3 Ways to Disable Camera on Lock Screen on iPhone in 18

To let you capture every amazing moment of your life, iPhone offers a quick way to access the camera right from the Lock Screen. Simply swipe left on the Lock Screen to reveal the camera, and snap a photo or video as usual and you are done! From a convenience perspective, it’s a super handy feature as you don’t have to dig into your device to find and launch the stock camera app just for snapping a shot. However, most will agree that this shortcut is both security and privacy-intrusive which is why the need to disable camera on Lock Screen on iPhone comes into the reckoning. Read on…

Remove or Disable Camera on iPhone Lock Screen

Though doing anything more than just capturing photos or videos via the Lock Screen requires authentication through Face/Touch ID or password, why let anyone else use your iPhone’s camera without your permission? Even if security is not at the top of your mind, you might have come across situations where your iPhone has fallen into the wrong hands of kids who are hell-bent on capturing a ton of selfies.

Worse, if a naughty kid knows how to trigger the burst mode, it doesn’t take much time for your photo library to get cluttered with numerous ugly shots. Since the camera app is readily available right on the Lock Screen, preventing anyone (especially your family members or friends) from using your iPhone to take photos becomes a rather irritating affair. If you have gone through this ordeal, chances are you would already know where it hurts.

So, How do you stop anyone from using the camera on your iPhone Lock Screen?

If all you want is a neat tool that can let you keep the camera app out of sight, you don’t need to look anywhere else than Screen Time – Apple’s built-in parental control feature. Then, what’s the catch you need to keep in mind? The biggest downside or rather a caveat that comes attached with this tool is that it not only blocks the camera app on the iPhone Lock Screen but also hides the app from the entire device. That means every time you want to take a photo, you will have to travel deep into the Screen Time setting to unhide the camera.

If you are someone who needs to use the camera app frequently, you will find this side hustle downright annoying – if not painful. The good thing is you no longer have to bear with this tedious workaround; whether you appreciate it or not.

Unbeknown to many, Apple has introduced a pretty handy shortcut to let you lock a specific app on your iPhone behind Face ID/Touch ID or passcode. Once you have set up the shortcut and specified the app you wish to protect, the Lock Screen gets automatically activated the moment anyone attempts to open the locked app. Hence, authentication becomes a must before the app can be opened. You can make the best use of this very shortcut to shield the camera app and prevent unauthorized access.

But what if you want to altogether remove the camera icon from the iPhone Lock Screen? Fret not! iOS 18 has got you fully covered in this aspect through a hassle-free native way.

1. Lock iPhone Lock Screen Camera With Face ID/Touch ID or Your Passcode

• To get going, head over to the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.
• After that, ensure that the Shortcuts tab is selected and hit the “Plus” button at the top-right. 
• Next, search for Lock Screen and select it from the search results. Be sure to tap on the Done button at the top to confirm. 

• Next up, tap on the Automation tab at the bottom and hit the “New Automation” button.
• Up next, scroll down and select “App”.

• Ensure that the “Is Opened” option is ticked off if it’s not already.
• Make sure that the “Run Immediately” option is selected as well. 
• Tap on the “Choose” option and then select “Camera” from the list of installed apps -> tap on the Done button at the top. 

• Tap on Next at the top right to continue.
• Now, enter Lock Screen in the search bar and select it when it pops up in the results. And that’s all there is to it!

From now on, whenever you, or anyone else for that matter tries to launch the camera app from the Lock Screen, it will require authentication; thereby blocking unauthorized access straightaway. Hence, you can rest assured that no one will be able to access the camera without your permission. 

It’s worth pointing out that you will need to delete the automation if you ever want to remove the lock from the camera app on your iPhone. To do so, navigate to the Shortcuts app -> Automation -> swipe left on the automation and hit the red “Delete” button.

2. Block Camera Access on iPhone Lock Screen Using Screen Time

Launched in iOS 12, Screen Time is a robust parental control feature that comes with a wide range of tools to let you impose desired restrictions on your device to ward off infringement.

• On your iPhone, launch the Settings app and choose Screen Time.

• Ensure that Screen Time is enabled. After that, choose Content & Privacy Restrictions.
• Then, make sure that the toggle for Content & Privacy Restrictions is turned on.
• Tap on Allowed Apps. If prompted, enter your Screen Time passcode to proceed.

• Turn off the toggle for the Camera app and you are all set!

The camera app will no longer work on the Lock Screen. And yes, it won’t be available on the device either. Thus, you will need to hide it if you ever wish to bring it into action again.

3. Remove the Camera Icon from the iPhone Lock Screen in iOS 18

In what could bring smiles to millions of iPhone owners, iOS 18 has eventually offered a way to remove the camera icon from the Lock Screen and choose a preferred icon in its place from a wide range of controls from the gallery. Hence, if you don’t want the camera app to stay on the Lock Screen, you can get rid of it for good and add a different icon that is more suitable to your needs.

• To proceed, activate the Lock Screen -> long-press on the screen and hit the Customise button -> select the“Lock Screen” option. 

• Now, hit the “-“ button at the top of the camera icon.
• Next, tap the “+” button -> Choose from a variety of controls -> hit Done at the top right to confirm.

You have successfully removed the camera icon from the Lock Screen. So, rejoice!

But there is a caveat that you must keep in mind. The “Swipe left” gesture will continue to allow the camera access from the Lock Screen. Yeah, you read that right. Ditching the camera icon doesn’t eliminate the “swipe left” gesture for the camera app.

A Million Dollar Tip from a Small-Time Tech Nerd…

While there is no doubt that iOS has vastly improved in terms of features, there is no dearth of niggles due to either lack of nifty controls or the wrong placements of certain features. The inability to have a straightforward way to disallow camera access on the Lock Screen and stop auto-playing videos in Safari best describes this catch-22. 

Wouldn’t it be better if there was a dedicated section inside the Settings app -> Face/Touch ID & Passcode section where you can lock individual apps? Considering it won’t be an uphill task, I wonder why Apple hasn’t been able to implement it. Even though expecting all these quirks to go away at once is akin to betting on pigs to fly, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.