While this is great for hiding sensitive apps from shared Android devices, it is not the best thing if you want to ensure that your children are not using inappropriate apps on their Android devices. And to ensure the same, we are here to show you how to find hidden apps on Android. You can find all information related to hiding apps on Android in this guide so that you can easily find all hidden apps on a given Android device by the end.
Find Hidden Apps from the Settings App
One of the easiest ways to find hidden Android apps on a given Android device is to do the same via the Settings app. This is due to the reason that whether your app is hidden or not, it will always appear in the Settings app once it has been installed on your Android device. Hence, you can simply check the list of apps in the Android settings app to check for all the apps installed on your device including the hidden ones:
Go to the Settings app on your Android devices and find the Apps menu. In here, you will see a complete list of all the apps installed on your device. Now, click on the All Apps drop-down option and select Disabled to see a list of all the currently hidden apps. For unhiding these apps, you can simply open it and select the Enable option after which the app will be visible on your Android device.
Find Hidden Apps from the App Drawer
Other than the Android settings app, you can also find hidden apps on your Android device directly from the app drawer. This is possible thanks to the reason that similar to the Settings app, the app drawer also offers a few settings in terms of the apps that you currently see or not. And if you want to know how to do it from the app drawer, then simply go through the following instructions one by one:
First, open up your app drawer and go to the list of all the apps installed on your device. Here, go to the three-dot menu and select Home screen settings. Then, go to the Hide apps option which will show you a list of all the currently hidden apps. You can then simply remove these apps from this list to unhide them and access them like any other app on Android.
Pros and Cons of Hiding Apps on Android
If you are new to hiding apps and hidden apps on Android, then you might be wondering about its uses and benefits. And just like any other feature offered by Android, hiding apps also has its pros and cons as listed here:
Pros of Hidden Apps
You can get great privacy by hiding apps on your smartphone to protect all your personal data being accessed by others. This becomes even more useful if you are using a shared Android device like a tablet. In case of theft, even if someone gets access to your aNdroid device, they will not be able to access certain apps making it a great security option for many. If you want to clear the clutter from your app drawer by getting rid of bloatware apps, then you can simply hide them since not all of them can be uninstalled.
Cons of Hidden Apps
Your children might have inappropriate apps installed on their Android devices while keeping them hidden which can be an issue for parents. If your phone has been affected by spyware or malware, then it might have been installed on your device as a hidden app while running in the background at all times.
Be Careful with Trick Apps
Since everyone knows about hiding apps, it is not the most effective method of hiding things on a smartphone. Instead, people tend to use trick apps for hiding things that may look like standard apps but allow you to hide things quite easily. One such example of a trick app found for Android devices is the Smart Hide Calculator. Even though it looks like a completely normal calculator app, it allows you to hide files quite easily. To check whether a given suspicious app on your smartphone is a trick app or not, you can simply go to its app info and check its size. If it is being used to hide files, then its size will be much larger than what it should be, allowing you to know that it is a trick app.
How to Find Hidden Content on Android
Apart from hiding apps, people also hide files and documents which can be another issue if you are making sure that your children do not have anything inappropriate on their smartphones. Thankfully, not only is it easy to hide content on an Android device, it is also quite easy to find such hidden content as shown here:
To begin, first, go to the File Manager app on your smartphone and go to its Settings. In here, scroll down and find the Show Hidden Files option and enable it. Finally, you can browse through all folders and files stored on a given Android device to look for any hidden options.
How to Hide Apps on Android
In case you unhide apps on a given Android device, you might also want to hide them again so that no one discovers that you have learned about such hidden apps. Therefore, making sure that you properly hide apps on Android after unhiding them is quite important. You can do the same on your Android device by going through these instructions one by one:
Simply long tap on any app that you want to hide and open its App info by dragging it to the i icon on the home screen. Now, simply tap on the Disable option which will get rid of the said app from everywhere making it completely hidden on your Android device. And whenever you want to use this app again, you can simply select the Enable option using the same steps.
Alternative to Finding Hidden Apps on Android
Apart from finding hidden apps on an Android device, you might be interested in checking other things being performed on a given Android device as well. And while this can be done using spying apps and monitoring apps built for your children’s Android devices, they are not the best option. This is due to the reason that installing spying apps on someone’s Android device might not be the most ethical thing to do. Plus if someone finds a spyware app installed on their smartphone, it will increase their suspicion quite a lot.
Conclusion
Now that you have been through this guide till the end, you must have a pretty good idea about finding and unhiding apps on an Android device. This can be quite handy to ensure that any given Android device does not have any inappropriate apps installed in it. Since we have also discussed details regarding finding hidden files and content on Android, you can be assured that your children do not have anything inappropriate on their smartphones. If you have gone through this guide, make sure to share your thoughts in the comments section. You can also post any questions down there if you have any! Comment * Name * Email * Website
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