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How to Password Protect Photos on iPhone and iPad

Sometimes, you need to protect your iPhone or iPad photos from prying eyes that might also have access to your device. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t provide an obvious, secure way to do this. However, there’s a work-around thanks to the Notes app.

You probably already know about the “Hidden Photos” folder in the Photos app on iPhone and iPad. In iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, you can hide that folder, as well. However, images hidden in the Photos app aren’t password-protected. There are other ways you can hide private photos on your Apple device, but they often involve third-party apps.

We’ll show you how to use the Notes app (which is on every iPhone and iPad) and a feature first introduced in iOS 9.3 to secure certain photos on your device. First, you’ll have to insert your photos into a note, and then, you can lock them behind a password, .

How to Password Protect Photos Using Notes

If the photos you’d like to lock behind a password aren’t already on your iPhone or iPad, move them there. Next, open the Notes app and tap the New Note icon (the pencil and paper) to create a new note.

Tap the New Note icon in Notes.

On the first line of the new note, type some text that won’t attract too much attention. This will appear in the list of notes, even after you lock it.

A note called "Gravel Statistics."

Tap the Add Photo icon (the camera) in the toolbar. On an iPad, you’ll find this at the top. On an iPhone, it’ll either be above the on-screen keyboard or at the bottom of the screen.

In the menu that appears, tap “Choose Photo or Video.”

Tap "Choose Photo or Video."

On the following screen, tap the thumbnail of each photo you want to add (a checkmark will indicate they’re selected). When you’re done, tap “Add.”

Tap the photos you want to add, and then tap "Add."

Notes will insert the photos you selected into the note file. To lock the note, tap the Ellipsis icon (the three dots in a circle).

Tap the Ellipsis icon.

In the window that appears, tap “Lock.”

Tap "Lock."

If you’ve previously set a Notes password, you’ll be asked to type it; after you do so, tap “OK.”

Haven’t set a password? No problem! Notes will ask you to create one. Just remember, you’ll have to use this password to view all locked notes. If you’ve enabled the Notes app to sync to iCloud, this same password will also apply to other Apple devices signed into iCloud.

Type a password and a hint. If your device supports it, you’ll also have the option to lock Notes using Touch or Face ID. After you’ve typed your info and made your selections, tap “Done.”

Type a Notes password, verify it, and then tap "Done."

Notes will confirm the lock has been added, but don’t walk away yet! This only enables the lock setting—you’ll still have to lock the note itself to make it secure.

To do so, open the note, and then tap the Padlock icon in the toolbar.

Tap the Padlock icon.

You’ll then see a confirmation that says “This note is locked.” If you want to double-check, just tap “View Note.”

Tap "View Note."

When Notes asks for your password, type it, and then tap “OK.”

Type your password, and then tap "OK."

You’ll then see all the photos you added to the secure note.

Make sure you also visit the Photos app and delete the images you just password-protected. After that, you’ll need to visit the “Recently Deleted” folder in Photos and delete them there, as well.

How Secure Are Locked iPhone or iPad Notes?

Locked notes on an iPhone or iPad are encrypted to the extent that it would be difficult to extract them, even with forensic tools. It’s not ironclad state-security-level encryption, though. One research firm recently discovered some weaknesses in the Notes app. These could allow a determined attacker with unrestricted access to your device to guess the partial contents of a locked note.

These circumstances are rare, but there might also be other undiscovered bugs in Notes that could potentially compromise a note’s security.

For casual privacy purposes, however, locked notes are secure enough for most people to prevent opportunistic snooping. Just make sure you don’t create a password that’s easy to guess!

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Why iPhone Apps Ask for “Devices on Your Local Network”

The local network permission prompt on an iPhone with iOS 14

iPhone and iPad apps must ask for permission “to find and connect to devices on your local network.” This request was iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 updates, Here’s what this message means and how you should answer it.

Whenever an iPhone or iPad app wants to scan your local network for devices and connect to them, it has to ask for permission first.

You’ll see a dialog saying an app “would like to find and connect to devices on your local network” while using many apps. You only have two options: “Don’t Allow” or “OK.” If you grant access, an app can scan the networks you connect to for devices. For example, an app that needs to connect to a smart speaker or a Chromecast will need this access to find such devices on your network and connect to them. if you don’t allow local network scanning access, it won’t find the local device.

However, some apps seem to request this access for unclear purposes. For example, the Facebook app asks for this permission—perhaps so you can cast videos to another device? We’ve also seen this prompt appear in banking applications, and we’re not sure why. Apps could theoretically use this feature to gather data on your network—for example, they could detect the smart devices on your network and use that information to fine-tune an advertising profile about you.

Prior to Apple introducing this prompt, iPhone or iPad apps could do this in the background without your permission. The scanning isn’t new—the only thing new here is the prompt.

Should You Allow or Deny the Request?

Spotify asking to scan the local network on an iPhone

If you plan on using a feature that requires finding and connecting to a device on your local network in that app, you should allow the request. Here are some examples of requests you should allow:

  • Music apps, if you plan on connecting to a smart speaker.
  • Video apps, if you plan on streaming to a Chromecast or other device.
  • Smarthome apps that find and connect to devices on your network.

If you don’t plan on using a feature that requires this—for example, if you’re just listening to music on your headphones in Spotify and you don’t plan on connecting to a smart speaker—you can deny this request without a problem.

Even if you do change your mind, you can quickly toggle an app’s access to your local network on or off in the Settings app. If you have no clue why an app wants this feature—for example, if an online banking app wants to scan for local devices—we recommend you deny the request. That will help protect your privacy, ensuring apps can’t collect as much data about your network and the devices you own.

How to Control Local Network Access Later

If you change your mind later and want to give an app local network access—or revoke the app’s ability to access devices on your local network—you can change this later.

To do so, head to Settings > Privacy > Local Network on your iPhone. Any app that has requested permission to access your local network will appear here. Apps with a green switch have access to your local network, while apps with a grayed out switch do not. Tap the switch to allow or deny local network access for an app.

The Settings > Privacy > Local Network screen on an iPhone

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