The Playroom

Parent Settings

About these settings

This is the parents-only area. Kids can't reach it by accident because it needs a multiplication question. Here you can mute the talking voice, turn off sounds, see stars earned, and set up the kid lock.

Camera privacy

Photo Booth and Stop Motion use the device camera. Every picture stays on this device — nothing is uploaded, stored online, or sent anywhere. There is no account and no cloud. Tapping Save simply downloads the picture to this device, and on iPhone your child can press and hold a finished picture to add it to Photos.

If you would rather have Save open the phone's own share sheet (to send a picture straight to Photos, Messages, and so on), switch that on here. It stays off unless a parent turns it on.

Allow sharing photos from the camera

The phone will ask permission the first time. To revoke it later on iPhone: Settings → Safari → Camera (or Settings → Playroom → Camera if you added it to the home screen).

Lock the device into this app

Your phone can lock itself into the Playroom so kids can't swipe out to YouTube, the App Store, or your messages. Set it up once, then it's a triple-click every time.

iPhone & iPad — one-time setup (2 minutes)

Open Settings → Accessibility.
Scroll to the bottom → Guided Access → turn it ON.
Tap Passcode Settings → Set Guided Access Passcode → pick 6 digits the kids don't know. (Turn on Face ID / Touch ID here too if you want to exit with your face.)
Back on the Guided Access screen, set Display Auto-Lock to Never so the screen doesn't sleep mid-game.

Every time you hand over the phone

Open The Playroom.
Triple-click the side button (the power button). On older iPhones with a Home button, triple-click Home instead.
Tap Start (top right). The screen flashes "Guided Access Started" and they're locked in.

To let them out

Triple-click the side button again.
Enter your Guided Access passcode → tap End.

While it is on: swiping home does nothing, the app switcher is blocked, and notifications stay hidden. If you want to disable part of the screen (say, stop a toddler pressing something), circle that area with your finger on the Guided Access setup screen before tapping Start.

Android — App Pinning

Settings → Security & privacy → More security settings → App pinning (some phones: Settings → Security → Advanced) → turn ON.
Turn on "Ask for PIN before unpinning" — without this they can just hold Back to escape.
Open The Playroom → open Recent apps → tap the Playroom's icon at the top → Pin.
To exit: hold Back + Overview together, then enter your PIN.

Block the rest of the phone

Guided Access locks one session at a time. If you want the whole phone kid-safe all day, add Screen Time:

Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → turn on, then under iTunes & App Store Purchases set Installing Apps and In-app Purchases to Don't Allow. Under Content Restrictions → Web Content choose Limit Adult Websites.

Use a Screen Time passcode that's different from the phone's unlock code, otherwise they already know it.

Stars earned

Sound and voice

Sound effects Spoken prompts (the talking voice)

The Voice button at the top of every screen mutes speech immediately.

Choose a better speaking voice

The app stays private and uses a voice already installed on this device. Automatic mode now prefers natural, enhanced, premium, and local English voices. You can also choose one yourself:

Voice Speaking pace 0.92×

iPhone / iPad:
1. Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → English.
2. Pick a voice like Ava, Zoe, or Samantha and download the Enhanced (or Premium) version.
3. Reopen The Playroom. It finds and uses the new voice on its own.

Android: Settings → System → Languages → Text-to-speech → make sure Speech Services by Google is installed and updated.

Put it on the home screen

iPhone: open this page in Safari → Share button → Add to Home Screen. It opens like a real app, full screen, works offline.

Android: Chrome menu (⋮) → Add to Home screen / Install app.