Keeping your messages secret isn’t always easy. You can use encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp orSignal; however, it is still possible to view all the messages in those conversations on your phone. For example, if someone picks up your unlocked iPhone, they could open WhatsApp and read the messages in any of your conversations.
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It is possible tolock apps such as WhatsAppor Signal so that people can’t access them without a password or biometric features such asFace ID. However, if you live with someone, they may understandably be suspicious about why you’d want to lock your messaging app.
There may be very good reasons why you might want to keep your messaging secret, even from those closest to you. For example, you might be planning a surprise party. If you’re an iPhone user, there is another way to have secret conversations in a place where it’s very unlikely anyone will stumble across your chat, even if they do get their hands on your phone. Here’s how to have a secret conversation with someone using Apple Notes.
Apple Notes
View, edit, create and share your notes (or messages) with Notes.
How to share a note in Apple Notes
Collaborate on notes with others
Sharing a note in Apple Notes is simple to do. All you need to do is create a note and then use theSharetool to share the note with another Apple user. You can share the note in numerous ways, including viaAirDrop, by iMessage, in an email, or even using a messaging app such as WhatsApp.
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How to have a secret conversation using a shared note
Use your shared note to exchange messages
Once you’ve shared the note with another person, you may both add text to it whenever you wish. The beauty is that since the note is shared, anything you type immediately becomes visible to the other person too. You can take turns typing messages into the note and read them in real time. When someone is typing, theirApple IDicon will appear above the text, so you can see who is typing. This will disappear once they’ve finished typing.
If you forget who has typed which message, you can swipe right on the note, and you’ll see the name of the person responsible for each edit, making it easy to tell who typed what. Your messages don’t have to be limited to text either. You can addphotosor videos to the note, insert a to-do list or a table, or even draw something freehand using the drawing tools.
When you’ve finished sending your secret messages, close out of the note, and your secret conversation will appear to be an ordinary shopping list note or whatever else you decided to call it.
One difference between this method and standard messaging apps is that you won’t get a notification when something new is added to your note, so you may be unaware that the other person has replied. However, if you tap @ and select the person you’re sharing with as part of your message, they’ll receive a notification that they were mentioned in the shared note.
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How to hide your secret note within a shared folder
Bury your secret conversation among other shared notes
One downside of this method is that the note is automatically saved into theSharedfolder in the Notes app. This folder appears by default at the top of the Notes app when you open it, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to move or hide it.
However, all you need to do to bury your secret messaging app is to create some other random shared notes. you’re able to then sort your Shared notes so that it doesn’t display the newest notes at the top of the list, and your secret note will get buried among all the other shared notes.
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How to stop your iPhone from saving photos in secret notes
Keep photos you share from appearing in your camera roll
It’s possible to take photos from within your shared note by tapping theCameraicon. This opens the Camera app and lets you take a photo or video, which is then added to your note. However, by default, the photo or video is also saved to your camera roll. If you want to keep these photos or videos secret, you could manuallyhide all of these photos. However, it’s far simpler to change the Notes app settings so that any photos or videos you take within a note aren’t saved to your camera roll at all.
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How to remove any messages you don’t want to keep
Delete messages for all parties
If there are some parts of your secret conversation that you don’t want to remain in your shared note, you can delete them from within the note. Any text that you delete from your note is immediately deleted for all parties with whom it’s shared. You can alsodelete photosand videos in a similar way, allowing you to remove photos for everyone who is sharing the note.
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Get rid of your secret conversation once you’re done
If you’ve shared all the secrets you want to share in your note and want to remove it completely so that there’s no evidence of it ever having existed, you can simply delete the entire shared note. This will remove the note for all people with whom it’s shared, too.
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Q: Are shared notes end-to-end encrypted?
Unfortunately, shared notes are not completely end-to-end encrypted. Text and media are encrypted to some extent, but metadata such as the date the note was created or the date it was last modified is not encrypted at all.
Q: Can I lock my shared note?
Although it’s possible to lock notes that you cannot access them without a passcode or using Face ID or Touch ID, it’s not possible to lock a shared note. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep the shared note hidden away among other notes where no one is likely to find it.
Q: Can I share notes with more than one person?
It’s possible to share notes with multiple people to create the equivalent of a secret group chat. Using this method with multiple people can be a little awkward however, as it’s not always easy to tell who has typed each message when multiple people are involved.
