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Text messages have been my favorite communication medium ever since I knew what texting meant.
While apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Facebook Messenger, etc.
may have transformed the messaging landscape, iMessage continues to be my go-to method for texting.
If youre anything like me, youd have some messages and chat threads you would want to hide.
On WhatsApp, youāre free to do so by archiving the messages.
In this post, I reveal some of the most effective ways of hiding your messages.
Learn these methods, and share secrets with your friends via text messages while protecting your privacy!
If you have an iPhone, no one can use your data without your permission, not even Apple.
Thats how important it is for Apple to protect your messages and other sensitive information.
Heres why its essential to safeguard your privacy on your iPhone.
Privacy keeps your personal information safe to prevent any misuse by third parties.
Apple has put strong privacy protections in place, safeguarding the full spectrum of your personal information.
This means only you and the recipient of your messages can read your texts.
However, for now, lets focus on protecting your text messages.
Here are some fantastic ways to hide your messages and message chain on your iPhone.
This feature can be easily turned off.
Heres how to do it:
Step 1:From your iPhone, go toSettings.
Step 2:Navigate and tap onNotifications.
Step 3:Scroll down toMessagesand tap on it.
Step 4:Under theLock Screen Appearancemenu, tap theShow Previewsoption.
Step 5:SelectNever.
This feature deletes your messages after a specific time.
As a result, it prevents snooping from others since the messages are constantly deleted.
Heres how to activate the feature:
Step 2:Scroll down to theMessagestab and tap on it.
Step 3:Under theMessage Historymenu, select auto-delete between 30 days and 1 year.
No custom options exist, so youd have to choose from the two.
If you want your messages to be deleted sooner, select 30 days.
After every 30 days, your messages will get deleted.
The messages are hidden under a shimmering veil.
Step 2:pop in the message you want to send and hold the send button.
Step 3:Youll see theinvisible inkoption from the pop-up menu.
Step 2:From the menu at the bottom, tap onContacts.
Find the contact whose message you want to hide and tap on it.
Step 3:On the top right corner, tap onEdit.
Step 4:Scroll to the bottom, tapDelete Contact, then confirm.
Step 5:Next, from your iPhonesSettings, scroll down and tap onMessages.
Step 6:Scroll down and tap onUnknown & Spam.
Step 7:Turn theFilter Unknown Sendersoption on.
You wont get a notification of their messages.
Hide Alerts
you might also hide alerts in a specific message chain with a person.
While this doesnt necessarily hide the messages, it can prevent the alert from appearing on your notifications center.
Heres how to do it:
Step 1:Open theMessagesapp on your iPhone.
Step 2:kick off the chat whose alerts you dont want to receive.
Step 3:Tap on the persons profile photo at the top.
You may see an initial, emoji, or custom photo the user has uploaded.
Step 4:Navigate to theHide Alertstoggle and enable it.
Sadly, iMessage is not one of them.
However, youāre free to password-protect iMessage using the screen time feature.
Heres how to lock your messages using this feature:
Step 2:Scroll down and tap onScreen Time.
Step 3:Tap onUse Screen Time Passcode.
Set a 4-digit unique password.
Step 5:Now, tap theAlways Allowedtab and deselect messages.
Step 6:Return to theScreen Timemenu, tap onApp Limits, and tap onAdd Limit.
Step 7:Enter the passcode and tap on theSocialcategory, then tap onMessages.
Step 9:Turn on theBlock at End of Limittoggle and tap onAddin the top right corner.
From here on, after the screen time limit is reached, the iMessage app will be locked.
Although, it’s possible for you to ask for some grace time, usually 5 minutes.
Thankfully, there are different ways to hide your texts from snoopers.
Call them hacks, walkarounds, or whatever you want, but theyre pretty effective!
Ive listed all the effective methods in this tutorial to hide messages on your iPhone.
Choose the method that suits your needs the best!
Next, learn how to hide apps on your iPhone to keep your home screen neat and tidy.