Handing your smartphone to someone? This Android feature can keep your private apps and photos locked away; here's how to activate it

You unlock your phone to show a friend a photograph, let a child play a game or hand it to someone to make a quick call. But the moment the device leaves your hand, so does some control over what they can open. Messages, photographs, emails and other private apps are only a few taps away. Fortunately, Android has a little-known feature designed for exactly this situation and you may already have it on your phone.

What is Android's App Pinning feature?

The feature is called App Pinning, sometimes described by Google as screen pinning. It temporarily locks your Android device to a single app. If you hand someone your phone with YouTube pinned, for example, they can use YouTube but cannot simply jump into WhatsApp, your gallery or another app. Google explains that a pinned app remains in view until the owner unpins it. Android Authority calls App Pinning “wildly underrated”, noting its usefulness when giving someone a phone to scan a QR code, look at something or use an app without allowing them to wander elsewhere on the device.

How to turn on App Pinning on your Android device?

Google's instructions may differ slightly depending on the Android manufacturer and software version. On supported devices, here's how to set it up:


Step 1: Open Settings on your Android phone.

Step 2: Go to Security or Security & privacy. Depending on your device, you may need to open Advanced or More security settings.

Step 3: Find App pinning and switch it on.

Step 4: Make sure your phone requires your PIN, pattern or password to unpin the app. This is important; otherwise, the privacy benefit is reduced. Google says a screen lock helps protect Android devices from unauthorised access.

Can't find the feature? Search “App pinning” in your phone's Settings search bar. Menu names can vary between Pixel, Samsung and other Android brands.

How to pin an app before handing over your phone?

Once App Pinning is enabled, open the app you want the other person to use. Next, swipe up and hold to open the Recent apps/Overview screen. If you're using three-button navigation, tap the Overview button. Tap the app icon above its preview, then select Pin. The phone is now restricted to that app.

How do you get your smartphone back to normal?

With gesture navigation, Google says you can swipe up and hold to unpin. On phones using three-button navigation, press and hold Back and Overview together. You may then be required to enter your PIN, pattern or password. Google itself recommends screen pinning as one of the tools Android owners can use to protect personal data, saying it can lock a device to only one selected app.

A small setting that solves an awkward problem

App Pinning won't replace a strong screen lock or other security protections. What it does solve is an extremely ordinary privacy problem: wanting to lend someone your unlocked phone without giving them access to everything on it. So, the next time someone asks, “Can I borrow your phone for a minute?”, you don't necessarily have to watch nervously over their shoulder. A feature already sitting inside Android's settings can help keep that one minute confined to exactly where you intended.