iPad Home button fails in Guided Access after iPadOS 27 update

Hi Muriel,

Re: "iPad Home button fails in Guided Access after iPadOS 27 update"

If you haven't tried it already: wondering if restarting your iPad could help.

That sometimes restores order when something is not working as expected'

If needed: See how to: Restart your iPad - Apple Support

Am no expert in this area, yet your post to the community deserves some response.

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For iPadOS 27: Apple support provides the linked article below:

Lock iPad to one app with Guided Access - Apple Support

When setting up: The choices for ending a session say:

Set up Guided Access

1. Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Accessibility, tap Guided Access, then turn on Guided Access.
3. Do any of the following for Guided Access sessions:

• • End a session with a passcode: Tap Passcode Settings, tap Set Guided Access Passcode, then enter a passcode.
  • End a session with Face ID or Touch ID: Tap Passcode Settings, then turn on Face ID (on an iPad with Face ID) or Touch ID (on other iPad models).

Also says:

"End a Guided Access session

Depending on the passcode options you chose when you set up Guided Access, you’ll enter your Guided Access passcode or use Face ID to end a Guided Access session.

• Use the passcode: Triple-click the top button (on an iPad with Face ID) or Home button (on other iPad models), then enter your Guided Access passcode.
• Use Face ID or Touch ID: If you turned on the Face ID or Touch ID option in Guided Access Passcode Settings, triple-click the top button or Home button, then unlock your iPad with Face ID or Touch ID (depending on your iPad model)."

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I don't know whether or not you could make use of the Accessibility shortcut if you wanted to:

See how to: Quickly turn accessibility features on or off on iPad

Eg: says:

"You can quickly turn many accessibility features on or off by clicking an iPad button. You can also use Control Center, Siri, or Vocal Shortcuts."

also says:

"To use the Accessibility Shortcut while Guided Access is on, you must turn on Accessibility Shortcut in Guided Access settings."

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If you want to reach out to them: Apple provides an Accessibility Support Team

See: How to contact Apple for help with accessibility features - Apple Support 

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If you wish: You can send feedback to let Apple know of your experience:

If others also experience the same problem, Apple may address it in an update:

To provide feedback about an accessibility feature on an Apple product,

email the Accessibility team: accessibility@apple.com. 

All the best :-)

I am seeing the exact same thing! And none of the usual guided access tricks work because the home button is disabled so the triple press does not work.

Restarting the ipads - I've done this on several ipads I manage and they just jump back into guided access when they've rebooted. Nothing is working. It's very frustrating. I can't even recover my ipad as it just freezes.

Thank you for your post to the community on this topic under discussion.

Usually used only as a last resort:

In the linked article below: There are instructions for how to:

(1) Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

or

(2) Force restart iPad (models with the Home button)

You might want to try it: Force restart iPad - Apple Support

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More info. if needed:

What to do: If your iPad doesn't respond - Apple Support

This is THE WORST new “feature” with iOS 27.0. The only way to get out of Guided Access is to let the iPad battery drain to 0% and THEN plug it in. Once it starts back up again, it will be out of Guided Access mode. Just don’t put it back into GA because it is definitely disabling the Home button.

I wanted to add, we are experiencing this same issue at our school district. We have several devices which are "app locked" (Via Securly) into an Application. Some of our iPads auto-updated to iOS 27, and since then, the home button functionality ceased while in app lock. Previously, the home button would wake the device.

Similarly, iOS 27 iPads which are locked into an app via "Guided Access" also lose home button functionality (Cannot triple press to escape).

Our assessment at the moment is when locked into an app, whether guided access or via a management service, home button loses its functionality.

We were able to successfully replicate this issue across several iPads. Seems to occur every time.

Thanks!

~Sean