As one of the most personal computers you use every day, what you do on your phone deserves to be private if you want it to be. Android offers more than a few ways to keep your information private and secure on your phone, but one of the newest options inAndroid 15is a new feature called Private Space.
Private Space is essentially a secure location in your app drawer that you, and only you, can access. When your Private Space is locked, no one can see or use the apps you have inside it. Pocket-lint has covered the feature in beta as a potential wayto hide apps on your phone, but now that Android 15 is out andcoming to more Android devicesin the near future, it’s worth learning how to set up Private Space below so you have access to an added layer of privacy and security if you need it.
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How to set up a Private Space on your phone
The feature is available on nearly all devices that can run Android 15
Unlike other similar options that Android phone makers might offer, Google’s Private Space is technically sandboxed away from the rest of the content on your phone. That means apps in Private Space are hidden from notifications, settings, and other surface level menus unless the section is unlocked. That added security also means you have to install separate copies of apps and log in again if you want to keep them in Private Space.
If you moonlight as a high-level Spotify playlist curator but want to keep that hidden from the world, you’ll have to redownload the music streaming service in Private Space to do it. Those quirks aside, the only other thing to know is that,according to Google, Private Space is only available on devices that runAndroid 15and have more than 6GB of RAM. Here’s how to get started:
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How to add apps to your Private Space
Android supports two different ways to add apps to your Private Space. One can be done directly from your app drawer, and the other uses the Play Store. To add an app from your app drawer:
you’re able to also set Private Space to be entirely hidden when it’s locked.
If you don’t want to comb through your own app drawer, or you haven’t already installed the app you want on your phone, you can also add apps directly from the Private Space. To add an app from inside your Private Space:
Whichever way you add the app, be prepared to log in to any of your associated accounts. These are fresh app installs, and they’re not connected to any of the other information on your phone (unless you used the same Google account with passwords saved to it).
Private Space builds a members-only club for apps on your phone
Adding an extra layer of security is easy
Most people won’t need to use Private Space to secure apps on their phone. If you do have apps that you use that you’d like to keep secret, or just need to keep certain apps sequestered away from the rest of your phone, Private Space is an excellent tool to have in your tool belt. The specific ways it works could be annoying – no one wants to keep two copies of the same app just for some extra privacy – but the tool is the only Google-approved way to section off apps as of now.
If you do have apps that you use that you’d like to keep secret, or just need to keep certain apps sequestered away from the rest of your phone, Private Space is an excellent tool to have in your tool belt.
Private Space isn’t the only app hiding method out there, either. If you have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18, you can nowhide apps in your App Librarybehind a Face ID or Touch ID unlock. You can also lock individual apps entirely if you want to keep them out in the open but still secure.
