The problem: guests + your iPad

An unattended photo booth means strangers' hands on your device for hours. Without a lock, someone will — innocently or not — swipe home, open your photos, change the template mid-event, or just exit the app and strand the booth on your home screen. Kiosk mode fixes this with two layers: an in-app lock and an iOS-level lock.

Layer 1: Event Mode in Photo Booth Studio

Photo Booth Studio ships with Event Mode, a password-locked booth state built exactly for this:

Guests can do everything guests should: start sessions, pose, print over AirPrint, and share strips by iMessage, WhatsApp, email, or AirDrop.
Everything else — leaving the booth screen, editing templates, app settings — sits behind your password.
You unlock it in two seconds when you need to; nobody else does all night.

Turn it on in the app before the event, choose a password you'll remember after two toasts, and share it with exactly one backup person.

Layer 2: Guided Access (iOS's built-in kiosk mode)

Guided Access pins the entire iPad to a single app — the system-level belt to Event Mode's suspenders. Set it up once:

Open Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access and switch it on.
Tap Passcode Settings and set a Guided Access passcode (make it different from your device passcode).
Open Photo Booth Studio and triple-click the top/side button (home button on older iPads), then tap Start.

Now the home gesture, app switcher, and notification pulls do nothing. To exit later: triple-click again and enter the passcode.

Why both layers? Guided Access stops guests leaving the app; Event Mode stops them changing things inside the app. Together, the only thing left to do at your booth is take photos — which is the point.

The rest of the lockdown checklist

Auto-Lock off: Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto-Lock → Never (restore it after the event).
Do Not Disturb on: no texts over the countdown screen.
Screen brightness up, True Tone off for consistent-looking captures.
Power: plug in if possible; a booth pulls camera + screen + printing all night.
Physical security: a stand with a clamp or locking enclosure at a public venue — software can't stop a walk-off.

Common questions

Can guests still print and share while it's locked?

Yes. Event Mode is designed so the guest-facing flow — shoot, print, share — stays fully open while your settings stay closed. That includes AirPrint printing.

What if I forget the Guided Access passcode?

You can end Guided Access with Face/Touch ID if you enabled it in Passcode Settings — do that. The Event Mode password is set and changed inside the app by you.

Does this work on iPhone too?

Identically — same Event Mode, same Guided Access steps. See the iPhone photo booth guide.

Make your booth guest-proof in five minutes

Download Photo Booth Studio and flip on Event Mode — then hand your iPad to the party with zero worry.

How to Lock Your iPad for a Photo Booth (Kiosk Mode)