Google is developing a new privacy feature in order to protect sensitive applications on Android devices, as a recent preview of the Android operating system shows that the search giant is developing a new feature called Private Space, which allows applications to be hidden on the phone from other people.
Android does not currently support hiding sensitive apps in a secure area, although this may change soon thanks to the Private Space feature, which means you will not need additional apps in order to hide apps via your Android phone.
Samsung is currently offering the Secure Folder feature in order to provide a hidden private space to protect sensitive data, and Google is promoting a similar feature called Private Space with beta version 2 of the Android 14 operating system quarterly.
Setting up Private Space creates a new private account within Android associated with the primary user, such as a work account.
The operating system hides notifications sent by applications running under the private account from the primary user when the private account is locked, i.e. temporarily suspended.
The user can lock the private account through the current PIN, pattern, password, or biometrics of the primary user, or through a new set of login data.
You must log in to a Google account in order to install applications through this private account.
The apps in the private account can be accessed through the bottom of the app drawer instead of through a separate tab at the top.
Google allows users to hide the Private Space icon from the app drawer. Google is also testing the ability to access Private Space by searching for Private Space in the search bar.
This method of accessing Private Space is useful if you want to hide that you are using this feature.
The feature in its current form does not mention how it can hide data outside of applications, such as photos and other files, although Samsung's Secure Folder feature provides a way to hide those files as well.
Google is not expected to launch the feature in the near future, although development work is ongoing, and the feature may appear for the first time with Android 15.
Here are some additional details about the feature:
- The Privacy Dashboard would be accessible from the Settings app.
- It would show users a list of all the apps installed on their device.
- For each app, the dashboard would show the following information:
- The permissions that the app has been granted
- When the app last accessed each permission
- How often the app has accessed each permission
- Users would be able to revoke permissions from apps from the Privacy Dashboard.
The Privacy Dashboard could help users to better understand how their data is being used by apps. It could also help users to protect their privacy by revoking permissions from apps that they don't trust.