If someone keeps leaving VivaLynx by accident and struggles to get back to it, both iPhone and Android can hold the screen on one app until you unlock it. Apple calls it Guided Access. Android calls it app pinning.
It's useful when the daily check-in gets interrupted by a stray swipe, or when getting back to the app is harder than using it.
Decide this together where you can. Locking a phone to one app also stops the person taking a call, texting, or opening anything else. If it's being set up on someone else's phone, they should know it's on and how to leave it — and whoever sets it up should be reachable to unlock it.
iPhone and iPad
Turn it on once
Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access.
Turn Guided Access on.
Tap Passcode Settings → Set Guided Access Passcode and choose a passcode. Write it down somewhere you'll find it. Without it you can't leave the app.
On the same screen you can allow Face ID or Touch ID to end a session, which is easier than a passcode for most people.
Start a session
Open VivaLynx.
Triple-click the side button. On older iPhones with a Home button, triple-click that instead.
If a shortcuts panel appears, choose Guided Access.
Tap Start.
The phone now stays on VivaLynx.
End a session
Triple-click the side button, then use the passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and tap End.
If triple-clicking does nothing, try double-clicking. Apple changed this: current iOS uses a triple-click, and iOS 18 and earlier use a double-click. Both are worth trying before assuming something is wrong.
Android
The names vary by phone maker. Samsung and Pixel both call it app pinning; some phones say screen pinning.
Turn it on once
Settings → Security & privacy.
Look for More security settings, then App pinning or Screen pinning.
Turn it on.
Turn on Ask for PIN before unpinning as well. Without it, anyone can leave with a single gesture.
Pin VivaLynx
Open VivaLynx.
Open your recent apps — swipe up from the bottom and hold, or tap the square button.
Tap the VivaLynx icon at the top of its card.
Tap Pin.
Unpin
Swipe up from the bottom and hold. On phones with three buttons, press Back and Overview together. Enter the PIN if you set one.
If you get stuck in the app
There's always a way out, and it doesn't need anyone's help.
iPhone: triple-click the side button, then double-click if that does nothing. Use the passcode, Face ID or Touch ID.
Android: swipe up from the bottom and hold.
If the passcode is lost on an iPhone, the only way out is to restart the device — hold the side button and a volume button, then power off. Guided Access won't resume after a restart.
A gentler option first
Before locking the screen, it's worth trying Keep VivaLynx where you can find it — putting the app in the dock or the favorites row often solves the real problem, which is usually that the app is hard to get back to rather than too easy to leave.
Need help
Chat with us — the blue button in the bottom-right corner of this page
Email [email protected]