Do you have photos that you want to keep, but should not be in the photo library? You can choose to hide them, in this article we’ll explain how.
Hiding iPhone photos: this is how you do it
The Photos app is a handy gathering place for all your photos on the iPhone. But maybe there are pictures that blur the overview, or pictures that you do not want to appear when you show someone else your pictures. Whatever your reason, it is possible to hide these images. They will remain on your iPhone, but you will no longer see them in the general overview of the Photos app. Here’s how you can hide your iPhone photos in 5 steps:
- Open the Photos app;
- Tap ‘Select’ in the top right and choose the photos you want to hide;
- Choose the share button at the bottom left of the screen;
- Tap ‘Hide’ in the bottom row of icons;
- Give approval to hide and they are gone.
If you hide a photo, it will no longer show up in ‘Moments’, ‘Sets’ and ‘Years’. The picture can still be found in ‘Albums’. It will then be placed in a folder called ‘Hidden’. That folder does not get a preview of the photos in it, like other folders do.
Undo hidden photos
If you want to restore photos that you have hidden back to the general Photos folder, for example because you have accidentally tapped something, you can. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open the Photos app;
- Go to ‘Albums’ (at the bottom of the screen);
- Choose the folder ‘Hidden’;
- Tap ‘Select’ and tick the photos you want to restore;
- Tap the share button and choose Unhide.
3 apps to lock and key iPhone photos
With the iOS function, you can hide iPhone photos, but they will still be accessible. Would you rather place your photos completely under lock and key? The apps below will help you with this. Again, your photos will remain on your iPhone, but they will not be visible in an album and only accessible with a passcode or Touch ID.
1. Keepsafe Secret Photo Vault
The KeepSafe Album Vault app offers multiple ways to secure your photos, such as a PIN or pattern. In addition, it is possible to keep copies of, for example, your driver’s license and passport.
If you want to provide extra security for certain albums, you can link your own pin code to this in KeepSafe. It is also possible to take photos from the app. These are then stored directly in the app.
2. Photo Vault
Photo Vault not only lets you put photos behind a password, but also provides editing tools and filters. In addition, the app supports GIF files and Live Photos remain intact.
Your images are stored encrypted in a private cloud. When you import photos from your public library, you can set them to be automatically deleted there once they are in Photo Vault.
3. Safe Lock
With the Safe Lock app it is also possible to import photos from email or a cloud service such as iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox. As soon as you close the app, the lock will go back on your photos, but you can also simply shake or turn your iPhone to quickly lock your photos.
Safe Lock also offers the possibility to protect albums separately, and a camera function so that you do not necessarily have to leave the app to take a new picture. For this you just have to take out a paid subscription in the app.
More iPhone photo tips:
Do you want to know more about photos on your iPhone? On iPhone you can read all kinds of useful tips. We explain how Apple ProRaw works and we answer 5 questions about this new photo format of the iPhone 12. We also give you 7 useful tips to get the most out of your iPhone 12 (Pro) camera.