It is now possible to hide certain images from the eyes of the world with Google Photos.
As announced at the I/O conference, the Mountain firm has started to deploy locked folders within its application. For now, only Pixel smartphones have access to it.
With an unfortunate swipe, a loved one can quickly come across a photo that he or she would be better off not seeing.
It’s not always easy on a smartphone to hide these kinds of pictures to make sure no one knows about them.
Most of the time, this requires downloading a third-party application, which makes it slightly more difficult.
So Google made a lot of people happy when it announced at the I/O conference the arrival of the locked folder.
The idea is simple: to keep sensitive images safe in a space protected by an unlock code or the fingerprint reader, directly inside the application.
The folder is indeed visible in the Library section, but can only be accessed by the owner of the device (or anyone else who knows the code).
Google has launched the deployment on Pixel smartphones, which, if not already done, should see it land in Photos in the next few days.
How To Use The Locked Folder in Google Photos?
To move an existing photo from your gallery to the locked folder, just follow these steps:
- Open Google Photos
- Select the image you want to hide
- Click on the drop-down menu at the top right and then click on Move to Folder
- Select the Locked Folder
Only you will be able to view this image. But that’s not all, since Google Photos also allows you to store photos taken with the device directly in the locked folder. Here’s how to set up the option:
- Open the camera
- Click on the folder icon at the top right of the screen
- Select Locked Folder
- Take the picture
You can then edit the photo as usual. Once you’ve made the changes, it will be stored in the Locked Folder.
To access it, go to Google Photos, then to Library > Useful Suggestions > Locked Folder.
All you have to do is enter the code you set. Note that images stored in this location will not be synced to the cloud.
As it usually does, Google first advocated its Pixel smartphones to deploy the feature.
A free, unlimited storage option for the app could also be available soon on future models.
The Mountain View firm says, however, that the locked folder should arrive on “more Android devices over the course of the year.”
