How to get hidden apps back on Android. How to delete an application. How to open hidden items without a password if they are password-protected

Read the article on how to hide applications on Android and make any files hidden. And then how to view and open hidden programs and documents.

A smartphone is a private device. However, from time to time we still make it available to friends or family. In this case, I would first like to hide some files or even applications. But how to do that? Let's figure it out.

Any operating system allows you to hide any files. On Windows, all you need to do is check the corresponding box in the file properties. In Linux, you can write a special character in the file name or drop an empty file with a special extension into the folder with it. Well, what to do in the case of Android? The article you opened will try to answer this question.

How to hide applications on an Android smartphone?

Whatever version of the Android operating system you have installed, it will not allow you to hide the display of applications with a couple of taps. By default, there is only one method, which will take you some time. Your actions should be as follows:

1. Go to "Settings".
2. Go to “Application Manager” (the item may simply be called “Applications”).
3. Click on the program or game you want to hide.
4. In the menu that appears, click on the “Stop” button.

If you then want to return the application, you need to visit the “Disabled” tab. It will contain all the programs you have stopped.

This method has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, real hiding still does not occur - you can see all the programs installed on your device in the same “Application Manager”. Secondly, if you disabled the program, then, logically, it will not work. This is similar to deleting an application, but without freeing up permanent memory. And the program settings should not be lost when it is stopped.

What should you do if you want to hide a shortcut from the menu, but without stopping the application? The operating system will not help you in this case. However, some launchers can come to the rescue. They may have a built-in application hiding feature. After its activation, access to the list with hidden shortcuts is provided only after entering a password or placing a finger on the fingerprint sensor. And often hidden programs disappear even from the aforementioned “Dispatcher”, or access to it is also blocked by a password.

One of the launchers with the function of hiding shortcuts is C Launcher. We talked about it in more detail in the article about. And if you search carefully on Google Play, you can find several more launchers that have similar functionality.

How to hide files and folders on Android?

Any programmer will tell you that Android is a Unix-like operating system. In this regard, approximately the same techniques that work on “desktop” Linux apply here. You can hide any file by starting its name with a dot. You can rename in almost any application that is used to view documents, photos and other files.

It should be remembered that in this way you will hide the file only from those applications that are pre-installed on your smartphone or tablet. In third-party programs, a file with a name like “.photo.jpeg” can still be displayed - it all depends on the implementation of the specific application. And it will certainly be displayed in file managers if the corresponding option is enabled.

In this way, you can hide not only files, but also an entire folder. Your actions in this case will not be different - you also need to add a dot to the beginning of the name. If you need to view hidden files and folders, you will have to download and install a third-party file manager. For example, you can use an application called Total Commander - in its settings there is an option that activates the display of hidden files and folders. We have already talked about those designed for the Android operating system in a separate article.

Sometimes you can do without renaming. Many applications designed for viewing images have a “Hide” button. Something similar may be present in your music player. It may have a similar button and an installed file manager. Although it is possible that the functionality of this button repeats the actions described above - pressing it simply automatically renames the file, adding a dot to the beginning of its name.

How to hide media files: music, videos and photos?

When do you most often need to hide images? Perhaps when they start to get boring with their display in the “Gallery”. For example, this application can display album covers of music. This quickly becomes annoying. Also, photos are automatically copied to the Instagram folder if you add them to this social network. As a result, the folder plays a kind of cache role, but at the same time, repeated photos in the “Gallery” begin to infuriate. What to do? Shouldn't we hide each image separately? Shouldn't we rename every music album? Of course not. Here another trick comes to the rescue, familiar to many owners of computers with the Linux operating system installed.

Install a file manager for yourself. However, you can also use the preinstalled option, if one was provided by the manufacturer of your device. In the file manager, you need to go to the folder from which you would not like to see images in the “Gallery”. In particular, you can go to the folder with music tracks. Here you should click on the “New File” button. Enter the following as its name: “.nomedia”. That's all! From now on, pictures and videos from this folder will not be recognized by the operating system. You can see them only in the file manager if the corresponding setting is activated in it.

You can delete the created file in the future. After this, the images will again be displayed in applications designed to view them.

Using specialized programs to hide files on Android

There are special utilities that do an even better job of hiding files. When using them, you will not be able to access hidden folders and files even through a computer - they will either not be displayed or will be encrypted. In this case, viewing files and folder contents will only be possible when using the installed program.

You can find dozens of similar applications on Google Play, they all work on approximately the same principle. For example, you can download GalleryVault. This utility is distributed free of charge; you will only be asked to pay money to disable advertising. This program allows you to hide any photo and video files. At the same time, they are securely encrypted, so neither the computer nor anything else will help the attackers. Interestingly, the shortcut for this application can also be hidden - in this case, it is completely difficult to guess that you are keeping something secret. If someone opens this program and enters the wrong password, they will be shown fake content. The attacker will think that he guessed the password and will leave with nothing. However, this setting can be disabled in case your smartphone might fall into the hands of a smart person who is unlikely to believe in guessing the password the first time.

Most often, when connecting a smartphone to a PC, the built-in tools in Windows will allow you to see hidden files. However, downloading them will do nothing. When you try to open these files, the operating system will display an error message. This is explained by the fact that everything downloaded was encrypted. Only the program you installed that hid the files can decrypt.

Summarizing

Now you know how you can hide files and folders on Android. We recommend doing this only as a last resort. It's better to simply not give your smartphone into the wrong hands - after all, this device is intended for personal use. You also don’t have to store anything on your device that can’t be seen by other people’s eyes. And don’t forget that you will simply lose the encrypted files if something happens to your smartphone, because you won’t be able to restore them on another device.

Do you hide any files on your smartphone? Or do you think that the game is not worth the candle? We are eager to read your opinion in the comments.

The application allows you to securely hide your files and applications, pretending to be another application.
. This application can not only hide any of your media files, but also easily disguises itself. A person who does not know the little secret will not be able to do anything. The ability to hide your files is undoubtedly an advantage of any application. But most of these applications are very easy to recognize, since they are immediately in the list of installed applications and an attacker just needs to find out your password and find hidden files. But the Hide It Pro application stands out among its competitors, if only because after launch you will see a regular audio manager for adjusting the sound and even in the application menu there will be a signature “Audio Manager”. At first you will be a little surprised, but then you will get a hint and you will understand everything. The application will allow you to hide any media files (pictures, music, videos), and you can also make notes and encrypt files.

Interface: As mentioned earlier, after launching the application, you are greeted with a regular audio manager to configure the sound. To access the PIN input panel, press and hold your finger on the logo at the top of the screen. The main screen of the application consists of 12 menu items:

• 1. Pictures – selecting photos to hide
• 2. Video – select a video to hide
• 3. Music – select music to hide
• 4. Hide applications (Root rights required) – select applications to hide
• 5. Application blocking - application from the author
• 6. File manager – a simple manager with basic functions
• 7. Browser - application from the author
• 8. Messages – application from the author
• 9. Notes – create your own notes
• 10. Encryption – encrypting important files
• 11. Settings – go to the settings section
• 12. Help – brief instructions with frequently asked questions

To hide any media file, you just need to go to the appropriate section, click the add button, then select the files you want to hide and confirm the action by clicking “Hide selected files”. After that, you can choose which album to save them in and confirm your choice again with the “OK” button.

Settings: The application settings are divided into 4 main categories:

• 1. General settings – setting up a slide show, automatically locking the screen when the device screen is turned off and setting the duration of pressing the logo so that the PIN code entry screen appears (from 0.5 seconds to 15 seconds).
• 2. Interface settings – select one of 10 themes and hide icons on the main screen.
• 3. Enter settings - select the type of lock screen, change the main PIN code and recovery email address, set a fake PIN code (if you are suddenly noticed, use this PIN code, and the attacker will not see hidden files, since all lists will be empty; re-enter this PIN code to restore the file lists).
• 4. Search tools – setting up access to the storage from a personal computer.

- this is probably the only application that hides not only files, but also itself, making the life of your enemies much more difficult and making yours easier. Enjoy!
Download the Hide It Pro app for Android you can follow the link below

Every Android smartphone has many pre-installed applications, often they are similar. Over time, the user installs more and more different software, although the unnecessary can simply be removed from it, but with regard to the menu, unnecessary elements in Android can be hidden.

If there are applications that cannot be deleted (system ones) or that are important to you, but you rarely use them, then we will first use the standard smartphone settings and hide them.

Standard hiding

There are more and more standard programs from various smartphone developers. They build in branded products that many people won't use. To get rid of this software, at least temporarily, perform the following steps:

If desired, a disabled program can be reactivated.

How to hide an icon

The rest of the software downloaded from Google Play or the Internet can be hidden. The standard capabilities of the built-in launcher do not allow this, unless, of course, the user has some kind of exotic firmware. To solve the problem we will use third party launcher.

Nova Launcher

This launcher is popular among users. There are both paid and free versions. You can download from the Play Market: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher. To hide data using this software, you need update it before the Pro version, otherwise there is no point in it.

We find the icon “ SettingsNova"(located in the same place as all the programs). Scroll down and go to the section “ Hide apps».

Check off unnecessary items and exit the settings. Let's check.

By the way, here you can hide not only individual software, but entire folders with programs.

Apex Launcher

This launcher is a bit similar to the previous one. Install it from the Play Market (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anddoes.launcher) and go to settings.

We are looking for the section " Application menu settings", and then go to the subsection " Hidden apps" Check the boxes and click " Save" Here, by default, the “Apex Launcher” option is blocked, but the checkbox can be unchecked.

To enable it, just uncheck the boxes in this section and save the changes.

There are also many utilities that expand the functionality of the smartphone and the system.

Hide Pictures

If you want to keep the old launcher, but the ability to hide software is still necessary, use Hide Pictures - Hide it Pro (https://hideitpro.com/).

For everything to work perfectly, it is advisable to have superuser rights(Root).

You can also download Hide it Pro from the Play Market: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hideitpro. After launch, a strange window opens with sliders responsible for volume. A message should appear that to activate Hide Pictures you need to click on the logo and then restart it.

The next window means entering password or PIN code so that other users cannot find out about hidden programs.

Now go to the section " Hide apps».

A window will open asking you to install the plugin and grant superuser rights. They are absolutely necessary, otherwise nothing will work.

Once you have granted rights, go to the “” tab.

Select what you need and confirm with the OK button.

Hide App

This tool is also downloaded from Google Play. After launching, you can immediately select which software you want to hide, and after everything is checked, click “ Save».

To secure your actions and prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the utility, you can set a PIN code.

PrivateMe

Download this software from the Play Market (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trigtech.privateme) and launch it. Although the entire program has an English-language interface, there should not be any difficulties. Moreover, it does not require superuser rights.

Today, Android and iOS mobile device is a very popular means of storing all personal information. In addition to phone numbers, users store photos, documents, financial information, and account passwords. It is logical to assume that not all content is intended for outsiders. It’s unlikely that you want your friend who took your tablet to play to see any of them. In addition, some developers add programs to the firmware that are not particularly valuable, but take up precious device memory.

On your personal device you can hide both important documents and unnecessary application icons

How to protect yourself from the inquisitive gaze of a curious friend? How to remove built-in software that you will never use but cannot remove? We suggest looking at how you can hide an application on an Android or iOS tablet.

Hiding applications on Android

Traditionally, Android has many more options for hiding an app on a tablet. All thanks to its openness, unlike iOS. On this operating system, the procedure is somewhat different from the goals pursued. Let's look at how to remove unnecessary built-in programs, hide the icon from the menu and protect the tablet from prying eyes.

Disabling pre-installed programs

Disabling programs integrated by the developer will free up memory space when there is already not much of it, and in some cases reduce battery drain. And also hidden icons will not distract you with their presence.

Go to Settings - Applications - All. Find the program you want to disable in the list. Usually this is something like Play Music, Books, Movies, or from Yandex, for example, Maps, Taxi, and you may also come across games and other practically unnecessary garbage.

There are three buttons in the program menu window: Stop, Uninstall updates, Disable. Click the last one, the system will offer to return the original version (if you have already installed updates), after which it will be disabled. To be completely sure, uncheck the “Enable notifications” checkbox and click “Stop.” Now the application will take up minimal space and will not affect the operation of the device in any way. You can remove all unnecessary programs in this way. They will be displayed in a separate “Disabled” tab. Icons hidden in this way will not be displayed in the menu. If desired, any application can be turned back on.

Using third party launchers

If you don't want to uninstall the program, but just need to hide the icon from the menu, use a third-party launcher. There are many of them on the Play Store. We recommend installing Nova Launcher or Apex Launcher. They are very similar to each other, and the interface is similar to the standard bootloader.

On your desktop, press the menu button, select Nova (or Apex) Settings - Application Drawer - Hidden Apps and check all the programs you want to hide. Click "Save". Now these icons will not be displayed in the menu.

Specialized software

In order to hide secret information from prying eyes, the Hide It PRO program will help. It can hide various media files and other data.

• Install the program from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hideitpro and run;
• Hold your finger on the Audio Manager inscription to move to the next menu item;
• Then create an access password;
• In the next menu, run “Hide Applications”, agree to install the plugin, provide ;
• Mark the programs you want to hide and confirm your choice. You can launch hidden programs through the menu of this software by entering a password.

Hiding apps on iOS

It is almost impossible to hide an application on an iPad using standard means. But, nevertheless, there are several options, for iPad and iPhone with and without jailbreak.

For devices without jailbreak

The available method cannot be called complete, since it works until the first reboot. What should be done?

• Create a folder or open an existing one;
• Move the ones you want to hide into it;
• Long-press any icon until all of them begin to shake;
• Drag any app in the folder to the right until a blank page appears. Drag the icon one more page to the right;
• Without releasing your fingers from the screen, press the Home button.

That's it, the application will be removed from the home screen. You can open it through the search bar. Do not forget that after rebooting the procedure will have to be repeated.

For jailbroken devices

Launch Cydia and enter HiddenApps in the search bar. This setting has many features, one of which is the ability to hide an app on iOS. After installing this tweak, you can immediately choose which programs you want to remove.

Conclusion

The most popular operating system currently in existence is undoubtedly Android. Most modern devices and various gadgets operate under its control. If earlier we could only see it on smartphones, now it is used everywhere. It is difficult to imagine a modern TV running a different system. All this happens for one simple reason. This system is very functional and has many settings. But, despite its prevalence and ease of use, many do not even realize what secrets the Android device holds.

Among the many common functions that the average user uses every day, there is also a well-hidden functionality. A person can use his smartphone for several years and not even realize all the capabilities of his gadget.

It's time to reveal all the secrets and talk about the hidden “tricks” of the popular operating system. In this article we will try to reveal all the secrets of Android.

Safely hidden mini-game

Every device, regardless of the Android version, has a hidden mini-game. It is different in different versions of Android, but they are all exciting and quite complex. It is almost impossible to independently guess where this game is located. It is so well hidden that an uninformed person cannot trigger it by accident. Let us describe a universal algorithm for launching a hidden game.

First of all, go to the basic settings of the device. At the very bottom of the list there will be an inconspicuous and rarely used “About phone” item. That's exactly what we need. Click on it and move on. Now a huge amount of information will appear on the display screen. We will see the name of our gadget, the amount of RAM, the kernel version and much more. But, we need a line that says “Android version”.

After we have found it, by repeatedly quickly clicking on this line, we open the mini-game. You need to click on this inscription many times and at short intervals. It’s difficult to say the exact number of taps, but we can assume that you’ll have to tap the screen five to ten times.

Of course, you can install more advanced games with modern graphics on Android, but finding something new in a long-familiar thing is always nice.

Safe mode

Modern mobile phones are almost equal in functionality to personal computers. It's hard to even say where they are inferior. They have their own safe boot mode, which not everyone knows about.

This mode will be especially useful if a serious failure has occurred in the system and the device has completely frozen. This function will also be extremely useful for smartphones infected with a large number of virus programs that cause malfunctions.


When booting in this mode, the device blocks absolutely all third-party applications. In other words, the phone will start only with the factory list of programs. After this, you can remove malicious software or incompatible applications that were slowing down the operation of the device.

In order to carry out this action, you must press the power key. After the power off button appears on the screen, press it and do not release it for a long time. Then we confirm the reboot in the selected mode.

After the reboot, all previously installed applications will be colored in black and white. Thus, they can be easily distinguished from system programs and subsequently removed.

Hidden menu

Going to the main menu, we see the main list of tabs that we use to configure our device. In fact, this is far from a complete list of settings. The Android system has a hidden menu item that is intended exclusively for advanced users.

You can activate this item by going to the main phone settings. After this, scroll to the very bottom of the page that opens. There we will see an item called “About phone”. That's exactly what we need. We go into it with one click. Among the numerous lines we look for the inscription “Build number”. Click on it without stopping until an inscription with the text “You are a developer” appears on the display.

After this, you can congratulate you, the secret menu item is activated. To enter it, open the main menu again and go to the “Advanced” tab. Now we scroll to the end of the page and in one of the last positions there will be the inscription “For Developers”. This is the very menu that was previously inaccessible and not even displayed.
This tab contains a lot of new features:

1. You can view process statistics. Essentially, this information is provided in order to analyze the running time of applications. If one of the applications runs continuously and is not a system one, this is a good reason to think about deleting it or stopping this process.

2. USB debugging. This point is especially important for experienced users who are involved in flashing devices and developing Android applications.

3. You can limit the maximum number of background processes.

4. Ability to display CPU load.

5. Change the animation scale, highlight the boundaries of objects and much more.

We will not list all the items on this menu now, there are a very large number of them. Everyone can independently activate this option and become familiar with all the capabilities of their device.

Magnifier

The secrets of Android do not end there, but rather just begin. Another quite useful feature is the ability to enlarge the screen or, as it is also called, a screen magnifier. This feature is very helpful for people with visual impairments. This function becomes especially relevant for those who have a small screen diagonal.
Activating such a function will not be difficult. As in most cases, go to the gadget settings and go to the “Special Features” item. In this tab, among the numerous settings, you need to find “Gestures for zooming”. We activate this feature and now we can enlarge any area of ​​the display with a triple finger press.

Increasing internal memory

Until recently, the amount of internal phone memory was catastrophically small. Smartphones with a memory capacity of more than eight gigabytes were considered flagship. A lot of time has passed since then, but even now on some models, the amount of built-in memory is not large. If we take away from them the space that the system occupies, then the user has practically nothing left. In this case, the inserted flash drive does not save the situation, since games and programs cannot be installed on it.

Starting from the sixth Android, this problem disappeared. This version of the operating system has a very convenient feature. Now, if you insert a flash drive into your device, the operating system will immediately ask the user a question about the purpose of this flash drive. It is enough to select the item that we want to use it as internal memory. After this, your gadget will independently format the drive and will recognize it as the internal memory of the device. This will allow you to install all kinds of games and programs on it without any problems.

When taking advantage of this privilege, it is worth remembering that all flash cards have different data transfer rates. Now it is best to use tenth class drives. Otherwise, the installed content will open slowly and not work correctly.

Screenshot of an Android device

While using your phone, it is often necessary to save an image of the screen. There can be many reasons for this: catching a still frame of a movie, recording an error that appears on the screen, saving a fragment of your correspondence, etc. The reasons are different for each user.


In order to save the display image, just press the volume down button and the gadget’s power key at the same time. After this, the photo will be automatically saved in the smartphone gallery.

Secret codes

As mentioned earlier, the Android system has a huge number of settings and a lot of possibilities for stabilizing the shell. But for many users it will be a real discovery that you can control the device not only using the standard settings menu, but also by typing a secret combination of characters.

Some of the most useful combinations include:

*#*#0*#*#* — allows you to test the display;

*#06#- using the specified command you can find out the unique imei of your gadget;

*#*#4636#*#* - using this combination you can find out a lot of information about the smartphone and its battery.

Blocking the device in case of theft

Smartphones and other devices running the Android operating system often become desirable targets for thieves. What should you do if your smartphone is stolen and there is a huge amount of personal data stored on it that should not fall into the wrong hands?

There is one proven method that will help you reliably secure your personal information. To do this, go to the main settings, then open the “security” tab. Among the proposed options, we need to click on “Device Administrators”. We activate the “Remote search and blocking” function. Now our data is securely protected. Using your personal Google account, you can block your phone, no matter where it is located.


Also, this opportunity will be very relevant if you lose your gadget. In addition to blocking the device, all its data can be restored on your computer.

Traffic control

All mobile operators have their own traffic limits and tariffs. In most cases, the user has access to a limited amount of Internet traffic per month. To keep track of how many megabytes you've used, you can contact your carrier or install one of the many third-party apps. But if you take a closer look at the capabilities of your smartphone, you will notice that there is a standard function in the settings. It allows you to be aware of the megabytes spent.


To set the limit, you need to go to the main settings, after which we go to the “Data transfer” tab. It is there that we can set the number of megabytes that we plan to use. Once the user exceeds the specified threshold, the device will immediately report this. In addition, using this function you can track which application consumes the most Internet resources. This is very convenient and allows you to save on GPRS traffic.

Other secrets

The most interesting secrets of Android were listed above. These features are standard and present on every device. In addition to general secrets, there are also a large number of individual secrets for each phone manufacturer and each version of Android. The fact is that each manufacturer uses its own unique Android shell. However, all shells are different and have different advantages. Each specific phone manufacturer has its own unique features. For example, on ZTE Nubia smartphones, repeatedly pressing an empty area of ​​the display produces the effect of a broken screen. There is no useful functionality in this, but it looks very funny.

To summarize, I would like to note that with the advent of new versions of the operating system, the number of Android functions and secrets increases. It is quite possible that this list will soon be replenished with new interesting functions.