AndroidTutor2018- If you frequently suffer the minor pang of a panic attack when you hand your phone to someone and realize you have sensitive emails/documents/images or other files on your device, then you need a way of hiding those files from prying eyes. Or perhaps you have apps installed that you'd rather keep for just your own eyes. No one needs to know about that Farming Sim app you play. Either way, we've put together a list of different ways you can keep your personal files and apps secure.
Best apps for making money on Android
How to hide albums in your Android gallery
You'll need the paid version of Nova Launcher to hide apps but there are free alternatives too. / © AndroidPIT
If you really want to have the most granular control possible over what appears on your phone, you may well need to root it but if you'd rather not do that, we've included some non-root options too. Plus, Android has a few built-in features you can make use of to keep your secret things secret.
The basics of hiding your files and apps
While some manufacturers have added 'vault' features to provide a secure space on handsets (Samsung, for example), stock Android hasn't been very good at dealing with the need to selectively show files and folders by default, and from what we've seen of Nougat so far, it hasn't made great leaps in this area just yet.
What users with any version of Android can do for a really basic privacy fix is alter the names of the folders holding the content you want to hide. So if you want to hide your images, open up a file explorer (there's a basic one built into Android Marshmallow and Nougat), select the folder with the images you want to hide and alter its name. Now, it won't show your images in your gallery or files in folders.
Of course, it's not really very hidden though - Android isn't automatically pulling the information onto your display anymore but if you lose your phone the files are still fully accessible.
Similarly, you can hide those annoying pre-installed apps that arrive with your phone but don't allow uninstallation without using a third-party app. To do so, you need to navigate to Settings > Apps and then choose the app you want to hide. If you can't uninstall them, you can usually disable them. If you need to learn how to stop apps from running in the background, you can do that first.
Outside help
Unless you want the most basic of hiding and 'protection' from prying eyes, you'll probably want to turn to third-party help in getting better control of your data, files and apps. Luckily, there are a whole load of apps to help you achieve your goal.
Hide your apps
If you just want to hide, rather than secure, your apps, one of the easiest ways to do this is by installing a non-stock launcher (assuming your manufacturer hasn't provided a native option for hiding apps). There are a whole lot to choose from that let you hide apps, but among the most popular on the Play Store is the ever-present Nova Launcher.
While there's a free version of Nova Launcher, you'll need the paid Prime upgrade to unlock the option to hide apps. If you purchase that, you'll need to navigate to Nova Launcher > Nova settings >App & Widget drawers and then scroll down to the Drawer groups > Hide apps option.
Nova Launcher Prime Apex Launcher is another popular option that includes the ability to hide apps, except that it doesn't require a paid upgrade to access the feature. Just open Settings > Drawer Settings > Hidden apps to control which are visible in your app drawer.
Apex Launcher
Hide It Pro offers a huge amount of free features. / © AndroidPIT
Lock your apps
OK, so perhaps you've hidden your apps using the options above but know deep down that what you want is security, not obfuscation. To stop people opening your apps at all, hidden or otherwise, you have several third-party options available. You'll probably want to try and couple to find one you like most.
One of the most popular free options on the Play Store to add a lock to your apps is AppLock; it works for videos and images too, but we've got more suggestions to lock those items later.
As well as allowing you to lock apps and other items, it's also got a useful feature that allows you to prevent the app being uninstalled. Once this Advanced Protection is activated, you'll need to use the password that you set to uninstall the app. You can also disable the Advanced Protection when you don't need to use it.
AppLock One thing that's worth keeping in mind is that there's another version called 'AppLock Fingerprint,' even though both apps now support fingerprint unlocking. It also brings other options, like a selfie snapshot of anyone trying to access your phone without authorization and the ability to lock your phone remotely. Both offer paid in-app upgrades too.
Once installed, you just need to scroll through a list of your installed apps and select which ones you want to protect. Then, each time you open one of those apps, you'll be asked for a password or fingerprint to unlock them.
Oh, and if the ads are too annoying you can pay for a premium version that removes them.
AppLock - Fingerprint Go incognito
Until now, all the apps in this list do exactly what you'd expect them to do, but there are other covert options available that put a bit more effort into hiding the fact that you're withholding files and apps from being displayed.
For example, Hide It Pro uses an icon that describes it as an 'audio manager' and when you first open the app, what you see are some audio settings. Press and hold the logo and you can access the secure section of your phone where all your hidden files, apps and other content can be found.
There are also other features baked in to Hide It Pro, like file encryption on a case-by-case basis, but for some aspects (like secure messaging or browsing) you'll need to install the add-ons separately.
Hide Photos, Video-Hide it Pro Another option you have is Smart Hide Calculator, which is a fully-functional calculator and a way of hiding files, apps, images, videos and anything else you want to keep password-locked. It's not quite as fully-featured as Hide It Pro, but it does offer a simple way of making files invisible to anyone else that uses your phone.
To access your vault of content, you need to enter the password you set-up when you first opened the app and hit the equals key. If you want to use Smart Hide Calculator to conceal your apps too, you'll need a rooted Android smartphone.
Remember
Which app you use to hide or protect your files and other bits will depend on what you want to achieve. If you simply want to hide the files from showing up at all, you can do that without installing anything, but it isn't going to offer much protection if you have data on there that someone wants (and has the opportunity) to access.
With so many apps to choose from on the Play Store, perhaps you have a favorite that isn't on this list! Let us know which app you prefer in the comments below!
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by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links
12 comments
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Write new comment:
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1 Ματ Σιγ 1 day ago Link to comment
Nice article and very helpful !
An other NEW android software which probably will be helpful too is the 'Eclipse Hider'
facebook.com/eclipse.hider/
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipse_free.eclipse_free.eclipse_free&hl=en
0
Reply
17 BruinGuy 11 months ago Link to comment
Treat you phone like your toothbrush and you won't have security issues.
0
Reply
18 Albin Foro 11 months ago Link to comment
This seems to depend on how a user "lends" the device to somebody else. My main defense against theft has been a pattern screen lock and software to pursue the thief and disable the phone if needed.
My personal lending has been to hand it to somebody to make a call or send an SMS while I'm standing there - the first line of defense against abuse seems to be how much time you're giving the Alien User to abuse your trust. I haven't lent the phone overnight or walked away to let them read SMS, emails or etc. Beyond that, I encrypt and/or require a password for personal information kept in Dropbox and OneDrive - if the service doesn't facilitate this I don't put confidential info into that service. I suppose if I was active on various social media I'd be more worried, but as is not so.
0
Reply
4 Michael D'Angelo 11 months ago Link to comment
What software are you using to pursue the thief?
0
Reply
18 Albin Foro 6 months ago Link to comment
Android Lost (Theis Borg) on my older G and J devices, Google's ADM seems good enough for the newer L and M.
0
Reply
14 Diptangshu M. Mar 28, 2016 Link to comment
Great! Will test them out someday.
0
Reply
2 Russell Wilson May 26, 2015 Link to comment
Andrognito does NOT allow you to hide apps -- you didn't really try it, did you? It's really NOT worth getting the so-called "premium" which ONLY looks pretty -- its functionality - ease of use -- is INCREDIBLY bad -- showing only the internal SD card; not allowing searching / selecting by location, name etc --- I'm REALLY sorry I relied on this review and wasted my money on it.
1 Tim Norton
Reply
14 Sean Stockemer Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
no mention at all of Hide It Pro?
cooked into all custom roms that I've run in the last year
1 Scott Adam Gordon
Reply
31 Scott Adam Gordon Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Yep, Hide It Pro. Good functionality and reliable. Worth mentioning for sure. Might add it to the list sometime.
0
Reply
18 Glostermeteor Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Another incredibly useful app is EDS which allows you to create encrypted file containers. It is fully compatible with TrueCrypt as well so you can create an encrypted container on your PC and transfer it to your Android device and vice-versa
0
Reply
19 Moni Mihailov Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
I'm currently using File Hider PRO :)
0
Reply
6 Timothy Cremeans Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Android apps have helped enhance a smartphone user's ability to private files and information. It offers everything at your fingertips.
1 Moni Mihailov
Reply
Write a comment!
Best apps for making money on Android
How to hide albums in your Android gallery
You'll need the paid version of Nova Launcher to hide apps but there are free alternatives too. / © AndroidPIT
If you really want to have the most granular control possible over what appears on your phone, you may well need to root it but if you'd rather not do that, we've included some non-root options too. Plus, Android has a few built-in features you can make use of to keep your secret things secret.
The basics of hiding your files and apps
While some manufacturers have added 'vault' features to provide a secure space on handsets (Samsung, for example), stock Android hasn't been very good at dealing with the need to selectively show files and folders by default, and from what we've seen of Nougat so far, it hasn't made great leaps in this area just yet.
What users with any version of Android can do for a really basic privacy fix is alter the names of the folders holding the content you want to hide. So if you want to hide your images, open up a file explorer (there's a basic one built into Android Marshmallow and Nougat), select the folder with the images you want to hide and alter its name. Now, it won't show your images in your gallery or files in folders.
Of course, it's not really very hidden though - Android isn't automatically pulling the information onto your display anymore but if you lose your phone the files are still fully accessible.
Similarly, you can hide those annoying pre-installed apps that arrive with your phone but don't allow uninstallation without using a third-party app. To do so, you need to navigate to Settings > Apps and then choose the app you want to hide. If you can't uninstall them, you can usually disable them. If you need to learn how to stop apps from running in the background, you can do that first.
Outside help
Unless you want the most basic of hiding and 'protection' from prying eyes, you'll probably want to turn to third-party help in getting better control of your data, files and apps. Luckily, there are a whole load of apps to help you achieve your goal.
Hide your apps
If you just want to hide, rather than secure, your apps, one of the easiest ways to do this is by installing a non-stock launcher (assuming your manufacturer hasn't provided a native option for hiding apps). There are a whole lot to choose from that let you hide apps, but among the most popular on the Play Store is the ever-present Nova Launcher.
While there's a free version of Nova Launcher, you'll need the paid Prime upgrade to unlock the option to hide apps. If you purchase that, you'll need to navigate to Nova Launcher > Nova settings >App & Widget drawers and then scroll down to the Drawer groups > Hide apps option.
Nova Launcher Prime Apex Launcher is another popular option that includes the ability to hide apps, except that it doesn't require a paid upgrade to access the feature. Just open Settings > Drawer Settings > Hidden apps to control which are visible in your app drawer.
Apex Launcher
Hide It Pro offers a huge amount of free features. / © AndroidPIT
Lock your apps
OK, so perhaps you've hidden your apps using the options above but know deep down that what you want is security, not obfuscation. To stop people opening your apps at all, hidden or otherwise, you have several third-party options available. You'll probably want to try and couple to find one you like most.
One of the most popular free options on the Play Store to add a lock to your apps is AppLock; it works for videos and images too, but we've got more suggestions to lock those items later.
As well as allowing you to lock apps and other items, it's also got a useful feature that allows you to prevent the app being uninstalled. Once this Advanced Protection is activated, you'll need to use the password that you set to uninstall the app. You can also disable the Advanced Protection when you don't need to use it.
AppLock One thing that's worth keeping in mind is that there's another version called 'AppLock Fingerprint,' even though both apps now support fingerprint unlocking. It also brings other options, like a selfie snapshot of anyone trying to access your phone without authorization and the ability to lock your phone remotely. Both offer paid in-app upgrades too.
Once installed, you just need to scroll through a list of your installed apps and select which ones you want to protect. Then, each time you open one of those apps, you'll be asked for a password or fingerprint to unlock them.
Oh, and if the ads are too annoying you can pay for a premium version that removes them.
AppLock - Fingerprint Go incognito
Until now, all the apps in this list do exactly what you'd expect them to do, but there are other covert options available that put a bit more effort into hiding the fact that you're withholding files and apps from being displayed.
For example, Hide It Pro uses an icon that describes it as an 'audio manager' and when you first open the app, what you see are some audio settings. Press and hold the logo and you can access the secure section of your phone where all your hidden files, apps and other content can be found.
There are also other features baked in to Hide It Pro, like file encryption on a case-by-case basis, but for some aspects (like secure messaging or browsing) you'll need to install the add-ons separately.
Hide Photos, Video-Hide it Pro Another option you have is Smart Hide Calculator, which is a fully-functional calculator and a way of hiding files, apps, images, videos and anything else you want to keep password-locked. It's not quite as fully-featured as Hide It Pro, but it does offer a simple way of making files invisible to anyone else that uses your phone.
To access your vault of content, you need to enter the password you set-up when you first opened the app and hit the equals key. If you want to use Smart Hide Calculator to conceal your apps too, you'll need a rooted Android smartphone.
Remember
Which app you use to hide or protect your files and other bits will depend on what you want to achieve. If you simply want to hide the files from showing up at all, you can do that without installing anything, but it isn't going to offer much protection if you have data on there that someone wants (and has the opportunity) to access.
With so many apps to choose from on the Play Store, perhaps you have a favorite that isn't on this list! Let us know which app you prefer in the comments below!
505 Shares
Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter Share on Google+ 505 Shares
More from the web
How I Found Motivation by Ditching Earbuds and Embracing DiscomfortZappos
Monterey Park, California: This Company You May Not Have Heard Of Is Disrupting A $200 Billion IndustryEverQuote Insurance Quotes
First Pics: See the New Cars Coming for 2018Kelley Blue Book
Our Best Razor for Only $1? Yep, Dollar Shave Club Is Not Messing AroundDollar Shave Club
by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links
12 comments
Write a comment!
Write new comment:
SubmitCancel
1 Ματ Σιγ 1 day ago Link to comment
Nice article and very helpful !
An other NEW android software which probably will be helpful too is the 'Eclipse Hider'
facebook.com/eclipse.hider/
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipse_free.eclipse_free.eclipse_free&hl=en
0
Reply
17 BruinGuy 11 months ago Link to comment
Treat you phone like your toothbrush and you won't have security issues.
0
Reply
18 Albin Foro 11 months ago Link to comment
This seems to depend on how a user "lends" the device to somebody else. My main defense against theft has been a pattern screen lock and software to pursue the thief and disable the phone if needed.
My personal lending has been to hand it to somebody to make a call or send an SMS while I'm standing there - the first line of defense against abuse seems to be how much time you're giving the Alien User to abuse your trust. I haven't lent the phone overnight or walked away to let them read SMS, emails or etc. Beyond that, I encrypt and/or require a password for personal information kept in Dropbox and OneDrive - if the service doesn't facilitate this I don't put confidential info into that service. I suppose if I was active on various social media I'd be more worried, but as is not so.
0
Reply
4 Michael D'Angelo 11 months ago Link to comment
What software are you using to pursue the thief?
0
Reply
18 Albin Foro 6 months ago Link to comment
Android Lost (Theis Borg) on my older G and J devices, Google's ADM seems good enough for the newer L and M.
0
Reply
14 Diptangshu M. Mar 28, 2016 Link to comment
Great! Will test them out someday.
0
Reply
2 Russell Wilson May 26, 2015 Link to comment
Andrognito does NOT allow you to hide apps -- you didn't really try it, did you? It's really NOT worth getting the so-called "premium" which ONLY looks pretty -- its functionality - ease of use -- is INCREDIBLY bad -- showing only the internal SD card; not allowing searching / selecting by location, name etc --- I'm REALLY sorry I relied on this review and wasted my money on it.
1 Tim Norton
Reply
14 Sean Stockemer Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
no mention at all of Hide It Pro?
cooked into all custom roms that I've run in the last year
1 Scott Adam Gordon
Reply
31 Scott Adam Gordon Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Yep, Hide It Pro. Good functionality and reliable. Worth mentioning for sure. Might add it to the list sometime.
0
Reply
18 Glostermeteor Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Another incredibly useful app is EDS which allows you to create encrypted file containers. It is fully compatible with TrueCrypt as well so you can create an encrypted container on your PC and transfer it to your Android device and vice-versa
0
Reply
19 Moni Mihailov Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
I'm currently using File Hider PRO :)
0
Reply
6 Timothy Cremeans Oct 8, 2014 Link to comment
Android apps have helped enhance a smartphone user's ability to private files and information. It offers everything at your fingertips.
1 Moni Mihailov
Reply
Write a comment!
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