- iOS 18 Beta 1 adds a feature to lock individual apps using Face ID.
- It works on most apps requiring another set of biometric authentication to access the said app.
- Apple has also added a feature to hide and unhide apps on iPhones.
iOS 18 lets you hide or lock iPhone apps that have been received warmly. It may sound redundant to use Face ID to lock an app when your iPhone is securely locked using Face ID to begin with. However, it all makes sense when you have to hand over your phone to a friend or relative and don’t want them to accidentally or intentionally access some of your apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, banking apps, etc.
Apple has simplified both locking and hiding iPhone app features requiring only your face scan to access. Are you still reading this? Well, let’s jump into the ‘how’ to hide or lock iPhone apps with Face ID in iOS 18.
Table of Contents
How To Lock iPhone Apps with Face ID in iOS 18?
- Step 1: First up, locate the app that you want to lock using Face ID (of course).
- Step 2: Long-press on the particular app icon that should reveal a bunch of shortcuts with a Gaussian blur in the background. Tap on ‘Require Face ID’ from the list.
- Step 3: Your iPhone will prompt you to authenticate your Face ID. tap on ‘Require Face ID’ and let your iPhone scan your face. You can check the status on the Dynamic Island itself.
- Step 4: The next time you launch that app (say Notes or Messages, for instance), you will be asked to provide facial recognition to access it.
- Step 5: In case the phone doesn’t recognize your face, it will prompt ‘Face Not Recognized’ and ask you to try again.
- Step 6: Should you change your mind and want to unlock an app, long-press on the app icon and select ‘Don’t Require Face ID’. This will prompt you for Face ID and once provided, the app will be successfully unlocked.
Note: Usually, your iPhone should’ve rerouted you to enter a security PIN in case the Face ID doesn’t work due to XYZ reasons. However, it doesn’t and instead, prompts you to use Face ID again. Apple may fix this in the next beta update for iOS 18, although it is what it is at the moment.
How To Hide iPhone Apps in iOS 18?
Although the iOS 18 beta was released with the features to hide or lock iPhone apps, it doesn’t apply to all the apps available out there. Here’s how you can hide iPhone apps in iOS 18.
- Step 1: If you want to hide a previously locked app, long-press on it and proceed to ‘Don’t Require Face ID’. Disabling this requires facial recognition and once you do it, the app will be unlocked.
- Step 2: Next, long-press on the app icon of your preference, and select ‘Hide and Require Face ID’.
- Step 3: Tap on ‘Hide App’ and bingo, it’s done.
Note: The app icons will not be visible on the home screen, the settings page and elsewhere. However, there could be some instances where it might still be available.
How To Get Back Hidden iPhone Apps in iOS 18?
Now that you have an app hidden, you should be able to retrieve it, right? Here’s how
- Step 1: Open the App Library on your iPhone and check out the ‘Hidden folder’, yes, Apple has named a folder as ‘Hidden’ where supposedly, everything is hidden.
- Step 2: You will need to provide a Face ID to access the Hidden folder.
- Step 3: Next, you should be able to access the hidden app that runs as it would usually run without any hassle.
Luckily, there’s a ‘Hidden’ folder on every iPhone running on iOS 18. It means there’s no way to tell if you are hiding something in this folder since all the iPhones will have this.
