There’s a good chance you don’t want prying eyes spying on your apps. However, Google Pixel phones don’t have an official way to hide apps, at least not yet. Thankfully, that’s changing with Android 15, which arrives with a feature called Private Space.
Private Space lets you create a second hidden app ecosystem on your phone, with its own Google Play Store instance and other apps. Here’s how to use it to hide apps on your Pixel phone.
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Private Space on Pixel phones lets Android 15 users quickly set up a hidden area of their phone where apps, photos, and other content can be stored away from prying eyes. For users of older Pixel devices, the easiest way to hide apps is to use a third-party launcher.
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How to enable and use Private Space on Android 15
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Private storage is disabled by default, so you must enable it to proceed. To do so, follow these steps:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Tap Security and data protection.
- Choose Private space.
- Enter your PIN.
- Tap Set up.
- You can now create a new Google account so that the downloaded apps and other information will not appear in your main account.
- For example, you don’t want secret apps to appear in your Google Play history or your hidden photos to be synced to your main Google Photos account. If you want to use this, click Have it and follow the instructions. If you do not want this, tap Skip.
- You can now select Use screen lock or Select new lock. This is useful if people around you know your main phone PIN. You can set a completely different PIN to protect your private space.
- hit Completed.
Private storage is now enabled. To access it:
- Open your app drawer by swiping up from the home screen and scrolling down.
- You’ll see a bar labeled “Private.” Tap the lock and enter your PIN.
- All your hidden apps, photos, files, contacts, etc. will appear here. These apps will run completely independently from those in your main app drawer.
- To add new hidden apps, select Install or open the Google Play Store. Download any apps and they will appear in this top section.
How to hide apps on Pixel phones using a third-party launcher
Damien Wilde / Android Authority
If you’re not using Android 15, you can still hide apps on Pixel phones. It just requires a little tinkering. The easiest method is to use a third-party launcher.
Many launchers allow you to hide apps, but we’ll use Nova Launcher for this example. It’s very popular, powerful, and easy to use. Remember that you’ll have to pay for Nova Launcher Prime to get additional features, which include the ability to hide apps.
- Go to Google Play Store and download Nova Launcher and Nova Launcher Prime.
- Open the app and tap Nova Settings.
- Set it as your default launcher.
- Now go to the app drawer.
- Choose Hide apps.
- Select the apps you want to hide. Just go back when you’re done.
How to disable apps on Pixel phones
If you just want to hide system apps, you can disable all that crap. Be careful with this method though, because disabling apps will stop working altogether, and some of them may be important to other Android operations or apps. This may break certain features. Again, this only works for system apps, not apps you downloaded from the Play Store.
To disable an app:
- Go to your settings.
- Choose Apps. You may need to Show all apps to expand the list.
- Find the app you want to disable. Let’s say it’s Android Beta Feedback.
- Tap Deactivateand press Deactivate app.
If you ever want to bring it back, tap the app again and press Activate.
