How to hide apps on OPPO and realme

OPPO and realme phones can hide apps without installing anything. Hide apps, built into ColorOS and realme UI, takes an app off your home screen and app drawer, and you get back to it by dialling a secret access code in the Phone app. Here's how to hide apps on an OPPO or realme phone, how to find and unhide them, what to do if you forget the code, and what hiding doesn't protect.

Menu names change between versions. Newer phones call the menu Security & privacy, older ones just Privacy, and searching Settings for "Hide apps" finds it on any version. realme says some editions of realme UI (Go, R, S, T and U) don't have Hide apps at all. On another brand's phone? Here's how to hide apps on any Android phone.

How to hide apps on OPPO and realme

1. Open Settings and tap Security & privacy (or Privacy), then Hide apps.
2. Set your privacy password, or enter it if you already have one. It's the same password that protects App lock and Private Safe.
3. The first time, set an access code: a #, a few digits and another #, such as #2580#.
4. Turn on the switch next to each app you want to hide.

Some apps can't be hidden, such as the Phone app itself, since that's how you get back in. realme says hidden apps can also have their notifications hidden and stay out of recent tasks. Check Hide apps' settings to make sure that's on, or a notification can still give a hidden app away.

How to find hidden apps on OPPO and realme

Open the Phone app and dial your access code on the keypad, # signs included. Your hidden apps appear, and you can open any of them from there.

Two habits help:

• Clear the keypad afterwards. Some phones leave the code on the dial pad until you delete it, where the next person to open the Phone app would see it.
• Pick a code nobody would guess. #1234# and your birthday are the first codes a snoop would try.

If the code does nothing, open Hide apps in Settings to check it, or set a new one as below.

How to unhide an app

Open Settings → Security & privacy → Hide apps, enter your privacy password and turn off the switch next to the app. It goes back to your home screen and app drawer.

If you forget the access code

You don't need the old code to set a new one, only your privacy password. Open Hide apps in Settings, enter the password and choose Change access code. On some versions it's behind the settings icon in the top right corner.

If you forget the privacy password

Tap Forgot password on the privacy password screen and use the recovery option you set up: a recovery email, a security question or, on some versions, your Google account or phone number. Without one, the only way to clear the privacy password is a factory reset, which erases everything on the phone. If you haven't added a recovery option yet, do it now, while you still know the password. Our guide to a forgotten Private Safe password covers each option.

Hiding isn't locking

A hidden app is out of sight, but it isn't protected:

• Anyone who learns your access code, or watches you dial it, can find every hidden app.
• Installed apps still show in Google Play's list of apps on your device, and in the other places our guide to finding hidden apps covers.

For the apps that matter, turn on App lock too, which asks for your privacy password before an app opens. Search Settings for "App lock" to find it. If you'd rather an app stayed in plain sight but looked like something else, see how to disguise an app. Using a OnePlus phone? It has the same Hide apps feature, which our OnePlus guide covers, and on a Xiaomi phone it works differently, as our Redmi and Xiaomi guide shows.

Hiding photos, not just apps

Hiding the Photos app doesn't hide your photos: your file manager, Google Photos and other apps can still show them. The built-in place for private photos is Private Safe, but it only exists on OPPO, realme and OnePlus phones, so its contents can't follow you to another brand.

Hidey is a vault app that works the same on any Android phone. It encrypts each photo and video you hide from your gallery, checks the encrypted copy, then deletes the original, so it's gone from Photos, your file manager and every other app. Hidey doesn't need an access code to stay out of sight, either: rather than vanishing from your home screen, it can sit there as a working calculator, and the calculator disguise is free. Anyone who opens it can do sums, and only your PIN followed by = opens the vault. Like any app, it's still listed under its real name in Settings and Google Play, which is why the photos inside are encrypted, not just out of sight.

Hidey's backup to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive is free and encrypted before upload, so your photos survive a lost or reset phone and move to your next one, whatever the brand. If you forget your PIN, you can reset it through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro).