Passcode-Protect Google Drive Accounts on an iPad

Please Note: This functionality has changed in 2018. The post below is old/archived.

Love Google Drive but concerned about privacy since you have iPads shared by multiple students throughout the day or week?  Have students set a passcode within the Google Drive apps to keep their account and files safe and private!  

NOTE:  This is not the same as adding a passcode to access the iPad tablet itself.

Once the passcode is set, the user will be prompted to enter it every time they want to access any Drive app!

NOTE: This works for Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc., but, you cannot currently passcode-protect Google Classroom app access, Gmail, or other non-Drive apps.

To Set a Passcode:

Open the Google Drive app on the iPad, click the menu icon (top-left) to expand the left-panel, then click Settings:

Switch Accounts

It’s easy to oscillate between accounts.  

The down-arrow will then reveal a list of all the Google Drive accounts currently added to the iPad. Once each account is passcode-protected (set by each individual student), then the user will only be able to open his/her own account.

Usefulness:

The same group of students uses iPads throughout the day (e.g. time blocks, class periods, or a cart shared by your grade-level team). You use a roster system, so each student is assigned a specific iPad number. (This minimizes the number of students accessing a single iPad, since they get the same one each day.) If the students who use iPad #5 add their Google Drive account and passcode-protect it, then their account is easily accessible when needed but still private to them.

Other Options?

Without Drive app passcodes, students would need to remove their account from the Drive apps in order to maintain privacy.  (There is not “Sign Out” options in the Drive apps.)

More Support On This Topic:

• Manage Google Drive on the iPad - great tips and steps from Shake Up Learning
• Google’s simple tutorial page on this topic