Best App to Hide Apps on Android: Start With Your Phone

The best app for hiding apps is usually no app at all. A lot of Android phones can already do it, and the built-in way costs nothing and shows no ads. Usually it also puts the hidden apps behind a lock of their own. Install something only if your phone turns out to have nothing built in.

We went through Google’s and the phone makers’ own help pages for the built-in options, then through the Google Play listings of the apps that offer to do the same job. Several of the apps this article used to recommend have left the store.

What your phone can already do

Phone	Feature	Where to find it	What it does
Android 15 or later	Private space	Settings > Security & privacy > Private space	A separate, locked area. While it is locked, its apps leave the app list, recent apps and Settings.
Samsung Galaxy	Secure Folder	Settings > Security and privacy > More security settings > Secure Folder	A locked folder for apps and files. The folder itself can be hidden.
Samsung Galaxy	Hide apps on Home and Apps screens	Touch and hold an empty spot on a Home screen, then tap Settings	Removes the icon. There is no lock.
Xiaomi and Redmi	Hide apps	Security app > Hide apps	Hidden apps come back with a two-finger spread on the Home screen and the App lock password.
Motorola	Secure folder	Moto Secure app, or Settings > Security and privacy > More security and privacy	A locked folder for apps and files, with a stealth mode.
vivo	Hide App	Settings > Security or Privacy (the name varies) > Privacy and app encryption > Hide App	Closes the app and takes it off the Home screen, recent apps and app lists.

Menu names shift a little between models and software versions. If your brand is not in the table, open Settings and search for “hide” or “private” before you install anything. The makers above are the ones we could confirm on their own support pages.

Private space on Android 15 and later

Private space is Google’s own answer, and it is the strongest one here. It is a second, separate space on the phone with its own lock. Google’s Android Help says that while the space is locked, the apps inside are stopped completely. They show no notifications, and they are hidden from the launcher, recent apps, search and Settings.

To set it up, open Settings, tap Security & privacy, then Private space, and unlock with your screen lock. You can keep the phone’s lock for the space or choose a new one. To put an app inside, touch and hold it in All Apps and tap Install app in Private space, or open the space and tap Install. This installs a fresh copy. Google does not let you move an app’s data in from the main side, so you sign in again.

You can also hide the space itself. In its settings, turn on Hide private space when it’s locked. After that, you reach it by searching for “private space” in All Apps.

Google lists some limits, and they are worth knowing before you rely on it:

It needs Android 15 or later, and it only works for the phone’s main user. It is not available on a phone managed by an employer or with a supervised account, and a manufacturer can switch it off.
Apps that must work in the background do not belong in it. Google’s example is a medical app that tracks your health, which stops when the space locks.
If you forget the lock for the space, there is no recovery. You delete the space and lose what was in it.
Nothing in it is included when the phone is backed up.
It is not invisible to everything. Google says other apps, device logs and a computer connected to the phone can reveal that a private space exists.

Google also suggests signing in to the space with a separate Google Account, so that synced photos and mail do not show up on the main side. The full steps are on Google’s private space help page.

How to hide apps on a Samsung phone

Samsung gives you two tools, and they do different jobs.

Hide apps on Home and Apps screens is the quick one. Touch and hold an empty spot on a Home screen, tap Settings, then Hide apps on Home and Apps screens, and pick the apps. Samsung’s help page describes it as taking the icon away so you do not tap it by accident. That tells you how much privacy to expect: there is no lock, and the app is still installed.

Secure Folder is the private one. Go to Settings, Security and privacy, More security settings, then Secure Folder, and set a PIN, password or pattern. Add an app and a copy of it appears inside the folder. You can then hide the folder from the Apps screen, or leave it in view under a different name and icon. During setup, turn on Reset with Samsung account. Without it, Samsung says a forgotten passcode cannot be recovered. Samsung’s Secure Folder guide has every step, and notes that the option does not appear on devices that do not support it.

Xiaomi, Motorola and vivo

Xiaomi and Redmi: open the Security app, tap Hide apps and switch on each app you want out of sight. To get them back, spread two fingers apart on the Home screen and enter your App lock password.

Motorola: the Secure folder lives in the Moto Secure app. It locks with a pattern, PIN or password, and can use your fingerprint. You can disguise it with another name and icon, or turn on Stealth mode so it only opens from Settings or the Moto Secure app. Motorola’s help page is blunt about a forgotten lock: you delete the folder and everything in it.

vivo: Hide App sits under Privacy and app encryption in Settings. vivo’s support page says a hidden app is fully closed and stops receiving new messages, so do not hide a chat app you need to hear from. It is on phones running Funtouch OS 9.0 or later.

Apps that hide apps

The apps on Google Play fall into two groups. Launchers replace your home screen and simply leave the chosen apps out of their app list. Cloners make a second copy of an app inside themselves, usually behind a fake calculator.

App	Maker	On Google Play	How it hides
Niagara Launcher	Mellowdrop Studio	Free, no ads, in-app purchases	Launcher. Leaves chosen apps out of its app list.
Smart Launcher 6	Smart Launcher Team	Free, no ads, in-app purchases	Launcher. Hides apps and protects them with a PIN.
Olauncher	Digital Minimalism	Free, no ads, no purchases	Launcher. Hidden apps sit in a list inside its settings.
Hyperion Launcher	prjkt.io	Free, no ads, in-app purchases	Launcher. Hidden apps, plus a lock that works inside the launcher only.
Nova Launcher	Instabridge Sweden AB	Free with ads. Hiding apps needs the paid Prime upgrade.	Launcher. Hides apps from its app drawer.
Hide All	Momo Technology HK	Free. The listing says no ads.	A second home screen behind a working calculator.
App Hider	Hide Apps (NO ROOT)	Free with ads, in-app purchases	Cloner. Copies the app into its own space and turns its icon into a calculator.
Parallel Space	LBE Tech	Free with ads, in-app purchases	Cloner. Built for running two accounts, with an option to hide the copies.
Island	Oasis Feng	Free, no ads	Uses Android’s work profile to isolate, freeze or hide apps.

Launchers

A launcher is the low-risk choice, because it never touches the app you are hiding. It only decides what its own home screen shows. That is also its limit. The app is still installed and still listed under Apps in Settings, so this keeps things out of casual view and no more. Hyperion’s listing is honest about it: its app lock works at launcher level and does not stop the app being opened from elsewhere.

Niagara and Olauncher both describe themselves as minimalist, so installing either changes how the whole phone looks. Olauncher goes as far as a home screen with no icons. It is open source and has nothing to buy. Smart Launcher 6 is the one whose listing mentions a PIN on hidden apps. It does not say whether that part needs the paid version.

Cloners and calculator vaults

App Hider and its sister app, Calculator Vault, work the other way. You import an app and they run a copy of it inside their own space, which keeps working after you uninstall the original. The hider then changes its own icon to a calculator that opens the hidden space when you type your code.

The disguise is clever, but look at what it means. Your WhatsApp or banking app is now a copy running inside another company’s app, and the free version carries ads. Parallel Space says in its own listing that some apps are not supported, among them apps that require a secure environment.

Island is the exception in this group. It is free with no ads, and it uses the work profile that Android already has. Setting it up means granting it device administrator rights, so it suits people who are comfortable in system settings.

Which one to pick

Your phone runs Android 15 or later: private space. Nothing on Google Play matches it.
You have a Samsung: Secure Folder for anything sensitive. The Hide apps setting is fine for tidying away apps you never open.
Your phone has nothing built in: Niagara or Olauncher if you like a plain home screen, Smart Launcher 6 if you want a PIN on the hidden list. None of the three carries an ads label on Google Play.
You are thinking about a calculator vault: keep banking and chat apps out of it. Use one only for apps where a second sign-in inside someone else’s app does not worry you.

What happened to the old list

This article first listed ten apps in 2019. DU Privacy Vault and C Launcher no longer turn up when you search Google Play. Hide Application, from The Tree Team, is still listed but says it works on rooted phones only, which rules it out for nearly everyone.

Hide It Pro is still on the store, from Goaffpro, now listed as Hide Photos, Video and App Loc. The name really does stop there. It is free with ads and disguises itself as an audio manager. Its listing is mostly about hiding photos and videos, so it is a better fit for a gallery than for apps.

Quick answers

How do I hide apps on Android without an app?

Use what the phone has: private space on Android 15 and later, Secure Folder or Hide apps on Samsung, Hide apps in the Security app on Xiaomi and Redmi, Secure folder on Motorola, Hide App on vivo.

How do I hide apps on Android without disabling them?

None of the methods in this article disables or uninstalls anything. The app stays installed and opens as usual once you unhide or unlock it. Disabling is a different thing: Google describes it as turning off an app that came with the phone so it no longer shows in your app list.

Which app hides apps without ads?

Niagara Launcher, Smart Launcher 6, Olauncher, Hyperion Launcher and Island carry no ads label on Google Play. Olauncher and Island have no in-app purchases either.

Is private space on Samsung phones?

Samsung’s own help pages point to Secure Folder for this job. Google says a manufacturer can disable private space, so look for both in Settings under Security and privacy.

How do I find hidden apps on an Android phone?

Open Settings, tap Apps, then See all apps. Apps hidden by a launcher still appear there. Apps inside a locked private space do not.

If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.