How to hide private content in the iPhone App Switcher

When you leave an app, iOS takes a snapshot of its screen so it can show the card later and resume quickly. The snapshot is taken at the moment you leave, so it is whatever was on screen then: an open chat, a statement, a photo.

As far as we know, current versions of iOS have no setting that blurs or blanks these previews for every app. Whether a preview is hidden depends on the app: an app can place its own cover over the screen when it goes to the background, and that cover is what iOS captures. Many banking and password apps do this; many other apps do not.

1. 1Swipe up from the bottom edge and pause (on an iPhone with a Home button, press it twice) to open the App Switcher.
2. 2Swipe left or right to find the app.
3. 3Swipe its card up and off the top of the screen.

A closed app no longer has a card, so there is no preview to see. The next time you open it, it starts fresh, and some apps ask you to sign in or unlock again.

This is a habit, not a lock. It only works if you remember to do it before you hand the phone over or put it down.

Notifications are a second place where private content shows up without anyone opening an app.

1. 1Open Settings and tap Notifications.
2. 2Tap Show Previews.
3. 3Choose When Unlocked, or Never if you want only the app name on the Lock Screen.

You can also set this for one app: in Settings → Notifications, tap the app and change Show Previews there. Turning off all notifications for a very sensitive app is the strongest option.

You can check any app in a few seconds. Open it to a screen with something you would not want seen, swipe up to go Home, then open the App Switcher. If you see the real screen, the app does not cover its preview. If you see a blank or branded card, it does.

Do this before storing something sensitive in a new app. For apps that fail the check, close them from the App Switcher as described above, or keep the sensitive material somewhere else.

A preview is only one way a phone gives things away. How to lock apps on iPhone covers Face ID locks, and how to lend your iPhone without exposing your photos covers handing the phone to someone for a few minutes.

Lockboxy is an iPhone app that keeps photos, files, notes and passwords in an encrypted vault with its own passcode. When you leave the app, it covers its window with a plain black screen before iOS takes the snapshot, so its card in the App Switcher is blank. This happens every time you leave the app, whether the vault is open or not.

The vault also locks as soon as you leave the app, and after 1 minute without a touch.

Limits to know: this only concerns the App Switcher preview of Lockboxy itself. It does not hide anything in other apps, in notifications from other apps, or in a photo that is still in your Photos library. Items you add to the vault should be deleted from the original place too.

• Closing apps and changing notification previews is free and built into iOS.
• Lockboxy's free plan holds up to 30 photos or videos and 10 files, and Premium removes those limits. Prices are on the Premium page and the app shows the exact price before you buy.
• If you forget the vault passcode and did not set a Recovery Key (Premium), nobody can open the vault, including us.
• Apple changes menu names and behaviour between iOS versions. If a step does not match your screen, use Search in Settings.