Single app mode locks to home screen in iPadOS 26.0.1

Tested further.

Took 2 11th gen iPads I had.  One left on iPadOS 18.4.1.  The other upgraded to iPadOS 26.0.1.  Put in Single App Mode on both.  No issue unlocking on iPadOS 18.4.1.  Could not unlock on iPadOS 26.0.1.  Tested with different apps in Single App Mode (so not application specific).

I’m continuing to test further, but it seems something may be up with Single App Mode on iPadOS 26.0.1.  Just wondering if anyone else has run into a similar issue with it?

Issue also happens with iPadOS 26.0.  Proceeding to test with iPadOS 26.1 beta.

Tested with iPadOS 26.1 beta and the issue does not occur with that.  After clicking power button and again to get to lock screen it just take you right back into the app and you don’t see the lock screen.

Hey, 

I got a problem too on iPadOS 26 and single App mode, when you launch a video in a floating window, and then apply a profile with single App mode, the video continues playing even if the iPad doesn’t react to the touch and other actions.

When the video is ending, the iPad applies the profiles and blocks the iPad on the selected App.

It doesn’t work on iPadOS 26.1 either.

​@BenDat not quite the same as this.  If I’m understanding your issue correctly it seems to be working as intended.  Doesn’t really lock a user out from anything other than intended and could probably be resolved with a reboot of the iPad.  For the issue I’m observing if the issue isn’t occuring a reboot will cause it to happen after it’s locked.  Tested by pushing out Single App Mode to iPad on iPadOS 26.0.x and initially it’s fine but reboot the iPad and it goes to the app but after it’s locked you can’t get out of the lock screen.  I know the title says home screen.  I should have put lock screen.  iPad is basically unusable once locked without another reboot.  It would subsequenctly need a reboot each time to use it because once it goes to sleep or gets locked I am unable to unlock it.

We had success on one device to unscope it and scope it again so the profiles are somehow refreshed..?

​@dletkeman, I can confirm we’re seeing this same issue on at least 3 iPads so far. They were all on iPadOS 26.0 or later. I’m hoping that 26.1 resolves the issue for us as well.

I tried that but it didn’t work for me.

​@dletkeman one of our staff was able to unlock an iPad (10th gen, iPadOS 26.0.1, in single app mode) by just tapping the power button. Tapping the screen to wake the device still leaves you stuck on the lock screen, but if you let it timeout or tap the power button to put the device asleep, apparently you can just tap the power button again to unlock without getting stuck on the lock screen.

Disregard. They were using Guided Access, not Single App Mode.

Am experiencing this on iPad Air 4th gens running 26 and 26.01 as well, only way to unlock is manual reboot or reboot push command.

Confirmed 26.1 resolved the issue for us. We’re going to have to manually remove iPads from single app mode during the update though, otherwise they reboot to the lock screen after updating (with the Hello message that cycles through different languages) and stay stuck on that screen, even after manually rebooting.

Confirmed as well, 26.1 opens to single app.