Secure Folder for any Android phone: the best non-Samsung options
No Samsung? What Pixel, Nothing, Motorola, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi phones offer instead of Secure Folder, how close each comes, and when a vault app fits better.
· 8 min read
Samsung's Secure Folder is one of the best-known ways to hide photos and apps on a phone, but it only exists on Galaxy phones. If you have a Pixel, Nothing, Motorola, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi or any other Android phone, here's what yours offers instead, how close each option comes, and when a vault app is the better fit.
What you're trying to replace
Secure Folder is a separate, encrypted space with its own lock, separate from your screen lock. It can hold apps as well as photos and files, and nothing inside shows up in the rest of the phone. Its weak spot is backups: Samsung no longer offers one, as our Samsung guide also explains. Keep those points in mind as you compare.
The options at a glance
| Option | Phones | Holds | Opens with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private space | Pixel and many others, Android 15 and later | Apps, and what they save | Its own lock or your screen lock |
| Secure folder (Moto Secure) | Motorola | Apps and files | Its own PIN |
| Private Safe | OPPO, realme, OnePlus | Photos, videos and files | Your privacy password |
| File Safe | vivo, iQOO | Photos, videos and files | Your privacy password |
| Private album | Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO | Photos and videos | Your privacy password |
| Safe folder in Files by Google | Any phone with the Files app | Files | Its own PIN or pattern |
| A vault app | Any Android phone | Photos, videos and files | Its own PIN or password |
Pixel and other phones: Android's Private space
On Android 15 and later, Private space is the closest thing to Secure Folder, and it's built into Android itself, so Pixel phones and many others have it. It's a separate, locked area for apps: while it's locked, the apps inside are hidden from your app list, recent apps and the photo picker. Install a gallery or camera app inside it, and the photos it holds stay inside too.
To set it up, open Settings → Security & privacy → Private space (the path varies by phone). You can give it its own lock, which is better than reusing your screen lock, and hide it so it only appears when you search for it.
Two limits to know: Google says a private space isn't restored from a device backup, and if you forget its lock, you can't get back in, and resetting it deletes everything inside.
Nothing phones: Private Space
Nothing OS has its own version of Private Space, rolled out to Nothing phones in 2025. You open it by swiping across in the app drawer, and it uses your privacy password, the same one that protects app lock. Apps inside don't appear in your app list, recent apps or notifications.
Motorola: Secure folder
Motorola's Moto Secure includes a Secure folder for apps and files, with its own PIN. You'll find it under Settings → Security and privacy → More security and privacy → Secure folder. Choose its PIN carefully: Motorola says a forgotten Secure folder PIN can't be recovered, and the only way out is to delete the folder, which removes everything in it. Our Moto Secure guide covers it step by step.
OPPO, realme, OnePlus, vivo and Xiaomi
These brands don't copy Secure Folder's separate space for apps, but each has a locked place for photos and files, opened with a privacy password:
- OPPO, realme and OnePlus: Private Safe for photos and files, plus Hide apps for apps. On OnePlus it replaced Lockbox.
- vivo and iQOO: File Safe in the File Manager app.
- Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: the Private album in Gallery, plus App lock.
They have the same weak spots: recovery depends on a security question, email or account you set up, and none of them promises a backup that moves to another brand of phone.
Any phone: the Safe folder in Files by Google
The Files by Google app has a Safe folder for documents and other files, locked with a PIN or pattern of its own. It's handy for IDs and downloads, but forgetting the PIN or pattern can mean losing what's inside, so keep copies of anything important elsewhere. More in our guide to hiding files and folders.
For apps rather than photos: Shelter
If what you liked about Secure Folder was keeping a second copy of an app, the open-source app Shelter uses Android's work profile to run apps separately. Its developer describes it as in maintenance mode, it can't share a phone with other work-profile apps, and it's built for apps, not for hiding photos.
Where a vault app fits
Most of the options above only exist on one brand of phone, and few offer a backup you could restore on a different phone. A vault app works the same on every Android phone, so it moves with you when you switch.
Hidey runs on any phone with Android 11 or later. It encrypts each photo, video or file on your phone, then deletes the original, so it's gone from your gallery and every other app. The vault has its own PIN or password, separate from your screen lock, and a free calculator disguise. Backups go to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive, free and encrypted before upload, and restore on a new phone of any brand. The trade-off to know: Drive backup also lets you reset a forgotten PIN through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could reset it too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro).