The iPhone’s camera is the world’s most popular camera, according to the photo-sharing social media giant Flickr. According to their data, they state that around 50 percent of all photos uploaded on their website are shot on the iPhone. It's not surprising that smartphones account for that huge portion of modern-day photography, because the phone cameras keep getting more advanced with more megapixels, more lenses and AI integrated right into them. After all, Apple has sold over a billion iPhones, and this is another contributing factor to it being the most popular camera. Most of people’s data is contained on their phones, and we all try to take measures to protect it from prying eyes. Photos are no exception to this, and when a photo is too sensitive to leave lying around on your phone, you might want to protect it. The easiest available measure is to delete and lose it completely, but this might not be ideal if you cannot lose the photo.

The best measure to this is to hide and secure it so that it completely stays private. In this guide, we will show you how to hide private photos on the iPhone. Apple does have a photo and video hiding feature built-in right into its mobile operating system, starting with iOS 8. However, the options offered by Apple are not completely private as anyone with access to your iPhone can still open the hidden items album right in the Photos app. You can also lock them down in the Notes app, as well as installing third-party apps dedicated for this task.

Part 1: Hide photos and videos in the Photos App

As was revealed earlier, hiding photos and videos in the Photos app on iOS is possible, but doing so will only hide them from your Moments, Collection View and Years. They will simply be put in the Hidden album, which is not password or private protected. If you are running iOS 8, 9 or 10 the hidden photos will still be visible in All Photos, but if you are running iOS 11, 12 or 13 they are finally removed from the All Photos view. If you want to view the hidden photos, you simply have to open this album, with the only security to view them being only the main phone password to unlock the iPhone. It might be worth it if you keep asking yourself “how do I keep my photos in privacy?” The steps below will show you how to do it right in the Photos app.

Keep safe photo vault iPhone

Step 1: Open the Photos app on your iPhone, then find and select the photos and videos you want to hide.

Step 2: In the lower-left corner, find and tap the share icon to review the menu. Scroll down until you find “Hide” on the menu and tap it.

Step 3: Once you tap “Hide”, confirm the action by clicking “Hide Photo(s)” or “Hide Video(s)”. Your photos and videos will be hidden from view.

Part 2: Use a Third-Party Locker App

There are many apps available on the Apple AppStore which are specifically dedicated to hiding and protecting your photos and videos. Of all those apps, none other takes the golden title other than KeepSafe Software Inc.’s Secret Photo Vault. This app has been downloaded millions of times by users from the AppStore, which makes it one of the most popular photo and video vault app. This app will secure photos and videos by locking them down with pin protection, fingerprints, face scanning and military-grade encryption. KeepSafe will guarantee you with privacy, security, and at the same time-saving space on your iPhone. It has basic and premium versions for users to pick from, and the basic features include a simple interface, custom albums, integrated camera for taking photos directly in the app, shared albums and much more. The premium features include album PIN lock to particular albums, private online storage, space saver and trash recovery. To hide your private photos on iPhone by using Secret Photo Vault, follow the steps below.

Step 1: If you do not have this app preinstalled on your phone, launch the AppStore from your home screen and search for Secret Photo Vault. Click “Get” to download the app and follow all the on-screen prompts to finish the download.

Step 2: Launch the app, and create an account and when you finish you will be prompted to create a PIN code to lock the app. Customize your settings like creating a fake PIN, break-in alerts, themes, private cloud and much more.

Step 3: After you customizing your settings, create new albums if need be. Otherwise, you can just use the Main Album. Click the + sign to start importing your pictures and videos. Allow access to your photo album when prompted.

Part 3: Hide photos in Notes

It seems crazy, but it is reality that photos can easily be hidden in the Notes app. Hiding the photos in the Notes app is a much more secure and private way of doing so since no traces are left in the photos app. This note locking feature allows you to use a password, passcode, Touch ID and Face ID. It was originally released with iOS 9.3 and continues to present day releases of this mobile operating system. However, if the photo is a Live Photo, it will lose its ‘live’ abilities so keep that in mind. We will show you the steps to hide private photos on iPhone by using the Notes app.

Step 1: Open the Notes app and in the lower right corner, then find and tap the create a new note icon to do the corresponding action.

Step 2: Import all your private photos in the Notes app. Do this by clicking the camera icon in the new note, then select the “Photo Library” from the menu. When you are done, you will see all your private photos in the new note you created.

Step 3: Go back to “All Notes” and you should see the new note containing your private photos with a thumbnail of one of the photos. Next, swipe the note right, then you will see the lock icon. If you have Touch ID or Face ID enabled, it will automatically lock it.

Part 4: Backup photos and videos with Leawo iTransfer

We have shown you several ways to hide your private photos, which automatically means they are important to you. The worst thing you do not want to happen is to lose them completely in the event your iPhone gets lost, accidental deletion, resetting the device and many more scenarios. For that reason, backing up your data is always advised and you’ll feel regret if you don’t back up your iPhone.
A software tool that is highly recommended is Leawo iTransfer, which is an advanced yet easy to use data transfer tool that you can employ to backup your private photos, and it can do more than iTunes. Unlike its competing software, Leawo iTransfer can edit your iTunes library without having you wait for it to delete everything. Even more is its ability to handle data from 3rd party apps, which means you can backup and restore data from those apps. You can transfer your files with high speed and safety based on the most advanced high speed scanning and transfer technologies built inside this software. You will also get privacy and protection for your files, as well as support for iOS devices of all ages (inclusive of iPhones, iPods and iPads). If you have been asking yourself “How do I keep my photos in privacy?” please follow the steps below.

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Step 1: Download and install and run Leawo iTransfer on your computer. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB, and the software should automatically detect the device. On the left sidebar, you will see the libraries (which include apps, movies, music, messages, podcasts, TV shows and ringtones).

Leawo iTransfer main interface

Step 2: Choose the files for backup. Select a library that has the files you want to backup. Hold the “Ctrl” or “Command” keys depending with the operating system you are using, and click to select the files you wish to transfer. Right-click and under “Transfer To:” select either My Computer.

Selecting files for transfer

Step 3: Choose the output folder. After you finish selecting your files and selecting “My Computer”, from the previous menu, a pop-up dialogue will show. Check “Save to folder:” followed by clicking “Change” to select the output folder. Once you have finished selecting the output folder, click “Transfer Now” to begin backing up your data.

Leawo itransfer output folder

Step 4: Wait for the backup to finish. The progress bar will show the percentage of progress. Make sure not to disconnect the iPhone from the computer before completion as it might corrupt your backup. If you wish to cancel, click “Stop”.

Leawo itransfer transfer process