Little-known Android trick lets you keep phone and apps ‘secret’ from friends using hidden trick

ANDROID users can take an advantage of an overlooked trick to keep their phone hidden from friends.

If you’ve ever worried about letting a friend, family member or child use your phone, it’s perfect for you.

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Google has built a clever profile system into Android phones.

There are several profile types, including one called Guest Profile.

This is specifically designed for when you’re letting someone touch your phone briefly.

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.”

Some things will be shared across all profiles.

For instance, a guest profile will be able to access the same Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices as the main profile.

But you won’t be able to see private info on the device.

That includes files and messages, like texts, email, photos, music, nad more, according to Google.

It also won’t be possible to see data from apps that another user has installed – even if the same apps are on your main profile.

Guests can be added at any time and deleted too.

Bear in mind that – as with Android tricks – the methods of setting up a guest profile might be different depending on your phone model.

And it’s also possible that your specific Android device doesn’t have the option for guest profiles.

How to use guest profiles on Android

There are plenty of reasons you might want a guest profile.

Maybe you’re passing your phone to a child and there’s content on there that wouldn’t be appropriate for someone very young.

Or maybe you’re letting a nosy friend use your device out of kindness.

Perhaps a family member needs to use your phone and there’s an app or some media you don’t want them to stumble upon.

But most of all, it’s important to be privacy conscious generally – and guest profiles are a great way to do that.

Whatever the reason, activating a guest profile is extremely easy.

First open your Quick Settings by swiping down from the top of the screen.

Tap on the User icon then tap on Add Guest.

Once the user is done, they can simply choose the Remove Guest option to delete all data from their profile.

As the phone owner, you can tap on User > Guest > Start Over to delete all of the data from the previous guest.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk