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Parents: When did your toddler start being able to unlock your iPhone?

Q

quietloud

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 8, 2012
6
0
Just out of curiosity, when did your infant / toddler start being able to 'slide to unlock'?

I have a 14 month old daughter who loves to go for my phone, mainly because I rarely let her have it. Currently she is still enamored with the single button (thanks Steve) and is content with activating Siri and occasionally pulling up the camera or starting a song.

However, I do feel that the day is near when she will unlock her potential to unlock my phone, and I feel nervous about this. I try hard not to let her see me unlock it. So parents, what has been your experience?
 
I don't have kids so I can't offer an opinion on that, but I'd say when your kid gets old enough to unlock it, start using a pass code. That would be your best bet.
 
Slide to unlock, 11 months... Now at 2 years she goes into YouTube and knows what to type to get to her videos...
My 6 year old has an iPod touch, the 2 year old is asking for one...
 
my 3 daughter knows how to completely use my ipad besides messing around in settings menu. She knows how to activate SBsettings and turn the brightness all the way up which is annoying. She mainly uses it to watch her Netflix shows, play Monkey lunchbox educational games, and play some dress up game. She started playing with my iphone at 2 so it helped her learn to use the ipad.
 
Slide to unlock on purpose at 16 months. He celebrates when he does it. He's 17 months tomorrow. He has an iPad he shares with mom & is now getting a Touch as we are not fans of him taking our iPhones & holding up to his head as well as deleting/rearranging apps. Crazy what they know.
 
It's crazy how little kids know their way around gadgets. My cousin, at age 2, somehow knew how to get to the games on my uncle's dumb phone even though it took me forever to figure out how to get to the settings to change his ringtone for him. :confused: I know other 2-and-3 year-old kids who know how to play games, surf youtube, etc, on their parents' iphones and ipads.
 
Our daughter is barely 2 years old now, and she operates the iPhone like one of her toys, as in, she slides to unlock, and change apps all the time, She also plays some of the LEGO games we downloaded for her. Well, mommy and me got an iPhone 5 now, so we don't want her to toy around with it too much, so we took the money from her piggybank, and bought her a used iPod Touch pretty cheaply, and a cover, and filled it with games for her. She enjoys it very much :) She now facetimes her grandparents, and shoots pictures too :) Since the iPod is used, it doesn't matter much if she drops it now and then, but she is mainly very careful with it :)
 
Around his first birthday he got the hang of slide to unlock. Now at 15 months he can double click the home button and start music, activate Siri, delete my email and he loves to rearrange my apps :(
 
I have watched too many parents that allow babies and toddlers to play with their iphone. And heard too many stories of lost files, contacts, etc. Then there are the broken phones.

There is an easy answer. This is NOT a toy. You do not play with it. End of discussion.
 
nostresshere said:
I have watched too many parents that allow babies and toddlers to play with their iphone. And heard too many stories of lost files, contacts, etc. Then there are the broken phones.

There is an easy answer. This is NOT a toy. You do not play with it. End of discussion.
Click to expand...

Our 22 month old can unlock the Ipad that doesn't have a passcode. She is able to find her apps and can open and play those. We don't let her play with our iphones, but the Ipad is free game with supervision. We have all of our stuff backed up so if she deletes something it is no big deal.

While these are not toys, they are learning tools and can assist in the development of a child.
 
nostresshere said:
I have watched too many parents that allow babies and toddlers to play with their iphone. And heard too many stories of lost files, contacts, etc. Then there are the broken phones.

There is an easy answer. This is NOT a toy. You do not play with it. End of discussion.
Click to expand...

wooomp wOOOOOooommmmPPPPppp!

Who's your screen name trying to convince? us... or you?

My kid is almost 2 and she likes going through the pictures. There are some pretty good todler-oriented apps out there for the iPad and iPhone (looking at you "nostresshere") which effectively turn our beloved gadgets into a nice, shiny, expensive, TOY for our kids.

My answer though: old galaxy S (fascinate) phones rooted w/Cyanogenmod and all the todler apps a little kid could want!
 
My son has been able to slide to unlock since he was about 1. He is 2 1/2 and he can now unlock even if it has a passcode and slide to the pages that has his games on it. He is autistic so I have found the iPad specifically to be a good tool for him and he has a page on it for his games only. Only problem is he has taken over my iPad. Won't be a problem too much longer though since his grandpa has decided to get him his own (likely the mini).
 
My daughter has been sliding to unlock since she was about 12 months. Now at 26 months she knows how to slide to unlock, then go to the third page, hit the "Baby" app folder and then open her Elmo app.
 
My daughter slid to unlock at about 2. At 3 now, She loves playing with my ipad 1, but I rather her stay away from my iphone 5!

She knows how to unlock it, go to youtube and watch a video, and of course find a game she likes and plays it.
 
1080p said:
Never. I would never let a toddler handle my iPhone. Hoever... my daughter received her own iPod Touch at age 7.
Click to expand...

Each to their own, but i wouldn't let my toddlers play with my phone/ipad at that age.
I am old fashioned, but there are some things which are mine and not for my (then) young children to play with. That said i bought them an ixus camera from ebay for £30 which they have used since they were two and have looked after it very well. They wouldn't dare go near my £1700 DSLR :)

My son is getting my touch for his 9th birthday tomorrow, i feel he's now at an age where he can appreciate this better and is using the mac more for homework as well as email.
 
My daughter started sliding to unlock at 18 months on our iPad (no passcode). She's now 21 months, and can unlock it, go into the photos, swipe left and right and pull up photos, she knows where the folder is on the second screen with her toddler games, and knows how to start them all, and is learning all the time how to play each. She also knows where the Video app is, and how to start Elmo or Bubble Guppies videos we have on there. Usually, when she plays with it, we sit with her and interact with the educational games with her, but sometimes, she's perfectly capable of using it on her own.

It's a different time now than it was when we were kids. These devices will be second nature to them, and the earlier they learn how to use them, the better off they will be. Just like learning a foreign language, easier to do while young.

I have no qualms about letting my kids play with our iPad/iPhones. If you are worried about accidental breakage, that's what AppleCare is for. I view that as a small price to pay for giving my kids a head start in technology.
 
I had a Droid X before I got my iPhone 5. My daughter made her first phone call at about 13 months. After that the lockscreen was no match for her. She also managed to dial 911 on a neighbor's phone. She's 17 months now and plays iPad games, but the iPhone is off limits. She loves picking up anything closely resembling a cell phone and puts it up to her ear, says hi and babbles a bit then says bye bye.

Remote controls are her next favorite, especially the Harmony One. We've given her old remotes but somehow she knows their not good and ignores them.
 
No kids of my own. However, my 2 nieces are pros! Cate is 3 and is a wiz at the iPad. She knows how to find the games she wants, plays movies, listen to music, plays with the camera etc. Isabelle is 19 months and has no problems with the iPhone. Slide to unlock she got at about a year old. Now, she knows where the games are, picks the one she wants and is constantly asking me for my phone "Auntie, Phone! Phone!" I got smart this week and put a passcode on it. ;)
 
My 2 year old learnt to unlock my iPhone at around 10 months. Now he's 2 and we really have to watch we don't leave any iDevices lying around. He knows how to get to Netflix and start his favourite show, same with youtube. One time I found him with my phone playing fruit ninja. He was saying "don't get the bombs" as he played. His high score is 11 :)
 
Slightly off topic, but goes hand in hand with it though. Turn on guided Access to lock down the iPhone/iPad to a single app when your child is on your device to prevent them from messing around with other parts of the phone.
 
I loved reading about all of your experiences. Thanks for sharing. Children are truly amazing. My daughter is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I see a lot of varying ages here at which 'slide to unlock' was achieved, so that gives me hope I can keep it hidden from her for a while longer. "Don't get the bombs" lol! And I'm not looking forward to the day when I have to make a 'Baby' folder on my home screen.

It's really true that kids today are growing up in a completely different environment than we did, for better or for worse, and we all have to learn how to navigate how best to integrate technology in their childhood. We didn't have iPhones and Internet and computers when we were toddlers, but that doesn't mean that we should or even could take a hardline 'no screens, no technology' approach. It's enlightening to hear how other parents think about and structure technology in their households.
 
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