What This App Actually Does
Hide Photos, Video and App Loc, also known by longtime users as Hide It Pro, is a privacy vault app that lets you hide photos, videos, apps, messages, and calls behind a disguised interface. Instead of showing up in your app drawer as a vault, it appears as a working ‘Audio Manager’ app. Long-pressing the title launches the real hidden vault, protected by a PIN, password, pattern, or fingerprint. It’s aimed at anyone who shares a phone with family, kids, or partners and wants a quick way to keep certain media and apps out of sight.
The Disguise Trick Still Works Well
The core gimmick is still the app’s best feature. One reviewer noted they’ve been using ‘Audio Manager’ since it first launched and it ‘still works as good or better as anything else out there,’ with plug-ins for hiding apps, photos, and more. The Audio Manager actually functions as a volume control, so it holds up to casual snooping. Combined with an escape PIN for when someone catches you entering the code, and the option to remove the app from the recent apps list, the disguise layer is genuinely more thought-out than most competitors.
Where Things Go Wrong: Missing Files
The most serious recurring complaint is data loss after updates. Multiple reviewers describe waking up to find all their hidden files gone after an app update or a permissions request. One user said ‘all my folders and files are now completely gone’ after granting updated permissions, with hundreds of files lost and no clear recovery path. Another had better luck, using the built-in ‘find missing files’ option under advanced settings, which did recover their pictures. But the fact that this bug keeps resurfacing across updates is a real trust problem for an app whose entire purpose is safely storing private files.
Ads, Plugins, and Paid Version Frustrations
Free version users report a persistent, if ‘subtle,’ ad banner that occasionally takes a few seconds to load and shifts menu items around when it does, which is annoying when you’re trying to tap something specific. More frustrating is the experience of paying reviewers: one who bought the premium version years ago said it ‘no longer activating’ after repeated attempts to reach support, despite paying specifically to remove ads. Another reviewer couldn’t get the App Locker plugin to load at all, with the internal Play Store link appearing broken.
Who Should Actually Download This
If you want a free, no-frills way to hide a folder of photos from casual phone-borrowers, this app still delivers on that basic promise, and the disguised icon trick is legitimately clever. But given the repeated reports of vanishing files after updates and shaky premium activation, don’t treat this as a reliable long-term backup solution. Keep your own backups elsewhere before trusting it with anything irreplaceable. It’s fine for casual privacy needs; it’s risky if you’re storing files you can’t afford to lose.
