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I know this has been asked previously however I would like to disable the home button for an in-house app which will be distributed internally across iPads.

I have searched for a solution both on here and Google and would like to stop users from putting the app into the background. I have seen one solution which doesn't seem to work under iOS 4.0 which opens the app up again when the home button is pressed.

Could I make use of any private APIs to do this seeing as this is an internal app and won't be reviewed by Apple for the App Store?

Thanks

AndyDev
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  • Possible dupe of [this](http://stackoverflow.com/q/4190169/3009). – highlycaffeinated Jul 20 '11 at 18:30
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    Don't do this. Not even if you want to. Just don't. It's evil. – Jonathan Grynspan Jul 20 '11 at 18:32
  • possible duplicate of [Can I disable Home Button on my App? (full screen browser kiosk mode)](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4570511/can-i-disable-home-button-on-my-app-full-screen-browser-kiosk-mode) – AShelly Jul 20 '11 at 18:34
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    Even if it is internal only, how would you ever end your app? Force reboot? – AShelly Jul 20 '11 at 18:35
  • I'd include functionality to get around it obviously. I just want to know if it possible at all. – AndyDev Jul 20 '11 at 18:37
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    I won't be submitting this app. The question is "Could I make use of any private APIs to do this seeing as this is an internal app and won't be reviewed by Apple for the App Store?". – AndyDev Jul 20 '11 at 18:48
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    @Alex Coplan OP specifically mentioned that this is for in-house purposes and isn't something that would be submitted to Apple. – csano Jul 20 '11 at 18:48
  • @AndyDev : did you find solution for this? – Fahim Parkar Jun 23 '14 at 14:42

4 Answers4

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I don't know why this is down voted so much it is a perfectly legit use case for an internal enterprise application. Kiosks, POS etc.

Anyway anyone wanting to know how to do this should see my answer here Lock-down iPhone/iPod/iPad so it can only run one app

Community
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Rick
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Whatever your reasons are you are not able to do this.

Apple provides no functionality to perform this action through their API. You might want to re-think your strategy. Look maybe instead for a physical barrier.

Additionally you might want to look into JailBreaking and iPhone since you say it is only for internal development and won't go to the appstore. A jail broken phone might allow you access to change the home button behavior, though I cannot confirm this since I have never had need to code on a jail broken device.

BOMEz
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If it's your iPad, glue or bolt a cover over the home button. Connect the iPad to Xcode or iTunes to halt and/or reload your app.

But note that knowledgable users will still be able to reboot the device by holding down the lock button.

hotpaw2
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    Unfortunately the device can't have a cover. The disabling of the Home Button needs to be performed through the app. My only thought is to use iOS3 and simply open the app again if it gets terminated using openURL (this isn't possible in iOS4). – AndyDev Jul 20 '11 at 19:03
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Jailbreak and add incarcer app can disable the home button (admin has a code to allow activation). Then you're locked in your app. If you're up for jailbreaking, seems like a great solution.

There's a new hardware solution, adhesive-backed aluminum home button covers. They allow home button activation through a pinhole, using a paperclip (similar to many popular metal encosures). http://bubcap.com/bubcap-pro.html

Jeff Braun
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