No one doubts that mobile phones have become just another extension of us. As with desktop computers, we use our smartphones and tablets to store all kinds of personal information. We not only talk about our bank details, passwords for accessing Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, but also about sensitive information such as personal documents and photos.
As we say, smartphones have become an extension of ourselves, and in many cases it is even convenient hide certain apps, files or photos that we don't want him to see, for example, our 8-year-old nephew when he comes to visit our house on Sunday morning.
Information security and privacy are increasingly essential on mobile devices. Therefore, in today's tutorial we review some of the most effective methods to hide photos, apps or files on our Android terminal so that no one sees that they are there.
How to hide photos and videos
Although there are some terminals that give the option to hide files natively, in most Android devices we will have to use third-party apps to hide all those documents that we do not want anyone else to see.
In the case of photos and videos, one of the most used apps for this purpose is KeepSafe. Once installed we can configure photos, images and videos to disappear from our galleries and image folders. Everything that is in KeepSafe disappears from the rest of the galleries, albums and applications of our device.
In addition to this very useful function, KeepSafe allows us to add an additional level of security, which prevents anyone from accessing the application unless they know the unlock PIN. It also incorporates other features in its premium version: such as a false PIN, logs of failed access attempts, and a cloud where we can safely store photos and files (this last option is free).
Download QR-Code Keepsafe Photo Vault: Hide Photos Safely Developer: Keepsafe Price: Free How to hide any type of file and make it invisible
In a more generalized case such as files (not only photos: also documents, pdf, spreadsheets etc.) we can use the free app File Hide Expert, also known as Hide Expert (Offtopic: Am I the only one who hates the “Spanishized” names of Anglo-Saxon apps? Isn't it better to leave them as is, instead of giving them shitty names?).
To hide any type of file on Android With this app we simply click on the folder icon located on the upper right side, and as a file explorer, we select the files that we want to hide. Then click on "Hide all”. That easy.
File Hide Expert also offers the ability to add a password to access. Basic if we do not want anyone to enter File Hide Expert and see all our "sensitive" documents.
Download QR-Code Hide Expert Developer: Hide Apps Price: Free How to hide apps on Android
If you have a Samsung device, you can probably hide apps natively. For the rest of Android users, we can hide all those PUAs that come standard and that we cannot delete, or some other high-voltage application that we do not want anyone else to see, through apps like Nova Launcher.
The Nova launcher among its functionalities It has an option that comes to our hair to remove any app out of the way that we want to:
- We are going to "Nova Settings”.
- Click on "Applications”.
- We go down to "Hide apps”And we select the apps that we want not to be displayed on the screen.
Nova is a great launcher, but sadly the hide function is only available in the Prime version of the application, so it requires prior payment if we want to make use of this functionality in our terminal.
Download QR-Code Nova Launcher Developer: TeslaCoil Software Price: Free How to hide documents manually
Finally, if we go beyond installing any additional application we can also prevent a file from being displayed in our gallery, explorer or any other app by doing a little trick.
We just have to use any file explorer, locate the file and rename it, adding a "." (period) at the beginning. In this way, Android will bypass the file and stop displaying it. However, this does not prevent anyone else from accessing it, for example by connecting the device to a PC.
As you can see there are several ways to hide and hide all kinds of documents and information within Android. What is your favorite? If you want to know more about privacy on Android, do not hesitate to take a look at the tutorial How to encrypt an Android device and its SD card.
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