If we have photos in the iPhone and iPad gallery to hide from prying eyes, we won't have to go crazy among a thousand different apps, just use the tools made available in the latest iOS releases, so we can hide all the multimedia content via a convenient password (different from the one used to unlock the device). In this guide we will then show you how to hide photos on iPhone and iPad and protect them with passwords, also pointing out the third-party apps useful to add a lock password to the iPhone elements that we want to keep private (in addition to the gallery we can also protect the apps chat, the SMS app and social networking apps).
READ ALSO: How to Hide Apps on iPhone and iPad
How to hide photos on iPhone and iPad
With the integrated options it is relatively simple to protect our photo gallery from prying eyes, thus avoiding that anyone can browse through the photos that we shared on chats, that we took with the camera or that we downloaded from the browser. In the final chapter we will also show you the best apps that we can use to add a password to any iPhone or iPad app.Hide photos from gallery (without password)
The option to hide photos is located in the Photos app of the iPhone and iPad, without having to download anything or visit any hidden options.We open the app in question, select one or more photos (to select more photos, tap on Select at the top right and then press on the various photos), press the Share button and scroll the options until we find the Hide item.
In the confirmation window we click on Hide photos to make the change effective; from now on, the photos hidden in this way will no longer appear in the collections, but will still remain visible in the Album section, making this method effective only to stop unwanted voyeurs or who do not know how to seriously use an iPhone or iPad.
Hide photos with usage time
A much more effective way to hide photos and protect them with a PIN is to use Usage Time, the special control mode built into the latest iOS releases.To activate it, open the Settings app, tap on Usage time then immediately set the security PIN by pressing on Use "Usage time" code . After choosing our PIN, press on App limitations, select Add limitation of use, enter the code previously chosen and put the check mark on Creativity, making sure that the Photos app is among the active ones.
We press Next on the top right and, in the next screen, we set 1 minute as the time limit, making sure to also check the item Block at the end of the limit . To confirm the addition of the limitation, tap at the top right on the Add item; from now on, after using the Photos app for at least a minute (just do it immediately at each power on and start) it will be blocked with a warning screen, which we can bypass only by pressing on the item Request more time and entering the PIN chosen.
In this way we can hide photos on iPhone and iPad with an effective PIN difficult to guess and unlock the Photos app from time to time only when we ourselves use it; we can also modify the time limit by tapping on Enter the code for "Usage time", so as to make it more coherent with our activity, just remember to let the time necessary to activate the block go.
Note : this procedure can be used to block and protect access to any other app on the iPhone or iPad, just select the right category when we configure the limitation of the apps.
Hide photos on iPhone and iPad with third party apps
If we want to hide private photos on an iPhone or iPad and we want the block to be immediate, we can password protect them with a free app like Private Photo Vault.
With this app we will be able to hide all the photos on your smartphone using a PIN as an access method or, alternatively, one of the biometric tools compatible with Apple (Face ID or Touch ID).
Among the advanced features offered by the app we find sending intrusion reports (with photos + GPS), diversified password (allows you to access an empty section of the gallery by typing a fake password) and allows you to send hidden photos via wirelessly to another Apple device or Android smartphone. To unlock all the potential of the app, we can consider the purchase of the paid version, available here -> Private Photo Vault Pro (€ 4).
Other apps similar to this one can be found in the list below:
- Secret Vault Hide Photos Photo
- Hide Keepsafe Secret Photos
- Secret Calculator Pro (paid)
Conclusions
Hiding the photos on our iPhone or iPad requires a few simple steps and is very effective, especially if we use the integrated Use Time function on the latest Apple devices. If we are looking for something safer, just use one of the apps listed above, so that we can protect the photos from prying eyes and also find out who "spies" you thanks to the relationships with lots of photos from the front camera.If we wanted to hide only the photos and videos shared in WhatsApp chats, just read our article on How to Hide Whatsapp photos and videos from the Gallery .
To hide photos on an Android smartphone or tablet, we recommend you read our guides on How to hide photos, videos and apps on Android and how to Hide photos from the mobile gallery (Android) .
