There is no guest mode on iPhone. Here's the workaround.
People search for this constantly, and the answer has been the same for over a decade: iPhone has no guest mode. Android has a guest user. iPad has Shared iPad, but only for schools and businesses. On iPhone, handing someone your unlocked phone means handing them your photos, your messages, your email and your banking app. Here's what you can actually do about it.
Why Apple hasn't shipped one
iOS was built as a single-user device from the beginning, and a lot of the system assumes it. Your keychain, your iCloud session, your Health data and your payment credentials are all tied to one identity on the device. A true guest account would mean a second copy of most of that. Apple built Shared iPad for classrooms where the requirement was unavoidable, and has left iPhone alone. It is reasonable to assume this isn't changing soon.
Option 1: Guided Access, for a single app
Turn it on in Settings › Accessibility › Guided Access, set a passcode, then triple-click the side button inside whichever app you're lending. The phone is now stuck in that app until you authenticate. This is the right tool for handing someone your phone to look at one photo album, or to let a child play one game. It does nothing if they need two apps.
Option 2: strip the risk before you hand it over
Thirty seconds in Settings › Screen Time › Content & Privacy Restrictions turns off app installs and in-app purchases. It's crude and it isn't a lock, but it removes the two outcomes that actually cost money. Pair it with turning off notification previews on the Lock Screen so incoming messages don't display their contents to whoever is holding the phone.
Option 3: an allow-list mode
Apps built on Apple's Family Controls framework get closer to a real guest mode than anything else on iPhone. You choose which apps stay usable, start the session, and everything else is shielded — the icons are still on the Home Screen but they won't open. Exit requires Face ID or a PIN. Reef does this, and it's free to download; the shield, the PIN and passcode recovery are never behind the paywall.
What none of it can cover
Be realistic about the edges. Phone, Messages, FaceTime and Clock are in Screen Time's Always Allowed list by default — you can remove Messages and FaceTime yourself, but Phone stays reachable so emergency calls always work. Settings itself can't be shielded by any third-party app, which is why a Screen Time passcode matters: it stops someone walking into Settings and switching your protection off.
FAQ
Does iOS 26 have a guest mode?
No. There is still no guest user on iPhone. Shared iPad remains iPad-only and is aimed at managed education and business deployments, not families.
Can I hide specific apps from someone using my phone?
You can hide individual apps from the Home Screen and require Face ID to open them, but that's per-app housekeeping rather than a mode you switch on and off. An allow-list app shields everything you didn't pick in one action and restores it in one action.
Is Guided Access secure enough to hand my phone to a stranger?
For a short, supervised handover, yes — it needs your passcode or Face ID to exit, and it survives attempts to leave the app. It's a single-app lock though, so it suits showing someone one thing rather than lending the phone for an hour.
What happens if the phone restarts during a locked session?
Guided Access ends when the device restarts. A Family Controls app like Reef keeps its shield on through a force-quit and a restart, which is the difference that matters if you're handing the phone to a child who will find the buttons.
Hand over the phone, not the whole phone
Reef shields every app you didn't allow, gives your child a hub of the games and sites you chose, and needs your Face ID to switch off. Free to download — the shield, the PIN and passcode recovery are never paywalled.
Get Reef on the App StoreAbout ReefiOS behaviour described here was checked against iOS 26. Apple moves settings between releases — if a path doesn't match what you see, the feature is usually still there under a nearby name.