Skip to content
For familiesSet upQuestionsHelp

Help Center

Setup guides for students and school staff, what each permission is for, and answers to common questions.

Student setup: iPhone

The app walks you through every step and only shows the ones your school needs. Here’s what to expect.

  1. Install LockedIn and sign in with your school email

    Get it from the App Store, or open lockedinapp.co/download on your phone. Depending on your school, you’ll enter a 6-digit code sent to that email, or scan the QR code on the LockedIn page on your school computer. Needs iOS 16.2 or later.

  2. Allow location, then set it to Always

    Tap Allow While Using App, then Change to Always Allow, and keep Precise Location on. LockedIn uses location for one thing: knowing whether you’re on campus. The check happens on your phone, and only the result goes to your school.

  3. Allow notifications

    They tell you when phone-free time starts and ends, and bring messages from your school, including in an emergency.

Then comes Screen Time. It’s how LockedIn locks your apps on campus during school hours, with nothing to tap. Some schools still use Guided Access instead; if the app shows you Guided Access steps, follow the second set below.

Screen Time: your apps lock automatically

  1. Turn on Screen Time for LockedIn

    Tap Continue on Apple’s Screen Time prompt. Your phone needs a passcode or Face ID set up first.

  2. Pick what your school limits

    The app has you select, in Apple’s list, the categories your school limits during school hours. Then it runs one quick check to confirm your picks.

  3. That’s it

    On campus during school hours, those apps lock on their own, and they unlock on their own after school. There’s nothing to tap each day.

If a parent manages your iPhone with Screen Time through Family Sharing, setup may ask them to change a setting on their own iPhone. The app shows the exact steps.

If your school uses Guided Access

At these schools, you start the lock each morning with a triple-click and end it the same way. Your school sees when you’re locked in.

  1. Turn on Guided Access

    Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then Guided Access (under General). Turn on Guided Access and Accessibility Shortcut, then in Passcode Settings turn on Face ID. The app shows each step as you go.

  2. Lock in when you get to school

    Open LockedIn and triple-click the side button (the Home button, if your iPhone has one). If a menu appears, tap Guided Access, then tap Start. The app tells you when it’s time.

  3. Leave when you’re free

    Triple-click the side button again and use Face ID. The app tells you when you’re free to leave: after school, off campus, or in a free period. If you leave while you should be locked in, your school is notified.

If your phone ever freezes: quickly press volume up, then volume down, then hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. That ends Guided Access, and your school is told the session ended early.

To let the screen sleep during a session and save battery, also turn on Mirror Display Auto-Lock in the same Guided Access settings.

Student setup: Android

The app checks your phone and your school’s settings, and only shows the steps you need.

  1. Install LockedIn and sign in with your school email

    Get it from Google Play, or open lockedinapp.co/download on your phone. Depending on your school, enter the 6-digit code sent to that email, or scan the QR code on the LockedIn page on your school computer. Needs Android 10 or later.

  2. Allow location, then set it to Allow all the time

    This lets LockedIn notice you’ve arrived at school even when the app is closed. If location is off, your school is notified.

  3. Allow notifications

    Without them, you’ll miss lock-in reminders and messages from your school.

  4. Let LockedIn run in the background

    Set LockedIn to Don’t optimize (or Unrestricted) in battery settings, so Android doesn’t stop it. The app opens the right screen.

  5. Fix your phone’s extra settings, if the app shows them

    • Samsung: take LockedIn out of Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps, turn off Put unused apps to sleep, set LockedIn’s battery to Unrestricted, and turn off Pause app activity if unused. Each one has a button to the right screen.
    • Data Saver on: allow LockedIn unrestricted data, so it can check in on cellular.

Then comes app blocking. It’s how LockedIn locks your apps on campus during school hours. Some schools also, or instead, have you pin LockedIn each morning. The app shows you which.

App blocking: your apps lock automatically

  1. Turn on LockedIn’s app blocking

    Open Accessibility settings, find LockedIn (it may be under Installed apps or Downloaded apps) and turn it on. LockedIn uses it only to see which app is open, so it can cover blocked apps with the lock screen. It never reads your screen, your messages or what you type.

  2. Turn on Usage Access, if asked

    Only at schools that give a daily time allowance for some apps, like games. It counts that time on your phone, and your school sees only rough levels, like “almost used up”.

If your school uses screen pinning

  1. Lock in when you get to school

    Open LockedIn, tap Start LockedIn and confirm the pin prompt. While pinned, you can’t switch apps.

  2. LockedIn lets go on its own

    It unpins by itself when school is over. To leave early in a real emergency, unpin with Android’s gesture (Back and Recents together, or swipe up and hold); restarting the phone also ends it. Either way, your school is told the session ended early.

School admin setup

Setup takes about a day, and schools are live within a week of the kickoff call. We’re with you through launch week.

  1. Sign in to the admin dashboard

    After your kickoff call you’ll get an admin login. Sign in at admin.lockedinapp.co with your email and password, then confirm it’s you with a one-time code.

  2. Set your hours and draw your campus

    Set your school’s hours, time zone and bell schedule, then draw your campus boundary on the map. Phones lock only inside that boundary, during school hours.

  3. Add your students

    • Roster sync: connect Clever, ClassLink, Veracross, Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, Microsoft 365, or a OneRoster-compatible system such as Blackbaud or PowerSchool, and the roster stays in sync.
    • CSV upload: a spreadsheet with name and email columns.
    • One at a time: add a student by name and email.

  4. Send the family letter

    Point families to the family setup guide. It has the steps, the privacy answers, and a paragraph you can paste into your handbook.

  5. Students install the app and sign in

    There are no class codes. Students sign in with their school email, LockedIn matches them to your roster, and the app walks them through setup. Share lockedinapp.co/download: it opens the right store on any phone.

  6. Watch the dashboard

    See who’s locked in and who’s on campus, and follow up on alerts like Never Installed, Possible Uninstall, Fake Device and Mock Location. Everything is scoped to your school.

What each permission is for

Every permission LockedIn asks for has one job. The app explains each one before it asks.

How an app can lock a phone on iPhone and Android, and which permission does which job.

  • Location

    Answers one question: is this phone on campus? The phone checks for itself and only the result goes to your school. No coordinates are kept, and at a day school no location is collected after school, except during an emergency your school declares.

  • Notifications

    When phone-free time starts and ends, messages from your school, and emergency alerts.

  • Screen Time (iPhone, some schools)

    Lets LockedIn lock the categories your school limits, on campus during school hours. LockedIn doesn’t collect which apps you have or open.

  • Guided Access or screen pinning (if your school uses it)

    Keeps the phone on LockedIn while you’re locked in. You start it and end it yourself.

  • Accessibility (Android, some schools)

    Sees only which app is open, on the phone itself, so LockedIn can cover blocked apps with the lock screen. It never reads your screen, your messages or what you type.

  • Usage Access (Android, some schools)

    Counts time in the app categories your school gives a daily allowance for. Exact minutes stay on the phone.

  • Battery (Android)

    Lets LockedIn notice you’ve reached campus or left it while the app is closed.

LockedIn never collects your texts, calls, photos, browsing, social media, contacts or files. Detailed activity records are deleted automatically after 90 days, and daily summaries after the following school year.

Read the privacy policyHow we keep data secure

Common questions

  • During school hours: whether your phone is on campus and whether it’s locked, plus an alert if the app is deleted, a required setting is switched off, or something looks like a workaround, like a second phone or a faked location. LockedIn never collects your texts, calls, photos, browsing, social media, contacts or files, or which apps you open.

  • You can always call 911 or a parent: the Phone app is never locked. If your school uses Guided Access or screen pinning, you can leave the lock at any time to make a call, and your school is told you left early. If your school starts Emergency Mode, LockedIn shows your school’s message and two buttons: I’m safe, or I need help.

  • Not at a day school. During school hours your phone checks for itself whether it’s inside the campus boundary, and only on campus or off campus goes to your school. After the school day, LockedIn collects no location. The one exception is an emergency your school declares, and that location is erased when it ends. At a boarding school, on campus or off campus can still be reported after hours, but never where you are.

  • iPhones on iOS 16.2 or later, and Android phones on Android 10 or later. The app walks you through any steps your phone needs, like Samsung’s battery settings.

  • Install LockedIn on the new phone and sign in with your school email. Your school may need to approve the new phone before it counts. The app tells you if it’s waiting for approval.

  • Schools choose how phones lock, so the steps differ from school to school. The app only shows the steps your school needs, like LockedIn’s accessibility service on Android, or Guided Access on iPhone.

  • Exactly what it says. On a school day, if your phone hasn’t checked in an hour after the first bell while the rest of the school has, LockedIn sends your phone a silent ping, then that notification. The app answers it by itself: that’s how we tell “the app was deleted” apart from “the app is just closed”. You don’t need to tap it. Nothing on your phone is read or sent beyond the fact that it answered, and it only runs while school is in session.

  • Use the school email your school gave you, not a personal one. If it still isn’t found, your school hasn’t added you yet, so ask the front office or your school’s LockedIn contact.

Still stuck?

Your school’s LockedIn contact can fix most account problems. For anything else, email us with your school and your phone’s model. We read every message.

Email support@lockedinapp.coTell us what isn’t working

School administrators can write to the same address, or to hello@lockedinapp.co.

To see what changed in each release, read the changelog.