Toddlers and the iPad - The Frustrating Home Button

I came across the BubCap to help my toddler use my iPad more effectively.  It has helped.  One of the great frustrations is that she loves to hit the "home" button and she doesn't stay focused.  She makes herself mad all the time ... It is a vicious cycle to a certain extent. 

The BubCap is easy to apply and it has worked as advertised ... Although, my toddler has not tried to peel it off yet! I sent to the creator of the BubCap to get a better explanation and here is what they shared with me.

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There are thousands of iOS apps designed for toddlers; many of these apps are truly educational as well as entertaining for young children. But when it comes time for an adult to share an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch with a toddler, there's a clear Achilles' heel to an otherwise wonderful combination of hardware and software: the home button.

Toddlers, particularly between the ages of one and two, are extremely drawn to repeatedly pressing the home button. You can't blame toddlers for this attraction; the home button is the only prominent tactile button on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches, and pressing it always gives a clear cause-and-effect reward by changing the the full-size screen. 

The problem is, pressing the home button immediately takes the child out of the app they are using. A toddler who presses the home button every 10 seconds, which isn't an uncommon frequency, will simply never experience any app loaded for them. Another problem is that, even with full restriction settings, a few pushes of the home button, plus some random swipes on the screen, can put toddlers in adult programs such as Contacts and Calendar. Within a minute or two, a toddler can inadvertently alter or delete important information. There is no way to lock down these and many other adult apps other than locking the entire device in the off position.

In January of this year, Paperclip Robot introduced the BubCap home button cover, a unique and inexpensive accessory that deters toddlers from pressing the home button. This simple accessory is basically an adhesive-backed plastic tab that is placed over the home button. The elegance of the BubCap is that it is rigid enough to deter toddlers from pressing the home button, yet flexible enough that adults can continue to press the home button right through the BubCap with a firm press. This dual-functionality allows a BubCap to be left on at all times, transforming any iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into a much more toddler-friendly device.

BubCaps have limitations; they won't work with all cases and they aren't recommended to be adhered over a screen protector. BubCaps may not work with all kids, depending on their stage of development, physical strength, and how driven they are to activate the home button. However, for toddlers who are just discovering an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, BubCaps seem like a very effective product to keep them focused on apps, rather than the home button. Since there are no other products currently available (hardware or software) to disable the home button on a non-jailbroken iOS device, adults can rejoice that at least one company has stepped up to deal with this problem. The BubCap Intro-Pack includes two regular BubCaps and two thicker BubCap Ultras, and is available for only $5 at BubCap.com and on Amazon.com.