Make your iPhone ‘snooper-proof’ with five quick changes – stop nosy people spying on your texts, photos, apps and more

DON’T let the snoopers win – there are simple iPhone tweaks that block nosy people from spying on you.

If you’re worried that someone might be tempted by a quick snoop on your iPhone, sort it out today.

There are five easy iOS changes that you should think about making right now.

CONCEAL LOCK SCREEN

You might be surprised by the amount of info that can be accessed from your Lock Screen.

Thankfully you can shut down Lock Screen snooping by going into Settings > Face ID & Passcode.

Scroll down to the bottom of that settings page and look for the section titled Allow Access When Locked.

That’s where you’ll be able to limit the types of content that can be accessed even when your iPhone is locked.

That includes:

• Today View and Search
• Notification Centre
• Control Centre
• Lock Screen Widgets
• Live Activities
• Siri
• Reply with Message
• Home Control
• Wallet
• Return Missed Calls
• Accessories

Having them all enabled will make your iPhone easier to use – but it’s also better for snoopers too.

So try to disable ones that you won’t miss too much, and that boost your privacy as a result.

HIDE NOTIFICATIONS

Another essential Lock Screen change is hiding your notifications.

You might have your iPhone set up to show previews of notifications even when it’s locked.

But you can change that an instant by going into Settings > Notifications > Show Previews.

Change it to When Unlocked or even Never for maximum privacy.

You can also scroll down to change notification settings for individual apps.

That’s handy when you want previews from some apps (like news alerts from The Sun) but not from others (for instance, messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger).

If you find that you’re not happy with newly hidden style of notification, you can always change it back later.

LOCK AND HIDE APPS

Of course, it’s very possible that a snooper might pick up your iPhone while it’s unlocked.

If that’s the case, you’ll want extra protections on your most personal apps.

Thankfully Apple has made it possible to lock and even hide some apps – ever since iOS 18 rolled out in September.

So if you’ve got a chat app like WhatsApp, you might want to lock this down.

Just press your finger on the app’s icon on the Home Screen, and then choose Require Face ID > Require Face ID.

This means you’ll need to scan your face to open the app, even if your iPhone is already unlocked.

For even better privacy, you can totally hide the app.

Just hold down on the app icon, then choose Require Face ID > Hide and Require Face ID.

That will shift the app into your iPhone’s Hidden folder. It’s totally concealed and won’t even indicate whether there are any apps inside.

To find it, scroll to the far-right panel on your iPhone’s Home Screen to find the App Library.

Then scroll down to the bottom of the App Library to see the Hidden folder. You’ll need to tap it and then authenticate yourself to see what’s inside.

You can permanently unhide and unlock apps at any time.

HIDE PHOTOS

Your texts aren’t your only precious digital belonging – photos are important too.

There are some photos you might want to keep hidden. Maybe it’s a weight loss selfie or an important screenshot of some financial info.

Whatever the case, you can secret away photos in a Hidden folder in the Photos app.

Just hold down on an image in Photos, and then press Hide.

Now scroll to the Utilities section of your Photos app and choose the Hidden folder.

You’ll need to authenticate your identity to view what’s inside.

It’s possible to go even one step further and hide the Hidden folder itself.

Just go to Settings > Apps > Photos and then untick Show Hidden Album.

This will make the Hidden folder invisible in your Photos app.

SAFETY CHECK

Lastly, there’s a great catch-all solution to check if anyone is already spying on you.

It’s called Safety Check, and it lets you see what info you’re sharing (knowingly or unknowingly) with other people or apps.

You’ll need to be using an iPhone with iOS 16 or later. Chances are that you have that already as we’re now up to iOS 18.

But go into Settings > General > Software Update to check that you’re up-to-date.

Then go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.

That’s where you can quickly review, update, and even stop sharing info with people or apps.

It’ll guide you through a simple process to see if anyone is accessing your location, viewing your photos, or logging into your Apple ID.

And if you’re particularly worried, you can tap the Emergency Reset button to immediately cut off all access for other people or apps.

There’s also a Quick Exit button in Safety Check that lets you immediately close the Settings app, saving any changes that you’ve already made.