Apple’s iOS 18 includes a new feature that lets you require Face ID to open an app, or go further and hide it from your device entirely. Using the second option, the app icon on the home screen will disappear and will move to a specially obscured Hidden folder in the App Library.

Normally, biometrics are required to view the contents of the hidden folder. However, with iOS 18 users are finding ways to discover which apps have been hidden without needing Face ID.

In iOS 18, users need to long-press an app icon to lock and hide an app. You then need to tap on “Require Face ID” from the menu, then select “Hide and Require Face ID.”

If an app is locked and hidden, iOS 18 prevents detection through many traditional methods. Notifications from the app won’t appear, and results for that app won’t appear in Spotlight search. The names of hidden apps will remain hidden until biometric authentication occurs even if you go to the Storage screen in Settings.

However, it should be noted that this hidden state is not foolproof. Some settings screens may show hidden apps even without authentication. For example, if an app is hidden, it will still appear in the Background App Refresh list. Likewise, it will appear in the Privacy -> Photos section if you have granted the access to the app to your photo library.

When you look for the same app in the App Store on a device where it is hidden, the listing will be displayed with an ‘Open’ button. In case the application was not installed, you will see a ‘Get’ button. This shows that the particular app is indeed installed, although this method requires you to search for each app name individually.

Similarly, when you navigate to the app’s page in Safari, an “Open in [App Name]” banner will appear if the app is installed, even if it is hidden. This banner would not show if the app was not installed.

It should be noted that Apple doesn’t guarantee that hiding an app won’t tell it’s installed. The interface even gives you a heads up. When confirming that you wish to hide an app, the modal dialog displays a warning that it may still be visible in “a few places like Settings.”

While you can tell if the app is installed on your phone, you will first need to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID in order to launch it. The biometric lock protects the hidden app’s content at all times.

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