Guest Session: A Guest Mode App for Lending Your iPhone

You hand a friend your iPhone to take a few photos. They need a note, a calculator, or something to do for a minute. Suddenly, a quick favor involves passing around the same device that holds your messages, accounts, and personal photo library.

Guest Session is an iPhone guest mode app built around that everyday handoff. It brings a camera, a separate session gallery, temporary notes, and useful activities into one app. Pair it with iOS Guided Access, and your guest can use those activities while the phone stays in Guest Session.

Disclosure: I’m the developer of Guest Session. This is an introduction to the app and a practical guide to using it.

Launch update: Guest Session 1.0 is now available on the US App Store following its October 21, 2026 release. We’re planning our main launch push for Friday, October 23, around 5:00 a.m. Pacific / 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Availability in other storefronts may take time to update.

Get Guest Session on the App Store →

What does an iPhone guest mode app actually do?

Guest Session gives someone a place to take photos, write a quick list, or play a memory game without using your usual collection of apps. Everything starts from a dedicated dashboard, with a Prepare handoff guide and visible session controls.

The distinction matters: Guest Session does not create a second iOS user account. Apple’s Guided Access provides the restriction to one app; Guest Session provides the activities inside it. The owner configures and starts Guided Access through iOS, and the app shows whether it is active. Opening Guest Session by itself does not prevent someone from leaving it.

Useful things to do inside a guest session

A lending app needs to give the guest something useful to do. Guest Session includes eight activities:

• Camera: Take photos and record video using the available front and rear cameras.
• Gallery: Review session captures or explore the included Inspiration photo collection. Your existing personal photos are not imported.
• Notes: Start with an empty temporary notebook for an idea, a list, or a quick reminder.
• Browser: Allow websites in a temporary browsing session when you choose. Live browsing is off on a new installation.
• Memory: Play an offline matching game.
• Calculator: Work out a quick total or calculation.
• Clock: Check world clocks or use the stopwatch.
• Music: Listen to included original instrumental tracks.

That makes it useful for small, ordinary moments: a friend taking pictures at a gathering, a family member jotting down a shopping list, or someone passing a little time with a game. The common thread is a brief visit inside a space prepared for them.

How to lend your iPhone with Guest Session and Guided Access

1. Prepare a fresh handoff

Open Guest Session and tap Prepare handoff. Check for content left from an earlier session and decide whether the guest needs live browsing. Keep browsing off for an offline handoff, or enable it in Session settings when websites are useful. Your browsing choice stays the same after clearing, so check it each time.

2. Set up Guided Access in iPhone Settings

In Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, turn the feature on and configure its passcode. You can also configure Face ID or Touch ID there. Apple’s Guided Access instructions explain the available controls and how to start and end a session on your device.

3. Start Guided Access before handing over the phone

Return to Guest Session, use your device’s Guided Access button shortcut, and follow the iOS prompts. Confirm that Guided Access is active before handing over the phone. Guest Session can display that status, but it cannot turn Guided Access on or off for you.

As Apple notes, emergency calling and Crash Detection are unavailable during Guided Access. End Guided Access when those functions are needed.

4. Save anything you want to keep, then clear

When the guest is finished, review any captures you want to keep. Use the Gallery share action to export selected copies before clearing. End Guided Access through iOS when you are ready to regain normal access to your phone, and use End & Clear to reset the app’s guest content.

What happens to photos, notes, and browsing?

Guest Session keeps new camera captures inside the app rather than automatically adding them to your personal Photos library. Those captures survive ordinary app relaunches until you delete them or clear the session. Notes are temporary and last while the app is running or until you clear them.

End & Clear removes app-local captures and clears temporary notes and browser sessions. It keeps your appearance and browsing preferences. Copies you explicitly export to Photos or another destination remain in that destination, and clearing cannot erase information you have submitted to a website.

This separation makes cleanup easier to understand: keep the items you choose, clear the temporary session, and prepare the app for the next person. Clearing app content and ending Guided Access are separate actions.

The process behind Guest Session

Guest Session grew out of an earlier device-demo project into a standalone phone-lending utility. The focus shifted to a complete everyday workflow: prepare the phone, offer useful activities, make the Guided Access status clear, and clean up afterward.

Development included physical-iPhone checks for repeated photo capture, camera switching, video playback, Guided Access, and session cleanup. The finished app uses its own guest-card branding and original instrumental music. You can read the earlier development story for more background on the project’s evolution.

Guest Session questions, answered

Which devices does Guest Session support?

Guest Session is an iPhone app requiring iOS 26.5 or later. Check the App Store listing for compatibility with your device.

Does Guest Session need an account or subscription?

No Guest Session account is required. The US App Store price is $2.99 as a one-time purchase, with no subscriptions or in-app purchases. Prices and availability vary by region; check your local listing.

Does it work offline?

The included camera, local gallery, notes, memory game, calculator, clocks, and music can be used without live web browsing. Websites need a network connection when you enable the browser.

Does it replace Guided Access?

No. Guided Access is the iOS feature that restricts the phone to one app. Guest Session supplies a collection of guest activities within that app and guides the owner through the handoff.

Does it collect my guest’s data?

Guest Session has no developer account system, advertising SDK, or analytics SDK. Its privacy policy explains its data practices. Optional websites and any sharing destination you choose have their own data practices.

A little more thought before you hand over your phone

Guest Session is built for a simple habit: prepare, share, clear. Give your guest useful things to do, confirm Guided Access is active, and finish with a fresh session for next time.

Find Guest Session on the App Store →
Guest Session support and setup help