Google Photos is rolling out an important new privacy feature to Android devices, but iPhone users will have to wait for now.
Google Photos finally brings an important security feature to general Android users.
In May this year, Google Photos introduced a “Locked Folder” feature that allows you to hide potentially sensitive content behind a secure passcode. Originally only available to Google Pixel smartphones, the feature has now started rolling out to many more Android devices, as promised.
The Locked Folder keeps private photos and videos out of your main Google Photos timeline and ensures that this content doesn’t appear in automatically-generated Memories or in any other installed apps.
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Many users will have already received a notification inside the Google Photos app prompting them to try the new feature, but you can check for yourself by tapping ‘Library’ then ‘Utilities’ from the main screen. If enabled, the feature lives in the section marked ‘Organize your library’. If the Locked Folder doesn’t appear for you, then you may have to wait for Google to enable it on your device. There’s no word yet on when the feature might come to iOS.
A word of warning
One of the key benefits of Google Photos is the feeling of security you get from knowing all of your images are safely backed up in the cloud. This is not the case with Locked Folder items.
Use of the Locked Folder, therefore, comes with a few gotchas that could result in the permanent loss of important images.
Most significantly, everything stored in the Locked Folder exists only on your local device. Furthermore, when you move a file into your locked folder, all existing cloud copies are automatically erased.
This means if you erase your phone, or lose it, all of your Locked Folder items will be gone forever. This applies when doing a factory reset, or if you simply uninstall the Google Photos app. Reinstalling it won’t bring back your photos.
Also note that, if you switch to a new device and choose to copy apps and data from your existing one, your Locked Folder items won’t be copied over.
Other services, such as sync.com or pCloud, do provide encrypted cloud storage, and these may prove more useful to those who wish to back up their personal images.
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