Why would you need to hide photos and videos on your iPhone or iPad? The reason is quite simple. Often, when your phone is unlocked and in someone else's hands, they might get curious and want to browse through the photos and videos stored in your photo gallery. In this tutorial, you’ll see step-by-step how to hide photos and videos from the Photos app (Camera Roll) on your iPhone or iPad.
In other words, this is a very useful guide if you want to hide sensitive photos with your lover, partner, or any other photos and videos that shouldn't be visible when someone else opens the photo gallery on your iPhone.
Table of Contents
Methods to Hide Photos and Videos on iPhone or iPad
Secure Your iPhone with a Password and Biometric Authentication
The first method to hide photos and videos on your iPhone, if we can call it that, is to secure your iPhone with a passcode that only you know. This way, no one can access the Photos app without unlocking the device. Additionally, for Touch ID authentication (available on older models), it's best to register only your own biometric data, ensuring only you can unlock the device.
Use the "Hide" Option in the Photos App
The native Photos app on iOS includes a "Hide" option that lets you hide photos and videos on your iPhone. This is a useful method for devices running an iOS version older than iOS 16.
This option partially hides the selected photos and videos. They will no longer appear in the "Moments" and "Collections" galleries. However, they will still be visible in the main "Camera Roll" folder. Therefore, this option doesn't create a secret photo gallery but is a good way to make certain photos less visible in the main photo collections.
Starting with iOS 16, Apple introduced a new feature in the Photos app that allows users to hide photos and videos in a secret photo gallery. This option hides the selected photos and videos from all albums in the app.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to hide photos and videos on iPhone or iPad if your device runs iOS 16 or a newer version:
Even though the native iOS methods are sufficient in most scenarios, the most effective solutions for hiding photos and videos on an iPhone involve using third-party apps. These can include cloud storage services or password-protected apps where you can securely store the photos and videos you want to hide.
How to Hide Photos and Videos on iPhone Using a Cloud Storage Service (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive)
First, to do this, you need a cloud account (like Google Drive or OneDrive) and the corresponding app installed to connect to it. Let’s use OneDrive as an example in this scenario.
OneDrive is a cloud service provided by Microsoft, offering a highly functional app for iOS. Through the app, you can easily upload photos and videos from your Camera Roll. Once uploaded to the cloud, you can delete them from your phone.
Next, pay attention to the app’s configuration. Although the app supports Touch ID for authentication, it’s not recommended to enable it. Instead, use the option to set a personal PIN for accessing files on OneDrive—different from your iPhone’s unlock code.
This way, even if someone gains access to your unlocked iPhone, they won’t be able to access the photos or videos stored in OneDrive. You can access them anytime, either from your iPhone, through the web interface, or from another device connected to the same OneDrive account. Although this method may seem complex, it’s actually very simple and highly secure if you need to hide photos and videos on your iPhone.
Hide Photos and Videos from Camera Roll Using a Third-Party App
In the Apple App Store, you’ll find plenty of apps designed for this purpose. Many of them require a fee for storing larger volumes of photos, but there are also several that allow you to hide up to 200 photos for free.
All you need to do is open the App Store on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and search for “hide photos,” “secret photos,” or “vault photos.” From the list of apps, choose the one that best suits your needs.
Many of these apps, capable of creating secret photo galleries and hiding photos, have names and icons designed to mislead anyone who might see them installed. Most mimic the iOS calculator icon, but others resemble a scanner or a video player.
The basic functionality of these apps is quite simple: you set a personal password, which is required every time you access the app. Then, you can use built-in tools to import photos and videos into a secured space within the app. After importing, make sure to delete the photos both from the Camera Roll and from "Recently Deleted."
Conclusion
In conclusion, even though the latest versions of iOS or iPadOS allow you to hide photos and videos directly on your iPhone or iPad, the most secure solution remains using a third-party photo and video storage app that lets you set a different access code than your phone’s unlock code.
