iOS 18 Lets You Lock and Hide Your Apps for Added Privacy

[Hogswarts]

Does someone (or Apple) have a definitive guide to all of the features that are available now with the first developer beta?

 

[klasma]

1. what is the point to be able to unlock with the passcode? Some members in the family, for example, may know the passcode. I would have preferred to be Face ID only, no? That would include people spying on your phone and then stealing it...

The (somewhat unfortunate) point is that Face ID and Touch ID can stop working (if, for example, you have an accident that breaks your face) and then you need to have some way to use the passcode to access the hidden apps. Face ID and Touch ID have always been only a convenient way to "enter" your passcode (which is still being decrypted behind the scenes whenever you use Face ID/Touch ID to unlock your device), and not a truly separate authentication.

Using a different code for hidden apps would be an improvement, but then again you could change or look up that code in Settings using the device passcode.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Why you being so weird about this?

Why are you being so defensive about a valid point?

 

[NVDA]

I'm under no illusion that dating apps will not be a massive use case for this, but that of course doesn't meant that there aren't very legitimate use cases to hide and/or protect an app.

Abusive relationships come to mind, for one, or overly jealous partners that violate their partner's privacy.

Shared devices are another, whether with kids, partners or others, particularly because Apple doesn't support user profiles.

On work devices, it might be desirable to apply special protections to information, eg we use Outlook for work and are required to use biometric authentication to open the app.

In the end, people may have all sorts of reasons to protect their privacy and any measure to support that is good.

If someone was in an abusive relationship and their partner saw that they were using that feature to hide apps, I don’t think that will bode well with the abuser.

 

[VisceralRealist]

This will be good for those “straight” guys that need to hide the Grindr app

Still no solution to this though:

 

[211]

No one is forcing you to have nefarious stuff on your phone, that you wouldn't even want a friend seeing either. If you are handing your phone to strangers, that is a whole other can of worms.

You can’t download “nefarious” apps from the App Store. The fact that you think there are apps that are nefarious (and likely the user as well) is a reason to hide them

 

[iMac The Knife]

You can’t download “nefarious” apps from the App Store. The fact that you think there are apps that are nefarious is a reason to hide them

Then you should have nothing to hide. 😉 Problem solved. But, I did edit my post as I should've used an app on your phone instead of nefarious stuff.

 

[JapanApple]

Lock up family phone apps if you limit and want them after hours. I like this!

 

[klasma]

That's awesome I can hide messages from my mistress completely from my partner!

iPhone is the right phone to use if you want to cheat on your relationship and not get caught

I think iOS is still missing a function to hide a different set of apps based on location.

 

[klasma]

Why are you being so defensive about a valid point?

It's not valid. Privacy is a right. It's like drawers in furniture can have locks. I guess you find that weird too.

 

[d686546s]

If someone was in an abusive relationship and their partner saw that they were using that feature to hide apps, I don’t think that will bode well with the abuser.

That's certainly a risk. I think it will depend on how this is implemented. If the apps literally just go in a folder that's called hidden then it's indeed useless, but if they are truly hidden and only visible if you search for them or something like that then there might be a chance.

Of course if someone is fully controlling and eg looking over App Store records to see which apps have been downloaded it becomes much more difficult to hide your activity, but not every abuser is on that level.

 

[mango316]

Edited: Confirmed that this feature is also available on iPadOS 18! 🙂

 

[211]

That's certainly a risk. I think it will depend on how this is implemented. If the apps literally just go in a folder that's called hidden then it's indeed useless, but if they are truly hidden and only visible if you search for them or something like that then there might be a chance.

Of course if someone is fully controlling and eg looking over App Store records to see which apps have been downloaded it becomes much more difficult to hide your activity, but not every abuser is on that level.

They are in a section called Hidden in the App Library

 

[d686546s]

They are in a section called Hidden in the App Library

Right. Well that seems like a bad idea then for the use case I mentioned.

 

[ApAx]

While that is true and worrying, I'd suspect that neither of these features will protect anyone from the authorities. If law enforcement can get into your phone because you are complying with a search warrant, they will be able to access any protected apps as well. If you're not complying and have FaceID/TouchID enabled, your information is already protected in this scenario.

If they have found a way to circumvent all of this, all bets are already off.

The only thing that would truly protect someone in this scenario is by avoiding that this information is collected in the first place.

Agree with the last statement to a degree, but there should still be some level of protection. "Just don't search for information" isn't how I want to live my daily life. We have come to expect freedom of travel and commerce within the US without anyone questioning or having the right to know. Now there are active attempts at changing that expectation.

 

[mw360]

Why are you being so defensive about a valid point?

It's not valid it's just plain weird. People have private stuff on their phones. At the same time people have super useful stuff on their phones that kids, family members and others might want to momentarily use. That you think everyone, not just you, but everyone should be obliged to resolve this tension by clutching their phone like a guilty pervert and buying the other party a separate phone is super weird.

 

[delsoul]

This is a feature WAY behind Android. I remember 10+ years ago that someone showed me their phone and on the desktop screen, it looked like it was just a wallpaper with no apps on it. They did a unique finger pattern on a few different parts of the screen and then touched the lower right corner, suddenly an app appeared and opened. It was basically a folder that allowed the user to keep whatever they wished in there and anyone else who didn't know it was there wouldn't know otherwise. Again, Apple is WAY behind on these things.

 

[dubiousgif]

Found a glitch. If you go to Settings>General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Home Screen Layout all the apps that were hidden reappear on the Home Screen but are still gone elsewhere such as Spotlight Search and the list of apps in Settings. To make them reappear you need to select Don’t Require Face ID.

Edit: The Settings app can’t be Face ID protected so anyone could go to Reset Home Screen Layout and reveal all the hidden apps on the Home Screen. They still show in the hidden folder despite not being hidden anymore.

 

[subjonas]

That is a nice feature indeed, perhaps long overdue but I have 2 questions (currently using ”Cloak” paid app for such feature)
1. what is the point to be able to unlock with the passcode? Some members in the family, for example, may know the passcode. I would have preferred to be Face ID only, no? That would include people spying on your phone and then stealing it...
2. what about leaving your iPhone for servicing/repairing? If the repair guys needs to turn it on and check it, they will need the passcode, which negates this new iOS feature unfortunately, no?

Well it won’t help if they happen to know the passcode, it seems... see my previous message about passcode making this feature half-baked in my opinion :-(

An option to require biometric authentication would probably be a good solution, or maybe a secondary (private) passcode.

 

[Shix]

It asks Face ID first, then after 2 tries it says to enter passcode. I can see in the future maybe a different passcode for locked on device items, like currently with locked notes.

what i mean is for the option of passcode being the first thing to appear.

 

[PlainviewX]

Waaayyyyyyy long overdue.

 

[PlainviewX]

Who do you let use your phone that you care if they see your recent searches on Maps? Better question, who would you let use your phone that would go digging in your Maps in the first place?

Why do you care?

 

[dubiousgif]

Right. Well that seems like a bad idea then for the use case I mentioned.

That section is there even if no apps are hidden which makes it stick out less. But as of right now the Settings app can’t be locked and after doing a Reset Home Screen Layout all the hidden apps reappear on the Home Screen despite still being in the Hidden section. I sent Apple a bug report for that. As for looking at the app download history hidden apps still have an Open next to them in the App Store but the App Store can be locked.

 

[iMac The Knife]

It's not valid. Privacy is a right. It's like drawers in furniture can have locks. I guess you find that weird too.

Go ahead and hide and/or lock your apps, if that makes you feel better. I don't need to do this, and I never will. I don't have anything to hide from anyone in my friends group or from my family. My point is valid, even if you really don't want it to be. And, you getting so defensive about it tells me all I need to know.

 

[I7guy]

I find it completely ridiculous that people have to lock and/or hide apps from other people. To each their own, but I think that is pathetic. And before you go down the "well, I have kids" road, maybe your kid/s shouldn't be in your phone in the first place, if you have to hide apps from them or lock them out of them. Get them their own digital babysitter to play with. Problem solved.

This feature could also come in handy if your phone was ripped from your hands unlocked. That would be my use case. Along with stolen device protection.