How to Find Hidden Apps on Your Smartphone | Easy Steps
Hidden apps on smartphones are difficult to detect, but knowing how to find hidden apps is a crucial part of ensuring safety and security. Many apps go unnoticed, sitting quietly in the background. Be it an app you installed without your knowledge or just something you overlooked, it’s important to know how to look out for these hidden apps and keep your device safe.
In this blog, we will take you through some simple steps that will help you find hidden apps on Android and iPhone devices. It’s less complicated than it sounds, and soon enough, you’ll be ready to discover and delete any apps that may be hiding out on your phone. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Understanding Hidden Apps: What Are They?
Hidden apps are the apps that are installed on your phone but are not visible in your home screen or app drawer. They might be hidden for a variety of reasons, perhaps you downloaded them by mistake, or they were hidden by someone else in your family (mostly kids) to avoid detection. While these apps may be invisible, they still reside on your phone and eat up storage space or run in the background.
These apps can range from old games you forgot to remove to tools you opened once and never touched again. While they aren’t always an issue, they may occupy important space or slow your phone down over time. Finding these hidden apps and removing unnecessary apps will help you keep your phone organized and working optimally.
How to Find Hidden Apps on Android
Apps can be hidden on your Android phone, whether you mean to or not. While these apps might still be running using up space or resources on your phone, they remain out of sight. If you’re noticing your phone acting up or you just want to clean things up, you should know how to access hidden apps and do something about it.
Check App Drawer Settings
- Access the app drawer: Swipe up from your home screen to access the app drawer.
- Look for hidden apps: On the top-right corner of the app drawer, click the three dots or the settings icon (as per your phone).
- Show hidden apps: Search for an option called “Hide apps” or “App drawer settings.” If there are any hidden apps, they will appear here. If you wish to display hidden apps, unhide them or remove the hide option.
Using App Manager
- Open the Settings on your phone: Access the “Settings” app from your Android phone.
- Going to Apps & Notifications: Click on “Apps” or “Apps & Notifications” (based on the version of Android).
- See hidden apps: Tap See all apps or App info to open a list of all the apps installed on your device.
- Open hidden apps: From here you can easily find apps that are installed on your device but not visible. Select an app and tap on it to view the app, check their permissions, and make changes.
Third-Party Apps to Detect Hidden Apps
- Download third-party apps: If the above methods are not useful, you can manage hidden apps using third-party apps.
- Download and launch the app: Download and open the third-party app for viewing the hidden apps on your phone.
How to Find Hidden Apps on iPhones
If you can’t find some apps on your iPhone, there are a few ways that you can track them down. These simple steps will help you to find hidden apps:
Using the App Store Search
- Launch the App Store: Go ahead and launch the App Store on your iPhone.
- Find the app: Enter the app name in the search box and if the app is installed on your phone, it will still show up in the search results even if it isn’t showing on your home screen.
- Reinstall or open the app: After you find it, tap to open the app (or reinstall if it’s been hidden or removed).
Check App Restrictions
- Navigate to Settings: Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.
- Go to Screen Time: Scroll down, then tap “Screen Time.”
- Verify Content & Privacy Restrictions: Tap on “Content & Privacy Restrictions,” then “Allowed Apps.” Here, you can see if any apps have been restricted or hidden from settings.
- Toggle on apps: You will find hidden or restricted apps there, and you can toggle them back on to unhide apps on your iPhone.
Using Parental Control Software to Track Hidden Apps
Parental control software is an effective way to monitor your child’s device, including finding hidden apps. Children can hide apps to get around scrutiny, making it hard for parents to monitor what they do digitally. If apps have been intentionally hidden you can view all of them via parental control software.
You can use these tools to check the device for hidden apps and you can also get alerts in real-time if some new apps are installed or hidden. This helps parents stay on top of what their kids are doing on their devices to make sure they’re not interacting with inappropriate content or apps they shouldn’t have access to.
How Qoli.ai Helps Track Hidden Apps
Call blocking apps are smart. They have the ability to identify unknown number calls and block them immediately. Many apps maintain lists of known spam callers, so even if a scammer switches their number, the app can block them. Some apps offer options on what kinds of calls to block, for example, telemarketers, and false numbers posing as real ones.
Because these apps run in the background, you do not need to manually block each number. They screen unwanted calls on your behalf, saving you time and effort.
Hidden apps? No problem – Track them down in seconds with Qoli.ai!
How to Prevent Apps from Being Hidden
Have you ever wondered what happened to an app on your phone? It was probably just hidden from view. It’s something many people face, especially when other people want to hide a few apps, whether it be for privacy or curiosity. The upside is that there’s plenty you can do to keep your apps out of the shadows, and make sure, in the first place, that they don’t get hidden. So how do you ensure apps don’t fall through the cracks?
1. Disable App Hiding Features:
On most devices, a user can hide apps by swiping them into a “hidden” folder or through specific settings. Disable these hiding features in the settings of your device so that apps remain visible at all times on the home screen or app drawer.
2. Use App Locking Features:
On some devices, users can lock certain apps with a passcode or biometric scan. That way, even if an app is hidden, to access the app, the user would have to authenticate, providing a second layer of protection against unauthorized hiding.
3. Enable Automatic Updates for Apps:
In general, automatically updating apps would help minimize the chances of users hiding older app versions. Moreover, new apps automatically now go into your visible app drawer (home screen).
4. Use Folder Visibility Settings:
Many devices allow you to organize your apps into folders. Use folders on your device and give them names that make it difficult to hide apps in them.
Conclusion
Finding hidden apps in your smartphone is important for keeping the device running smoothly. Hidden apps can run in the background, draining your phone’s battery, occupying space, and slowing down everything. By regularly looking for these apps, you can delete those that are unnecessary and boost the efficiency of your phone.
Hidden apps are also occasionally used to track or access personal information without your knowledge. For the protection and privacy of your phone, knowing how to find hidden apps can help you keep things well-managed, allowing nothing to run without your permission.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to find hidden apps on my screen? +
Swipe down from your home screen to open the search bar to uncover hidden apps on your own screen. Type the name of the app, and it will show up in search results if it’s installed.
Where can I find deleted app data? +
In the majority of cases, deleted app data is irretrievable unless previously backed up. If you used a cloud service, like iCloud or Google Drive, check your account for stored backups of your app’s data before it was deleted.
How to hide the app on the iPhone? +
You can hide an app on your iPhone by moving it into some unused folder, or going to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and completely hiding certain apps.
Are hidden apps safe? +
Hidden apps can be safe, but some of them may have security risks when they use to hide malicious activities. Make sure that the app is from a trusted source.
How do I lock hidden apps? +
To lock hidden apps, use a parental control tool or enable Face ID / Touch ID on your device to secure app access through Settings > Screen Time > App Limits and Restrictions.