Text messages are a basic way of communicating these days. That's why there are many messaging apps available on the market. The messages we send with friends and colleagues can contain sensitive information , so it's important to take steps to protect them from prying eyes . If you're an iPhone user , you'll know that Apple has a hidden album for hiding photos , but it hasn't created a corresponding folder for hiding messages on your iPhone.
However, there are some simple and effective ways to hide messages on iPhone so that others don't know who you're sending to and what you're talking about. Here, we'll look at these ways that will give you more privacy:
1. Hide notifications for specific message threads
When you're chatting with someone for a long time via messages, the frequent notifications will likely pique the curiosity of those around you. To avoid this, you can hide notifications from a specific contactso that others don't realize that you're constantly chatting with someone.
If you're using the Messages on your iPhone, go to the app, select the message thread, and tap your contact's name.
Enable the “ Hide notifications ” option and you’re good to go.
Other popular apps also offer this feature. For example, in WhatsApp, you can swipe right on a conversation, then tap More > Mute > Always. This will prevent message notifications from that contact from appearing. To see if you've received a new message, you'll need to open WhatsApp.
See also: iPhone: How to print text messages?
2. Turn off message previews (Message Preview)
If, for some reason, someone else is holding your iPhone, and you receive a message at that moment, that person can see the message preview, which reveals its contents. The screen also displays the preview. So you're also at risk when you leave your phone to charge and walk away.
There is a solution though! You can disable message previews so that no one can see the content of the messages you receive on your iPhone.
By doing this, notifications will only display your contact's name.
- Go to Settings > Notifications.
- From the list, select the messaging app you use
- Then tap Show previews > Never.
From then on, you won't have to worry about someone peeking at your iPhone's lock screen.
3. Use iMessage 's Invisible Ink
iMessage allows users to exchange messages between Apple over the Internet. One of the iMessage effects you can add to your conversations is Invisible Ink. This effect makes your text appear blurry, appearing temporarily (for about five seconds) when you tap on it.
Invisible Ink is a great feature on your iPhone that lets you hide text messages without deleting them. This way, no one can read your messages by peeking behind your back during a conversation.
- To use Invisible Ink, type your message and press and hold the blue Send icon.
- Tap the gray dot next to Invisible Ink.
- Then, tap the Send and that's it!
4. Lock third-party messaging apps with Face ID or Touch ID
If you use third-party apps like WhatsApp and Messenger in addition to Apple's iMessage, you can use Face ID or Touch ID to protect your messages.
- First, you need to set up Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone.
- Next, you need to enable Face ID or Touch ID lock for that specific app (e.g. for WhatsApp).
- First, go to your iPhone's Settings app
- Tap Face ID & Passcode > Other apps. Select WhatsApp.
- Then, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Privacy > Screen lock.
- Turn on the Require Face ID option .
See also: iPhone: How to restore deleted messages?
5. Use Screen Time to lock the Messages app with a passcode
If you use Apple's Messages app, you can use your Screen Time passcode.
- Go to Settings > Screen Time > Turn on Screen Time.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to set it up.
- Then, tap Use Screen Time Passcode to enable the passcode.
- To lock the Messages app, go to App Limits > Add Limit > Social.
- From the list, select Messages.
- Click “Next” and set “1 minute” and click “Add”.
The Messages app will now lock with the Screen Time passcode after one minute of use each day.
6.Use Disappearing Messages
Disappearing Messages ( or self-destructing ) are messages that are deleted from the app after a user-defined period of time. This means that once the messages are deleted, no one will be able to access them.
Fortunately, several messaging apps offer such a feature.
- If you're using WhatsApp, tap on a conversation.
- In the chat window , tap on your contact's name and select Disappearing Messages .
- Select the time period after which messages will be deleted: 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.
If you want your messages to disappear once you close the conversation, you can try Vanish Mode in Facebook Messenger.
7. Change the name of the contact you are talking to
There are many ways to hide your personal content on your iPhone, but you can simply fool people who want to know who you're messaging. And you can do that by changing the contact. That way, even if someone peeks at your phone when you get a message, they'll see an unrelated name.
- To change a contact's name, go to Phone > Contacts and tap the contact.
- Tap Edit and type a new name.
- Press Done to save the change.
8. Turn off automatic photo and video downloads
In addition to text messages, you may also exchange photos and videos, which should also remain confidential. One way to hide photos on your iPhone is to move them to the Hidden album.
However, if you don't want to save them on your device, you can simply disable automatic photo and video in messaging apps, like WhatsApp, to avoid saving personal data on your iPhone.
9. Send a message through the Notes
Who said you can only send messages through your familiar messaging apps? You can also use the Notes app. It's hard to get anyone's mind to think of notes. Most people won't immediately think that you're having an active conversation in a note-taking app.
So, open the Notes, type your message in a new note, and share the note with your contact.
You can follow a similar method in other third-party note-taking apps, such as Google Docs.
See also: Android: How to block messages from specific users?
10. Use private messaging apps
To keep your iPhone messages secure, use third-party apps that are designed to keep conversations private. There are apps that let you hide messages behind boxes and automatically delete the text once you've read it.
Additionally, there is an app, Confide , that prohibits taking screenshots of messages. If someone attempts to take a screenshot or screen record , the app deletes the conversation and notifies the other user.
Although you can't completely make your iPhone messages disappear without deleting them, you see that there are several ways that can offer you more privacy.
So, don't hesitate to implement these tips to add an extra layer of security to your conversations, whether you're using iMessage or a third-party messaging app like WhatsApp or Messenger.
Text messages are a crucial part of our communication in this day and age and contain sensitive information that we wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands. Be careful!
Source: www.makeuseof.com
