iOS 12.0 and Guided Access broken [UPDATE: RESOLVED]

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FYI As also happened at iOS 11.0.0, Apple seems to have broken Guided Access in iOS 12.0 GM. Even if auto-lock is set to Never, the device goes to sleep after 20 minutes. If you use an iOS 12 device as a Simple Hub, make sure to keep Guided Access turned off for now until they fix this. Auto-Lock works properly when Guided Access is turned off. The only downside to turning it off is that system-wide modal alerts do interrupt the app. These are very rare, but they include the alert that says something like “You have added a new iOS device to your Apple ID” for example. Guided Access prevents such interruptions. So be aware of it and just keep it off, or keep your Hub device on iOS 11 for now.

I would strongly encourage everyone to report this bug to Apple for prioritization purposes. Multiple bug reports is actually how they prioritize things. They fixed it quickly in iOS 11 around 11.0.1 or 2 so hopefully they’ll get to this quickly as well.

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Am I correct that as of iOS 12.1, Apple has still not corrected the going-to-sleep problem with Guided Access (even if Auto-Lock is set to Never)? Inability to ensure ongoing sync of my various iOS devices is very frustrating.

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I haven’t tested it personally because I am subscribed to so many things that would immediately tell me if they fixed it. It’s all over the web. This thread is a good summary:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8433367

Again, I highly encourage everyone to report this bug individually to Apple. One person reporting with a long thread is not relevant. Many people reporting is.

Anyway, I would suggest the following as solutions in order of preference:

  1. Don’t upgrade to iOS 12 on your Hub device. iOS 11 works great.
  2. Don’t use Guided Access, simply be aware of the alert that blocks apps when you add a new device to your iCloud account. If you add a new device, tap the alert on your Hub. Not really a big deal.
  3. Switch to tvOS 12 or macOS.

We have a radically different solution coming in V6, but that will be well into 2019.

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iOS 12.1.1 introduced a fix for this issue, but requires a change to a new setting introduced in this release to prevent the screen from sleeping: General > Accessibility > Guided Access > Mirror Display Auto-Lock > ON.

We believe it is now safe again to use Guided Access on your Simple Hub with iOS 12.1.1+.

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