Ultimate Guide: How to Avoid Embarrassment When Nosy People Look Over Your Shoulder at Your Phone 

Table of Contents

• In Defense of Curiosity
• The Stats on Peeking and Snooping
• How to Conceal an App on iPhone or Android
• Avoid Potentially Embarrassing Apps on Your Home Screen
• Bonus Tips to Keep Your Screen Private
• Conclusion: Stay Private, Stay Smart

In Defense of Curiosity

Curiosity is a motivator for learning, a basic element of our cognition, critical for healthy development, and a powerful factor in decision-making. We’re almost oblivious to the pervasiveness of this basic component of our natures in our lives. We spend hours a day seeking and consuming information, whether browsing the internet, listening to music, watching TV, reading books or magazines, etc.

It’s no wonder our eyes sometimes wander when someone next to us is scrolling through juicy messages or browsing something questionable. It’s not always malicious—it’s often subconscious.

The Stats on Peeking and Snooping

A less-often explored aspect is curiosity out of boredom. According to a Secure Data Recovery survey, 82% of Americans have snooped on someone else’s phone at least once, and 81% of the 82% didn’t get caught. 59% of snoopers did it out of general curiosity.

Innocent peeks at strangers’ phones are also quite common. In their defense, they call it “people-watching” rather than “shoulder surfing.” If someone is browsing the web, composing texts, or writing emails in your line of vision on the bus or subway, reading along is often inevitable—and so is looking over someone’s shoulder in many situations.

Embarrassment is a less risky consequence of someone seeing the apps on your phone. Quite a lot of people snoop on their partners, and a survey revealed that 53% found something concerning or incriminating. Most snoopers reported that the content they found was proof of digital flirting or in-person infidelity.

How to Conceal an App on iPhone or Android

That said, there are many ways to hide dating apps on iPhone. You can use a hidden folder, move the app to the library, use Screen Time to hide apps, use a different icon, etc. The details are below.

• iPhone Hidden Folder Trick: Drag the app to a new folder on your home screen and then to the last page of the folder. Rename the folder to something generic.
• App Library Removal (iOS 14 and later): Press and hold the app icon on the home screen and go to Remove App > Remove from Home Screen. The app will stay in the App Library.
• Screen Time Method: Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps. Toggle off the dating apps to hide them from view.
• Use Shortcuts with Custom Icons: Tap + > Add Action > Open App. Choose the dating app, tap Next, and give it a generic or whimsical name. Tap the three dots > Add to Home Screen and choose a neutral image as the icon.

For Android users:

• Use a Shortcut App: Download an app like Awesome Icons and create a shortcut with a different icon or name.
• Secure Folder (Samsung): Go to Settings > Biometrics and Security > Secure Folder. Set up the folder and move the app inside. Access is PIN, pattern, or fingerprint-protected.
• PrivateSpace (Huawei): Go to Settings > Security & Privacy > PrivateSpace. This method keeps the app completely hidden unless unlocked by the owner.

Avoid Potentially Embarrassing Apps on Your Home Screen

Dating apps are far from the only potentially embarrassing ones. There is also the face-swapping app MSQRD, the Dunkin’ Donuts app (which uses a points system to hand out free donuts), and apps like Spring, which lets people edit their photos to look taller or more proportionate.

If you’re a man, you shouldn’t have workout apps like Zova (which uses Apple Watch) on your phone. It’s quite evidently for women only, with all the photos used being of girls and a dominant focus on “Toned Butt and Thighs.”

The key is to curate your home screen to reflect what you wouldn’t mind a stranger catching a glimpse of. Keep quirky or private apps tucked away in folders or secondary screens.

Bonus Tips to Keep Your Screen Private

Here are a few extra tricks for the truly cautious:

• Use a screen privacy filter: These make it hard for others to see your screen from an angle.
• Turn on Guided Access (iPhone) or App Pinning (Android) if someone else needs to use your phone.
• Keep messages and notifications private by disabling preview pop-ups on your lock screen.
• Use incognito mode when browsing sensitive content, or clear history regularly.

These small habits can protect not just your apps—but your digital dignity.

Conclusion: Stay Private, Stay Smart

In a hyper-connected world, protecting your phone’s privacy isn’t just about hiding scandalous apps—it’s about maintaining control over your digital space. Whether you’re using dating apps, guilty-pleasure games, or face-swapping filters, you shouldn’t have to feel exposed every time you scroll in public.

By learning how to discreetly manage your apps, adjusting your screen settings, and staying one step ahead of curious onlookers, you can keep your digital life your business. Curiosity might be human—but your phone privacy is still your right.