Recently, the case of businessman Bruno de Paula, who was a victim of cell phone theft on the way from Guarulhos airport to his home in São Paulo, on April 29, went viral on the internet, to notify banking institutions.
The talent scout, while returning from a 20-day trip to Barcelona, Spain, had the device ripped out of his hand through the car window and, because he had the device unlocked, the criminals had access to all his financial applications.
The repercussion made the banks reimburse De Paula’s losses the following week. However, not all cases of theft receive the same attention — nor do they have the same outcome.
To counter this, several smartphone manufacturers have started to include the secret folder feature in their systems. The tool, which receives other names depending on the company, protects applications with a different password from the one used to unlock the cell phone, and is available for both Android and iOS devices.
What is secure folder?
Secure folder is an encrypted folder app that is locked by PIN — either in number, or in pattern, which may or may not be the same code as the cell phone. This code will be requested by the program every time you access these files, regardless of whether your cell phone is unlocked or not.
What makes the function especially useful, in addition to requiring the code even if the screen is switched, is that the applications there are even protected from virtual attacks, since the folder is encrypted.
The feature arrived on Android with an update to Archives in August 2020. At the time of launch, Google published on its blog that the function was specifically aimed at hiding unauthorized programs from access by children — who often used their cell phones. for entertainment or learning.
Manufacturers such as Xiaomi, for example, included the function in their latest release in Brazil, the Xiaomi 12, under the name of “Hidden Applications”. Others, such as Samsung and Realme, also have this function under other names.
How to enable “secure folder”
Apple
Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limit > Add Limit; Select “All (Apps and Categories)” or choose the apps you want to lock; Click “Next” and set the lock time; Click “Add” then;Go back to the “Usage Time” page and tap the “Use Code” option;Set a password, different from the one used for screen unlocking. Already those who have devices with the operating system.
Samsung
Open the settings menu on your Samsung;Select Biometrics and Security;Tap “Secure Folder”;Sign in with your Samsung account;Set a lock type for Secure Folder – default; pin; password; fingerprints; A shortcut to “Secure Folder” will be created on the home screen. Click on it and then on the symbol”+”Select the applications you want to place in the secure folder. You can also move files. First you have to select it with a touch and then go to the three dots. Next, the option “Move to Secure Folder” will appear. It is also possible to do the same process directly from the “Secure Folder”. Tap the three dots on the right and select “Add files”. Be careful when adding applications as a new version will be created inside the Folder. Therefore, after including the apps in the “Secure Folder” and configuring them, you will need to uninstall the “copy” of the apps that were left on the home screen. If you don’t, you will still be able to access the apps without having to go to the “Secure Folder”.
Other Android models
If you haven’t installed it yet, download the “Files from Google” app;Scroll over to the “Collections” section;Tap “Secure Folder” and select PIN or Pattern. Next, define what the PIN or Pattern will be. To move the files there are two ways, depending on the way of viewing. If the view is in a list, tap the three dots and “Move to Secure Folder”. If in grid view, touch and hold files to move them. And at the top of the screen, tap the three dots and “Move to Secure Folder”.
With information from the article by Hygino Vasconcellos for Tilt
