Despite all the security measures in iOS, sometimes they are not enough. Thus, many users of this system complain about the inability to protect their photos from being viewed by strangers. iOS Camera Roll represents the only available tool - to hide photos (videos), but this is clearly far from the desired level of security. However, iOS still allows you to keep your photos private without the need for third-party apps.
ON TOPIC: How to upload photos and videos to the cloud from iPhone or iPad to free up space.
Chances are there are a few photos on your iPhone or iPad that you'd like to keep private. A child may take the phone to play games, or someone else may pick up the device to make a call. Unwanted photos appearing on your screen can be a problem. We need a way to hide them and ensure complete protection from unauthorized access.
In this material, we will talk about the most convenient ways to hide photos and videos on iOS or set a password for an application containing secret media files.
How to password protect a gallery on an iPhone - limit access
- It is possible to select a photo or video with a long press.
- Then in the upper right corner select “Share” (the icon with a square with an arrow pointing upward).
- In the context menu that appears, click “Hide”.
In this case, the selected media files will disappear from the gallery, as well as from applications that use the gallery, be it a camera, a social network application or some messenger, that is, they will not be visible in the list of files that can be selected and sent to another user.
However, hidden files end up in the "Hidden" folder, located just below in the gallery application, and accessible without any password, which, at first glance, is extremely inconsiderate. Perhaps this was done by the developers in order to protect users from losing access to important files.
Let's look at all the available ways to hide the gallery and individual photos, both using built-in iOS tools on the iPhone, and using non-standard gallery applications and third-party programs.
App Block
Download in AppStore
A multifunctional file manager on iPhone that can hide information from prying eyes using local storage, information from which is not transferred anywhere and is not registered anywhere. To use App Block, just organize a new protected folder, and then go through the available sections and from each one select the files that you would like to hide. There are a lot of options - pictures and videos, passwords and bank card data, links and personal notes added to calendar events or notes.
- How to Password Protect Any App on iPhone or iPad Without Jailbreak
Preparing the information, according to the developer, will take no more than 10 minutes, and then all that remains is to add a lock in the form of a password or fingerprint or face scanners. And that’s it – you no longer have to worry about losing confidential information (by the way, if someone tries to hack App Block using a brute force method, a notification with a photo of the sly guy will be sent to the attached email address).
How to set a password for the Photos app on iPhone
Starting with version 12, iOS has a built-in function for restricting access to any application, based on time of use:
- You should go to Settings.
- Scroll to Screen Time.
- Select and activate if the function is not yet enabled, otherwise the method will not be available.
- Once activated, the device will ask if the iPhone is yours or your child's and then require you to set a Screen Time passcode.
- After setting a four-digit passcode, you need to go to Screen Time again,
- then Application Limits
- Click “Add limit”.
- On the page that opens, click on the “Creativity” tab and find the “Photo” application in the drop-down list.
The application usage limit settings will open. It is necessary to set the minimum allowable time - 1 minute, and also check the box next to the "Block at the end of the limit" property.
Initially, application usage limits are designed to introduce an element of time management into the user’s life and limit the waste of time, especially on gaming applications. Once a limited app has accumulated more than its screen time limit, it will automatically be blocked. To continue using, you will need to enter a password code and choose how long to extend the limit: 15 minutes, an hour or a day.
The quite obvious disadvantage of this method is that the application cannot be taken and blocked when needed, but the set screen time must be completely spent.
How to password protect photos on iPhone using the Guided Access feature
Guided access is a more practical solution to the problem of restricting access to applications. This feature allows you not only to restrict access to a specific application by eliminating the ability to touch when it opens, but also to make a certain part of the screen inoperable when the corresponding program is open.
To enable this function you must:
- Open Settings, enter Guided Access in the search.
- Open the drop-down line with the same name and check the corresponding box.
- In the passcode settings, set a password, or simply connect Touch ID if it is installed on the device.
- Also check the box next to the Shortcut property to open the Guided Access settings for applications that is open while typing this shortcut.
- Or add an icon to the quick access menu. To do this, open the Control Center tab in the settings, then Customize controls.
- In the list of inactive elements, click the green plus sign to the left of the Guided Access line.
- Now you should open the Photos application and quickly press the Home Button three times.
- The Guided Access menu will open, in the lower left corner of which you should select Options and check the box next to the line Press,
- Then “Done” at the bottom and “Continue” in the top right corner.
Since this is the first time you've connected this type of restriction, the system will prompt you to enter a new passcode, after which tap deactivation on the Photos app screen will be enabled.
To deactivate Guided Access, press the Home Button three times again and click on the “End” sign in the upper left corner. Re-enabling Guided Access for your gallery requires just opening the Photos app and pressing the Home Button three times.
Keeper
Download in AppStore
The application is a classic safe, into which files are added, and then distributed to suitable directories and blocked either individually for each folder or en masse. Regardless of the choice, the developers offer to generate unusually strong passwords that are impossible to guess and remember, but can be removed using Touch ID or Face ID.
As a result, no one will get to the information (and not even the owner of the smartphone, if he tries everything). Additionally, Keeper offers to organize the available space and part with those files that are no longer needed after finishing sorting.
How to Hide Photos on iPhone or Notes App
One way to hide one or more selected photos rather than the entire gallery is to create a confidential note. In order to activate this function, go to Settings, scroll to the standard applications block and select Notes. In the page that opens, scroll to the Password item.
After setting the password, you should disable the “Save to Photos” function, otherwise the idea will be useless due to the synchronization of the contents of the notes with the gallery. If you don't need to sync notes between devices, you should also turn off the iPhone Account feature.
All settings have been completed and now you need to open the Notes application and create a new entry by clicking on the corresponding button in the lower right corner. In the editing window that opens, click on “Plus” or the camera icon in the same place and then select the Media Library source.
After selecting a photo, click the “Share” button in the upper right corner and select “Block” in the list of suggested actions (under the list of programs). The program will ask you to enter the password code previously set in its settings. Now an open lock will appear next to the “Share” button; when you click on it, the note will become inaccessible until you enter the password code.
Password Manager Finger Print
Download in AppStore
The program is a newcomer to the genre, slowly but surely gaining an audience and positive reviews. The approach is classic - the developers from Estill Hill suggest adding content (information about cards, authorization on social networks, accounts, notes and records, some contacts, email messages and photos), and then thinking about blocking.
The advantages are clarity and advice waiting at every step. But advertising is the main enemy: sometimes you have to skip pop-up windows for hours, hoping to finally get to the result.
How to hide photos on iPhone using cloud storage
Cloud storage is a system of hosts organized in such a way that upon receiving even one small file, it will distribute it among all servers. This is one of the safest ways to store personal data, because none of the owners of any host inside the cloud is able to extract anything valuable from the information stored on it. The easiest way to send photos or other files to the cloud is to save them to iCloud.
Third-party programs that allow you to save photos in cloud storage and hide them with a password are:
Keep Safe
The most popular photo hiding app for iPhone. Allows you to set a PIN or biometrics to access media files added there, and also provides cloud storage for them.
Vault
Allows you to select photos and videos in the gallery and, through the “Share” function, add them to the cloud and immediately delete them from the device. It also offers to set video protection with a passcode or biometrics.
Best Secure Folder
It has the same functions as the applications above, but will also send a message to the paired devices about a hacking attempt, attaching a photo from the front camera. When launched, it may launch a fake screen to confuse the person who is trying to unlock the device by knowing the password - for example, a relative or friend. The downside is that it is possible that synchronization with the cloud service is paid and will cost $2.
Disable GPS for system services
Some iOS system services periodically request the exact location of the gadget. Sometimes this is really necessary for the operation of some features, and sometimes it is a banal collection of statistics to improve Apple services.
You can read in detail about the purpose of each iPhone system services switch here.
Go to Settings - Privacy - Location Services - System Services and disable unnecessary ones.
Don't forget that in this same section there is an option for tracking frequently visited places by the user, which can be turned off.
How to put a password on a photo on iPhone using apps
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In order to set, as many would like, a password code or TouchID, which the gallery will request when you click on its application icon, you will need third-party programs from the AppStore.
Lock Secret Photo Album Vault
Allows you to protect photos in landscape style. To access hidden sections, you need to perform a special secret gesture, set manually, and enter the name of the album. The program also has a built-in browser, which allows you to open web pages and save images from there directly to a secret storage.
Folder Lock
After installing this application, you need to go to Settings, scroll to the application block and click on the name Folder Lock. In the settings window that appears, select the folders to hide and set a password for them.
AppLock
The most common utility for hiding access to an entire application. After installation from the AppStore, you should open the program and immediately enter a password code, which will become common to the utility itself and to the programs it hides. Then go to the Protect tab and click the plus sign next to programs that should not be accessed by others. The free version of the program hides no more than five applications.
Bonus: the best photo protection app
Perhaps the most interesting and original solution is the Secret Calculator application, which (who would have thought) is actually a calculator, but also hides a photo inside it.
When you first start, you must enter a sequence of numbers for which there are no restrictions, and click on the division sign “%”. Then enter the password again and press the same symbol, which is the confirmation key.
A window will appear with information about successful entry. The blue circle is for creating a new album and adding photos and videos from the standard gallery to it. The downside is that they then need to be removed from this standard gallery. The application can also store notes, contacts and other data except Microsoft Office document files - to store them you need to purchase a paid version of the application.
4.1/5 — (19 votes)
Third party programs
If you don’t want to fool around with complex system settings, you can simply install a third-party gallery, where access to photos can be restricted with a password. Moreover, some programs of this type mimic something harmless, for example, a calculator, so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion. Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, Photo Vault - Hide Applications and Keepsafe: Photo and Video Safe receive consistently high user ratings in this category.
