Android owners must learn to ‘lock’ app to screen so nosy pals can’t snoop around your pictures
YOUR Android phone has a clever trick to stop people from snooping on your pictures.
It’s called app pinning and it stops friends or family from roaming around your phone.
Imagine you want to show someone something on your phone, like a YouTube video.
If it’s a child or a friend, you might not want them roaming freely across your phone.
And if a child is using your Android phone, it’s the perfect way to stop them seeing anything they shouldn’t – or accidentally deleting your files.
Google explains: “You can pin an app’s screen to keep it in view until you unpin it.
“For example, you can pin an app and hand your phone to a friend.
“With the screen pinned, your friend can use only that app. To use your other apps again, you can unpin the screen.”
If the person tries to leave the app, they’ll be prompted to enter your passcode.
Without that, they won’t be able to leave the app to snoop.
HOW TO TURN ON APP PINNING ON ANDROID
Just go into the Settings app on your Android phone.
Then tap on Security (or Security & Location), then choose Advanced > App Pinning.
Now just turn App Pinning on and you’ll be able to pin a screen.
Go to the screen that you’re trying to pin – like the YouTube app.
Then swipe up to the middle of your screen and hold.
At the top of the image, tap on the app’s icon and then choose Pin.
If you’re using an older phone running Android 8.1 or earlier, go to the screen that you want to pin and then tap Overview (a square icon).
Then swipe up to show the Pin icon at the bottom-right of your chosen screen, and then tap it.
HOW TO UNPIN A SCREEN ON ANDROID
To unpin a screen, you’ve got three options.
With gesture navigation, you’ll want to swipe up and hold.
TRY GUEST MODE TOO!
There's another trick worth learning...
It’s called Guest Mode, and it’s built directly into Android.
Google explains: “A guest profile is for someone using your device for a short time.
“Like a user, the guest profile has its own space on the device, but it’s easier to delete this space when a guest is done with the device.”
Swipe down from the top of your screen to enter Quick Settings, then tap the User icon and choose Add Guest.
You can then switch to that guest profile, and it won’t include your private info.
Guests can sign in on their own accounts using the profile.
And then you can totally wipe it afterwards.
If you’ve got two-button navigation turned on, touch and hold the Back and Home buttons.
With three-button navigation, touch and hold the Back and Overview buttons.
You’ll then be asked for your PIN, pattern, or password to break out of the pinned app.
Remember that a person will only stay locked inside an app if they don’t know your passcode.