6 ways to hide and restrict apps on Android

It’s easy to get distracted by the many apps on your phone. The best way to reduce screen time is to keep these apps out of sight. Also, as a parent, you don’t want your kids to have access to all of your apps, especially sensitive ones like banking apps.

Luckily, you can hide and restrict apps on Android . Here's how to do it, whether you want to hide apps from yourself, others, or your kids.

How to hide or restrict apps on Android?

• How to hide apps on Android
  • How to hide apps on Samsung phones
  • Disable Apps on Android to Hide Them
  • How to Hide Android Apps Using Nova Launcher
  • Use Microsoft Launcher to hide your apps
• How to restrict apps on Android
  • 1. Digital Wellbeing
  • 2. Google Family Link and Google Play Store limitations

How to hide apps on Android

There are some situations where you want to hide a specific app on your phone.

For example, parents might want to make sure their kids don't accidentally place orders using saved credit card details. You can also hide apps from people who are often nosy, snooping through your private conversations and sending silly responses.

Additionally, hiding addictive apps like Instagram can help you curb your smartphone addiction. Since you don’t have to uninstall them completely from your phone, you can always use them whenever you want.

How to hide apps on Samsung phones

All Samsung phones allow you to hide installed apps from the app drawer. The process is also relatively simple.

1. Press and hold an empty area on your Samsung device's home screen. Tap Settings from the menu that appears at the bottom.
2. Scroll down and select Hide apps on Home and Apps screens . Then, select the app you want to hide.
3. Click Done to apply the changes.

Now, you will see all the apps you selected have disappeared from the app drawer of your Galaxy phone.

One nice thing about Samsung's implementation is that hidden apps won't appear even if you search for them from the app drawer. They will, however, appear in search results from other third-party search apps and in Settings > Apps .

Samsung doesn’t provide a hidden app drawer to help you quickly access hidden apps. This makes accessing them a chore. However, you can always use Google’s Search widget or any other universal search app to get around this problem. Keep in mind that there are other ways to find hidden apps on Android .

Disable Apps on Android to Hide Them

On phones like the Google Pixel 8, there is no native option to hide apps. You can always use a launcher or a third-party app to achieve this. But if you are uncomfortable using an app, you can consider disabling it to hide it from your app drawer.

The only catch is that this method only works for system apps that come pre-installed on your phone. You can’t hide apps you downloaded from the Play Store using the steps below.

1. Open the app drawer on your Android phone and scroll to the app you want to hide.
2. Press and hold its app icon and select App info from the context menu. Alternatively, you can navigate to Settings > Apps and tap the app name from this list.
3. Tap Disable and confirm your action by tapping Disable app from the dialog that appears.

This will hide the app from the app drawer on your Android phone. The downside is that you won't be able to use the app unless you re-enable it.

How to Hide Android Apps Using Nova Launcher

If the default launcher on your Android device doesn't offer an option to hide installed apps, you'll have to use a third-party launcher like Nova. After installing Nova Launcher from the Google Play Store, set it as the default launcher on your Android device and follow these steps:

• Download Nova Launcher (Free, premium version available)

1. Open Nova Launcher's settings with a two-finger swipe up gesture on the home screen. Alternatively, you can press and hold an empty area on the home screen and select Settings .
2. Select App drawer and scroll down.
3. Tap Hide apps in the Apps category.
4. A list of all the apps on your device will appear. Select the Android app you want to hide from the app drawer. Back to save your changes.

Unfortunately, this method has its limitations. If you use any general search app or Nova’s built-in app search, the hidden app will appear in the results. You can also find the list of hidden apps in Settings > Apps on your Android device.

If you own a OnePlus, you don't need a third-party launcher to hide apps. OnePlus' OxygenOS offers a native option to hide apps, and you can password-protect hidden apps for added security.

Use Microsoft Launcher to hide apps

Similarly, Microsoft Launcher also allows you to hide apps on your Android device. Compared to Nova Launcher, Microsoft Launcher's ability to hide installed apps is superior because you can protect them with a password.

• Download Microsoft Launcher (Free)

1. Press and hold an empty area on your home screen. Then tap Launcher Settings from the pop-up menu.
2. Navigate to Home screen > Hidden apps .
3. Tap Hide apps and select the apps you want to hide. Then tap Done .
4. Now, go back to the Hidden apps menu and tap on the Settings icon in the top right corner.
5. Turn on the Set password toggle to protect your hidden apps with a 4-digit PIN.
6. Turn on Quick access in dock if you want a quick look at your hidden apps.

You can now swipe up twice on the toolbar to reveal a hidden panel with access to hidden apps. If password protection is enabled, you will first have to enter a four-digit PIN.

How to restrict apps on Android

Hiding apps can feel a bit extreme, depending on your usage. Instead, you can set app restrictions that allow you (or your kids) to indulge in some of your app addiction in moderation.

You can restrict specific apps or choose time periods when you can't use your phone.

1. Digital Wellbeing

Since Android 9 Pie, Android phones have a built-in utility that logs your daily device usage and tells you exactly what's wasting your time. It's available in Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls . If you can't find it, you'll need to download the app from Google Play.

With Digital Wellbeing, you can set app limits. When an app's daily usage allowance is up, its icon will turn gray and you won't be able to open it. Android will also block app notifications, so you won't be tempted to check after seeing an unread message or comment.

To set up app limits, launch Digital Wellbeing. Tap Dashboard, then select the app you want to set a limit for. Tap the App Timer option and define your daily app usage allowance. Finally, tap the OK button.

If your phone doesn't officially support Digital Wellbeing, you can use a third-party alternative, such as ActionDash.

ActionDash has all the features of Digital Wellbeing and more. It offers insights into your phone usage, a dark theme, app limits, and a host of other customization options. Unlike Digital Wellbeing, ActionDash works on any phone running Android 5 Lollipop or higher.

While ActionDash is a free download, both the app limits and downtime mode are premium features, requiring you to pay a $7 fee..

• Download Digital Wellbeing (Free) .
• Download ActionDash (Free, premium version available) .

2. Google Family Link and Google Play Store limitations

In addition to allowing you to hide apps, Google Family Link also has the option to set app limits. This works similarly to Digital Wellbeing, so once a user has used up their daily limit, they won’t be able to use that app until the next day. The difference here is that only parents have the ability to control and adjust the limits.

To learn how to set up this feature and set app limits, check out Quantrimang.com 's guide to protecting your kids' phones with Family Link .

Parents can also take advantage of the parental controls on the Google Play Store to set download restrictions. You can choose content ratings for apps, games, movies, and music. Additionally, the Play Store requires you to set a PIN lock so that children can't simply tweak restrictions from the settings.

You can find parental control settings at Google Play Store > Left menu > Settings > Parental Controls . Google Play rates games and apps using a rating system specific to your region, so check out our guide to ESRB and PEGI ratings to learn more.

Addictive apps are the reason why it's so hard to put your phone down. Using the methods above, you can hide and limit the apps that take up most of your time.

However, there are many things you can do to curb your smartphone addiction. You don’t have to give up everything to make a positive change. These 5 ways to reduce your smartphone addiction are practical tips to help you cut back on your smartphone use.

Good luck!