once: pick the study apps and study websites, and set a PIN only you know. After that it is one switch.
- Turn on Study Mode and hand over the phone. Choose a timer from 1 to 8 hours, or no timer, so it stays on until you end it.
- Only the study apps and websites you picked will open. YouTube, games, Instagram, WhatsApp and GPay stay locked, and on Android so do Settings and the Play Store.
- Enter your PIN to turn it off, or let the timer run out. Your phone is back exactly as you left it.
Even when Study Mode is off, FocusEdge on Android blocks adult, violence and gore, hate, illegal activity, drugs and alcohol, gambling and betting (including fantasy sports), and dating websites in Chrome, Samsung Internet, Firefox, Edge and Brave, and Google and other search engines show only safe results, so the phone is protected when it's picked up from the table without asking. FocusEdge never reads your messages or photos, and never records which apps or websites were opened.
On an iPhone or iPad
The options above are for Android. An iPhone's own way to lock apps is Guided Access (Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access). Like app pinning, it keeps one app on the screen until you enter a passcode, so it has the same limit: one app only. To end a Guided Access session, triple-click the side button (top button on iPad, or Home button on older devices) and enter your passcode; on iOS or iPadOS 18 and earlier, double-click instead (Apple's guide).
FocusEdge works on iPhone and iPad too. Turn on Study Mode and only your study apps and study websites open. No app can be installed or deleted, and in-app purchases are blocked, until Study Mode ends.
Questions parents ask
How do I lock my phone so my child can only use certain apps?
For one app, turn on app pinning and pin it; your PIN is needed to leave. For several apps, Android has no built-in way, so use a study-mode app. In FocusEdge's Study Mode only the study apps and websites you chose open, and everything else stays locked until Study Mode ends.
Can my child turn off Focus mode?
Yes. Focus mode in Digital Wellbeing has no PIN, so anyone can switch it off from the quick settings panel in one tap. It also does nothing about websites, and every app you didn't pick, including GPay and WhatsApp, stays open.
Does app pinning work on Vivo, OPPO and Samsung?
App pinning is built into Android, but its name and place vary: search Settings for App pinning, Screen pinning or Pin windows. Turn on the option to ask for your PIN before unpinning, or anyone can leave the pinned app.
What's the difference between kids mode and an app lock?
Kids mode gives your child a separate home screen with only the apps you add, and you start it by hand each time. An app lock puts a PIN on each app you choose, on your normal home screen. On most phones neither limits which websites open in the browser.
