# Simple app to hide photos locally on device?

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/simple-app-to-hide-photos-locally-on-device/14434
**Category:** Questions
**Created:** 2023-10-14T04:25:48Z
**Posts:** 10

## Post 1 by @lovfi — 2023-10-14T04:25:48Z

Just looking for a simple FOSS Android app to hide/lock photos with sensitive information locally behind biometrics or passcode. Despite how simple it sounds, I can’t seem to find any apps that are FOSS for this.

Thanks for any input :slight_smile:

---

## Post 2 by @anon39565454 — 2023-10-14T04:29:18Z

Encrypt it with something like cryptomator

---

## Post 3 by @lovfi — 2023-10-14T04:42:20Z

Is cryptomator effective to use locally rather than in the cloud? I was hoping to keep all the files stored locally while being easy to view when needed. If it can work like that, I’ll absolutely give it a look

---

## Post 4 by @anon39565454 — 2023-10-14T04:50:46Z

Yes, it’s a local encryption software

---

## Post 5 by @lovfi — 2023-10-14T05:08:38Z

Hmm, without being able to try it, I’m not really willing to pay $18 for a license. Do you know of any free alternatives?

---

## Post 6 by @jonah — 2023-10-14T05:30:30Z

FWIW, they will refund you within 14 days if you don’t like it, but I gotta agree that Cryptomator is really the gold standard for locally encrypting folders.

If you just want like a hidden album maybe [Simple Gallery](https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Gallery) would fit your needs, but I’ve heard mixed opinions about Simple Mobile Tools’s apps. I personally haven’t used it, but the protection is probably just app-based and not as robust as actually encrypting the files with something like Cryptomator, so it also depends on how advanced you think your adversaries might be.

---

## Post 7 by @vicky — 2023-10-14T06:04:35Z

Another option is Photok. It doesn’t have a biometric lock, but you can lock photos behind a passcode with it.

> **[Photok | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository](https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.leonlatsch.photok/)**
>
> Encrypt images and videos on your device.

> **[GitHub - leonlatsch/Photok: Encrypted Gallery App for Android](https://github.com/leonlatsch/Photok)**
>
> Encrypted Gallery App for Android

---

## Post 8 by @jonah — 2023-10-14T06:07:48Z

> **NOTE:** This app is no longer developed, only maintanance.

Scary

---

## Post 9 by @lovfi — 2023-10-14T06:38:25Z

Alright, I’ve given Photok a test. It seemed decent, but the two problems I found were that videos were very slow to load when viewing, and there isn’t any way to organize files or create folders within.

I did some more looking, and I found DroidFS [(fdroid link)](https://f-droid.org/packages/sushi.hardcore.droidfs/) which seems to solve both those issues for me. It seems well maintained, so I think this is what I will use for now unless I find a better alternative.

Thanks to everyone that gave suggestions!

---

## Post 10 by @anon39565454 — 2023-10-14T08:16:32Z

Get it from F-Droid

> **[Cryptomator | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.cryptomator.lite/)**
>
> Put a lock on your cloud: Take the security of your data into your own hands

Or the izzy repo

> **[„Cryptomator“ – IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repository](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/org.cryptomator)**
>
> Put a lock on your cloud: Take the security of your data into your own hands

But it does seem like droidFS is better