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Hiding messages - possible?

H

HFC123

Lurker
Hi,

Can anyone tell me how to hide messages on an S7 Edge running Marshmallow that isn't jailbroken?

I am new to android, but seems as though all the apps that claim to do this haven't worked since Lolipop 5.0......

Would it work to have a seperate messaging app for some contacts, and then hide that app using another app?

Any suggestions very welcome!
 
Welcome to Android Forums.

Some clarification is needed. What do you mean by "hide messages"? What are you trying to segregate from what?

... Thom
 
The ideal would be to hide WhatsApp messages with a single contact, but i get the impression that this is impossible without jailbreaking.

The next best option would be to have sms messages from some contacts sent to a different location to others. I had hoped that something like NQ Vault would do this, but since android 5.0 that seems impossible. Would be great to be shown otherwise.

My final thought is to communicate with some contacts exclusively though email, and then hide the app used to do so.

Is there anything i am missing? For example, something using a different launcher?

Any help appreciated!
 
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These apps are precisely the ones that don't work with Marshmallow....

I was really hoping that one of the android enthusiasts on here would have some sort of clever approach.....
 
A number of message apps have "private inboxes" - I'm sure I've seen that in Evolve SMS for example. However, that won't stop other SMS apps from showing the messages. Locking or disabling the built in app would work around that, but if you are trying to hide them from someone who is suspicious, knowledgeable and has access to your phone then that won't suffice.

For WhatsApp your only option I know would be to lock the app completely (there are a number of apps for doing that).

BTW the process of gaining admin access is called "rooting" with Android (after the Linux admin account name). "Jailbreak" is an iPhone term rather than a general one, so will sound wrong in an Android discussion.

A launcher won't help much - that's just an alternative desktop/app drawer. Of course it might make it easier to hide apps completely without disabling them, but you still need some way of launching them yourself, so again it really depends on the circumstances (what sort of person you are trying to hide them from).
 
@Hadron: Really appreciate your comments. I've been puzzling about this for days, and getting nowhere. You comments are the most progress yet!

If i understand, you think the best approach would be to pick a single SMS app which has a private folder - then also make this the default, and either delete or lock all other SMS apps. Right?

Do you - or anyone else - know of any SMS apps that don't label the private box as what is, in essence: "very interesting, look here first". I.e, hide that folder, or at least allow to have an innocuous label!

This doesn't have to be high-level hacker-proof stuff - just something to give another layer of privacy!

More generally, thanks for:

1. Pointing out that What's App isn't worth pursuing.
2. That launchers aren't the golden key.
3. That my terminology was off!
 
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