How to make your iPhone invulnerable to spies with five quick settings adjustments.

Here are some simple iPhone settings that can prevent curious individuals from spying on users. This is reported by The Sun.

The amount of information accessible from the lock screen may be surprising. Fortunately, it's easy to disable tracking on the lock screen by navigating to "Settings" — "Face ID & Passcode" — "Allow Access When Locked". Here, you can limit the types of content that can be accessed even when the iPhone is locked.

This content includes:

• Today View and Search
• Notification Center
• Control Center
• Lock Screen Widgets
• Siri
• Reply with Message
• Home Control
• Wallet
• Respond to Missed Calls
• Accessories

Enabling all these features makes using the iPhone easier, but it also aids potential spies. Therefore, it’s better to disable those features that might be of interest to third parties, thereby enhancing your privacy.

Hiding Notifications

Another important change for the lock screen is hiding notifications. You can easily modify this by going to "Settings" — "Notifications" — "Show Previews". Change the setting to "When Unlocked" or even "Never" for maximum privacy.

You can also scroll down to adjust notification settings for specific apps. This is convenient when previews are needed from certain apps but not from others (for example, messaging apps like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger).

If you're not satisfied with the new hidden notification style, you can always revert it later. Of course, there is a significant risk that a malicious person might grab the iPhone while it's unlocked. In such cases, additional protection for the most personal apps is necessary. Fortunately, Apple has provided the option to lock and even hide certain apps since the release of iOS 18 in September.

Hiding Apps

If you have a chat app, like WhatsApp, you might want to lock it. Simply press and hold the app icon on the home screen, then select "Require Face ID". This means you'll need to scan your face to open the app, even if the iPhone is already unlocked.

For even greater privacy, you can completely hide the app. Just long-press the app icon, then choose "Require Face ID" — "Hide & Require Face ID". This will move the app to the Hidden folder on your iPhone. It will be completely concealed and won’t even indicate whether there are any apps inside. Then scroll to the bottom of the App Library to find the Hidden folder. You'll need to tap on it and authenticate to see what's inside.

You can display and unlock apps at any time permanently.

How to Hide Photos

Messages aren’t the only valuable digital assets; photos are important too. There may be some photos you want to hide. You can hide photos in a hidden folder within the "Photos" app. Just press and hold the image in the Photos app, then tap "Hide". Scroll to the "Utilities" section of the Photos app and select the "Hidden" folder. To view its contents, you will need to verify your identity.

You can go even further and hide the Hidden folder itself. Just go to "Settings" — "Apps" — "Photos" and uncheck "Show Hidden Album". This will make the hidden folder invisible in the Photos app.

Security Check

Finally, there is a great universal solution to check if someone is spying on you — "Safety Check", which allows you to see what information you are sharing (knowingly or unknowingly) with others or apps.

You will need an iPhone with iOS 16 or later. Go to "Settings" — "General" — "Software Update" to check if the latest version is installed. Then navigate to "Settings" — "Privacy & Security" — "Safety Check". Here, you can quickly review, update, and even stop sharing information with people or apps.

The feature will guide you through a simple process to determine if anyone has access to your location, is viewing your photos, or has access to your Apple ID.

If there are particular concerns, you can press the emergency reset button to immediately revoke all access for other people or apps.

In the "Safety Check" app, there is also a "Quick Exit" button that allows you to promptly close the "Settings" app while saving all changes made.

Let's remember the 10 online habits that lead hackers to compromise gadgets. Weak passwords, lack of two-factor authentication, and using public Wi-Fi networks are habits every internet user should break to protect their money and data.