Even the most secure lock screen can never ensure security. There’s always a chance someone may access your phone in an unlocked state. If you want to stop that from ever happening and protect your privacy, consider hiding your apps.
How to Hide Apps on Android
Depending on your phone type, there are a few ways to hide your apps on an android smartphone.
How to Hide Apps on Samsung Phones
- Tap and hold any empty space on your Samsung’s home page
2. When different settings pop up, tap on the Home Screen Settings button in the bottom right corner.
3. Scroll down, locate “Hide Apps,” and tap on any app that you would want to hide.
4. Tap on “Done.”
All the hidden apps, along with their shortcuts, will be removed from the home screen. To remove an app from the hidden apps list, tap on the minus sign next to it.
How to hide apps on Oneplus phones
- Swipe up on the home screen to open your app drawer
- Now swipe right to open your phone’s hidden space folder
- Tap the plus (+) button to add an app
(You can add as many apps as you want)
- Enable a password (if necessary)
- Tap on the checkmark to save your selection.
How to hide apps on Xiaomi phones
Unfortunately, there’s no way to hide apps on Xiaomi phones, but there’s a catch. You can use its “App Lock” feature to add another layer of security. Plus, you can use it to lock any app you want. However, this feature is turned off by default. You have to turn it on first.
- Open the “Settings” menu
- Search for “App Lock” and tap on the setting once you find it.
- Tap on “Turn On.”
- Set a pattern and tap Next
- Next, you can add your Mi Account if you want. It will help you restore your app lock if you forget it in the future. You can also tap on “Not Now” if you trust your memory.
- Select the apps you wish to protect with App Lock. Don’t worry if you don’t see the app you want to lock on this screen. You can add it later.
- Turn on the Fingerprint lock if you want.
- In the final screen, you can add any app to the “App Lock” screen.
How to Hide Apps on Google phones
Unfortunately, there is no in-built feature in Google smartphones that lets you hide apps. However, you can hide apps from the app drawer with the help of a third-party app. To learn how to do that, follow the section below!
How to hide apps on any Android phone with a third-party app
If you are unable to find “Hide App,” “App Lock,” or a similar security application on your phone, try a third-party android app. These third-party security apps work just like in-built security apps and sometimes even better.
I am using “AppHider” to secure my apps for this tutorial.
- Download the AppHider app from the Google Play Store.
- The App will ask you to download DC Launcher.
- Go on and download the DC launcher. Don’t open the DC launcher yet.
- Now open the AppHider
- Set DC Launcher as your default launcher for better security of your hidden apps.
- You can set a PIN code to prevent unwanted access if you want.
- Click on the + icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to add apps.
- Now, you can go back to AppHider and add any other app you want to hide.
Best third party apps to hide any app on Android
If you don’t want to use AppHider, here are some other excellent alternatives among the top Google Playstore apps.
- Nova Launcher Prime
- Vault
- Nova Launcher
- Keepsafe Photo Vault
- Private Zone
Extra Tips to Hide Your Private Apps
Are you still struggling to hide apps on your android device? Don’t worry. I will now reveal some of my secret strategies to ward off the prying eyes.
Use the second space
Brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oneplus offer a “Second Space” in their smartphones. You can use this separate space to store data as well as apps. In theory, it’s just like user profiles on a windows computer. However, its difference is that you can easily access it by drawing a separately-unique lock pattern.
Hide in plain sight
That’s right! I am talking about hiding your app right on the home screen. Simply put this app along with 5 or 6 other apps in a single folder. You can then place this folder on the home screen. It will just look like any other collection of apps at a bird’s eye view. You can even rename the folder to “More Apps” or whatever.
Use dual apps
Many android phones come with the Dual Apps feature. With this feature, you can simply create a clone of your app. For example, you can clone the Facebook app and use two different Facebook profiles. Keep the clone on the home screen while hiding the original app somewhere in a secure password-protected folder.
Install an icon changer
An icon changer app is exactly what it says – an app for changing icons. It can help you change icons, alter the name, and customize the overall look of any app. Good icon changer apps come with customized icon packs to let you choose a suitable icon. My favorite is “X Icon Changer,” although there are some other decent alternatives on the play store.
Go old school
If you are really desperate about security, go old school and hide your app in a password-protected folder. Use a strong password to keep the files safe. Usually, most android phones come with a secure folder. If not, you can create a new Folder and then secure it with a password.
Combine any two (or three) strategies
You can also use a combination of the strategies above to protect your privacy. For instance, relocating the password-protected folder to the second space, or changing its name and icon before moving it to a secure folder, etc.
Note: The step-by-step instructions to hide apps on Android were put together using smartphones running Android 11. Depending on your software version, these steps might be slightly different.
