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Let's look at how you can hide a photo or folder on your iPhone so that strangers don't see it. We will use the built-in capabilities of iOS and third-party programs.

This article is suitable for all iPhone 11/Xs(r)/X/8/7/6 and Plus models running iOS 13. Older versions may have different or missing menu items and hardware support listed in the article.

Built-in iPhone Features

iOS 12+ provides an option to hide photos on iPhone in the “Collections”, “Years” and “Moments” albums. Users can now hide photos, videos, and media folders and only view them in their own Hidden album.

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Hide photos on a Mac computer

• Launch the Photo program.
• Select the photo to hide.
• Control-click the photo, then click Hide. You can also hide a photo by selecting the “Image” section in the line, then “Hide Photo”. You can also press the Command - L button to hide the photo.
• We confirm that the photo needs to be hidden.

When working with iCloud Photo Library, photos that you have hidden on one gadget will be hidden on your other devices.

Show hidden photos

If you need to display hidden photos again in the “Collections”, “Years” and “Moments” albums, perform the following steps.

For iPod touch, iPad or iPhone gadgets:

On a Mac computer:

• Open the Photos application, select View from the menu bar, then Show hidden photo album.
• Open the “Albums” view, and then open the “Hidden” album.
• Select the photo that should be displayed.
• Click the photo while holding down the Control key.
• Click “Show photo”.

Third party programs

You can hide photos and photo folders on iOS 11 using third-party programs. Let's look at the most functional and common of them.

Photo&Video Locker

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The utility allows you to hide photos and videos conveniently and securely; you can download it in the App Store. Photos will be locked and you will need to enter a secret PIN to view them.

Application Features:

• Encryption. Hidden folders and photos are not only located on the gadget in a secret place, but are also encrypted using the 128-bit AES encryption system.
• Hidden photos can be rotated on both sides.
• Zoom out and zoom in on hidden photos.
• Blocking entry to the application. If the user forgot to exit the utility, the application will be blocked after the iPhone goes into sleep mode.
• Import pictures from your computer using iTunes import.

Locker: Hide your photos

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The application has functionality for hiding not only photos, but also videos, applications and files that are protected with a fingerprint. Locker can be downloaded from the App Store.

To hide photos, they must be stored not in your own library, but directly in the application. An important point is the Pin code to gain access to photos. If you do not set up TouchID and lose your Pin code, you will not be able to log into Loker.

In Pocket: wallet, documents

The security of users' personal information has always been a top priority for Apple engineers. Starting with the eighth version of iOS iPhone, a system tool was introduced to remove personal photos from the eyes of others. This solution was, to put it mildly, of insufficient quality. The program simply moved the pictures to a special folder. In this instruction, we'll look at how to hide photos on iPhone and do it securely.

What do system tools offer?

The OS already has a built-in small program for moving photos away from prying eyes. This is done in a very original way: the utility creates a folder called “Hidden”, moving marked pictures there from other directories (“Moments”, “Selfies” and others).

However, the new directory is not protected or encrypted in any way. Its contents can be easily accessed by anyone who enters the master password for the device.

To hide a photo this way, follow the step-by-step instructions:

Now, if you return to the “Gallery” of the device, a directory called “Hidden” will be available there. This folder can neither be hidden nor password protected:

To return the photos to their original place, in the folder where they were stored, you need to follow all the instructions again. Only in place of the “Hide” button will there be a “Show” icon.

The method, of course, is conditional. Considering the fact that a closed folder called “Hidden” will definitely attract the attention of an ill-wisher if he gains access to iPhone files.

How to put a password on a secret photo

First, let's prepare for this stage and set up Notes. Open the “Settings” menu (gray gear on the main screen). We find the section dedicated to notes and turn off automatic loading of media content into photos. Be sure to activate access to “Notes” using a password or by scanning a fingerprint:

Now we move on to posting a photo hidden from prying eyes. Open the note editor and use the “Add data” option to attach a photo. Select the menu item “Take a photo or video” and take a photo.

The system will prompt you to enter a password, which must be done. Now all that remains is to click on the lock icon at the top right.

This method is more reliable, because to view photos you will either have to enter the master password for the device or unlock access through the Touch ID sensor. After opening access, photos from the note can be freely downloaded or saved.

Third-party programs for masking photos

If you are not interested in “masking” functions, you can use special programs by downloading them from the App Store. Just enter “hide photo” in the poker. When choosing an application, we recommend paying attention to the age of the program, the number of downloads, and user ratings. As a rule, applications have a limit on downloading a certain number of photos for free.

Conclusion

Storing secret images is a rather sensitive topic. For a user interested in this, a decision is necessarily made to hide the photo from prying eyes. It is not recommended to use standard Apple iOS tools to hide photos; they will not be able to prevent unauthorized persons from viewing them. The best solution is to choose a convenient program to protect sensitive data.

Sometimes a user needs to hide a photo on an iPhone or iPad from prying eyes. To do this, I know at least four methods, which differ in varying degrees of reliability and convenience.

Method 1. Funny

In iOS 8, the standard Photos app now has the ability to hide photos. But the implementation makes me smile.

How to hide a photo in iOS 8?

In the Albums section, find the photo and hold your finger on it. A submenu appears with the “Hide” item. Click on it.

A message appears that the photo will be hidden from certain views, but will be visible in Albums.

Why and for whom did we hide? I won’t get into the heads of iOS programmers and designers, but I can assume that this was intended to be hidden for the convenience of showing pictures to other people. You sit like this in front of your relatives and leaf through a photo album...

In fact, the function seems useless. The pictures end up in a special Hidden folder, from where they can be returned to “Albums” in exactly the same way.

Method 2. Fool proof

There are many programs on the App Store that are designed to hide photos, videos, and other files.

How these programs work:

• They keep the pictures to themselves. Some even have a built-in camera so that a private photo is immediately captured in the program.
• Applications have password protection of varying degrees.
• Some applications have a false password to fool people. When you enter it, other users see the “left” files.

But all these programs They don’t know one thing: to store pictures securely. It is very easy for someone else to extract photos from such applications:

a) connect to iTools (or analogues) and find the content.

b) Or even through iTunes in the Programs->Shared Files section.

Of course, you need access to an iPad or iPhone and possibly a computer. But what if this access is available? What if the task is to hide photos from relatives who sometimes use your tablet in the same way?

Method 3. The most reliable

Storing photos in programs that support encryption. The perfect way to hide photos.

What's the point?

• files are stored inside the program
• The application does not store photos in clear text, but encrypts them in a container (a specially encrypted file or files). This file can only be accessed from the application if you know the password.

What applications support this? There are many, but here are a few:

uPassword App Store link.

1Password– AES-256 encryption, designed for storing passwords. Review .

Both programs have the ability to store photos.

In the pocket– AES-256 encryption, designed for secure document storage. And where you can store documents, you can also store pictures. Review

Explanation: AES-256 encryption is considered one of the most reliable. Used by banks, government organizations, etc.

Method 4. Storing pictures in the cloud

You can also hide pictures from prying eyes in cloud storage. Unfortunately, not all iOS apps support PIN protection.

Cloud from Mail.ru – supports.

Yandex.Disk does not support.

Dropbox – supports.

Therefore, where there is code protection, it is theoretically possible to hide pictures. Well, the further fate of the pictures depends on the strength of your password to the cloud and the reliability of the cloud itself.

There is an opinion that storing anything in the cloud is the first security hole. But, if you have signs of paranoia, then you can additionally archive the photos in a Zip archive and also set a password for the archive. But that's a completely different story.

These are the 4 main ways to hide pictures on iPad and iPhone. I hope this mini-instruction will help someone. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comments.

It seems that just recently our grandparents collected priceless photographs in thick photo albums, so that in the future their descendants would have the opportunity to stroll along the alleys of their past. However, technology is developing much faster than we can imagine: mobile phones have almost completely replaced landlines, e-mail will soon completely replace regular mail, and so on. A new era has come - and at this time you and I can not only communicate on the Internet and find useful information, but also store most of our personal files there.

But even here the user will have to face difficult choices. Now there are a lot of services on the Internet that allow you to upload photos, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Some boast high download speeds, but at the same time provide very expensive tariff plans, and free services have serious restrictions on the size of downloaded files.

Today we will try to finally decide and choose the best “cloud” storage for your photos.

Loom

A beautiful application created specifically to store your photos and sync them between all the devices you have. Loom bills itself as the "limitless camera film" and has every right to do so.

Uploaded photos are available both in the web version and in the iOS application. On a Mac, you can download photos by simply placing them in the Loom folder in the Finder. Just like Dropbox, your photos will appear on all your devices almost instantly. And if you want to view the album while flying on an airplane or riding the subway, you can first save it to the cache of your smartphone or tablet. The program automatically creates several versions of pictures for devices with different screen sizes for the most comfortable viewing.

Loom was launched recently, but is currently actively gaining momentum. According to the company's founder, his application will be an excellent replacement for the standard Photo Stream in iOS. Well, let's see.

While Flickr is considered by many to be a service for professional photographers, it is also suitable for storing regular photos. Recently, it provides its users one terabyte of free space in the "cloud". And that's really cool.

Flickr allows you to view public photos of other users - for example, you can study the most popular photos anywhere on the planet. However, the service's user interface looks a little sluggish compared to solutions from competitors, and the program for uploading desktop images hasn't been updated since 2009. However, Flickr managed to acquire a good application for iOS.

Photos on Google+

No, you heard right. Although the social network from the largest search engine in the world is not popular in Russia, it has a very decent photo storage service. Google gives its users 15 gigabytes of free storage, which they can spend on Gmail, Drive or Google+. This is quite large if you plan to upload photos in “standard” resolution (2048 pixels wide).

After Google acquired Nik Software, Google+ added a photo editing feature where you can apply filters, adjust the brightness of photos, and other little things.

The main disadvantage of Google+ photos is Google+ itself. Users are always wary of uploading their personal photos to a social network, no matter how secure it is, regardless of privacy settings. And this service was created more for sharing photos than storing them.

I used this service for a long time to store my files until I discovered Dropbox. However, the cost of 100 gigabytes is significantly lower - only $50 per year versus $10 per month.

If you are disgusted by all Microsoft products, it is better not to look at SkyDrive. Everything here is designed in Windows style, but it works very quickly. At first, you will be given seven gigabytes of free free space. Of course, SkyDrive also has apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Everpix

One of the fastest applications of its kind with a pleasant and intuitive interface. Everpix automatically groups photos by date, time, and type (for example, “animals” or “city”).

Like Loom, Everpix creates different versions of your photos for viewing on all your devices. Photos can be viewed in both the web version and the iOS application. Free use of the service includes downloading all your photos over the past year. Perhaps this is the best program for storing photos.

iCloud cloud storage easily stores information (photos, videos, etc.) available on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, but in a limited manner - Apple developers offer only 5 gigabytes of free space for free, but you will have to pay for the remaining megabytes monthly depending on needs.

Therefore, it is pointless to consider iCloud as a way to hide confidential information from prying eyes in photo format - you will have to turn to competitors for help:

Best Secret Folder

A tool for storing photos on iPhone from developers from RV AppStudios, although it does not transfer photos to the cloud, it helps to store important and secret things in those corners of Apple technology that no one can reach. One of the important advantages is the intuitive procedure, designed even for those who have never tried to hide anything in their lives.

The developers suggest organizing inaccessible space in no time, immediately attaching a password (or verification using Face ID or Touch ID), and then uploading images. The preparation will take five minutes and you won’t have to worry about anything else.

One of the shortcomings of Best Secret Folder is its strange approach to translations. Instead of the Russian language, which was promised 2-3 years ago, only English found a place here.

Secret Calculator – Hide Photo

A new product from developers from MOBILAB, capable of saving photos and images directly in the internal memory of the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, but in places inaccessible to others. The main idea of ​​the tool is to hide the shortcut to go to content in the standard interface of the calculator built into iOS.

To access personal information, you will have to select a non-standard trigger: from the available options - combinations using arithmetic signs, calling a hidden panel for entering a password with a gesture, or using Touch or Face ID at the first start.

The service has a lot of advantages, but, unfortunately, it is not without its disadvantages. First of all, advertisements that often appear when interacting with photos are annoying, and you also have to pay exactly 149 rubles to use the functions.

Lock Secret Photo Album Vault

An unpretentiously designed local photo storage for iPhone, capable of hiding pictures, documents, and even diary entries and calendar events. Among the advantages are the ability to organize backup copies, the presence of a function with notifications about a hacking attempt, and also the chance to choose an unlocking method.

There was also a place for standard mechanics, such as Touch or Face ID and graphic keys, 6 and 8-digit combinations and text answers to security questions.

Yandex.Disk

If protecting information locally is no longer interesting, and you want to transfer some of your photos to the network, then Yandex.Disk will help here better than its competitors. And there are two important reasons for this. Firstly, Yandex does not provide restrictions on image storage. If 10 thousand pictures have accumulated on the iPhone, then Yandex will easily accept each one, and even with minimal compression!

Secondly, Yandex protects information using a password, fingerprint or face scanner. And one more thing - the developers of the service have long provided for social integration, and therefore allow you to exchange information on Facebook, Instagram or Vkontakte directly from accessible pages, without opening a browser or individual applications.

Google+