iOS 18 is here and while there are plenty of updates to discover, the one that will perhaps be used the most has to be the ability to lock and hide apps. While you can lock an app in iOS 18 so it can only be opened after authentication, you can also take it one step further so that the app itself is whisked away from your Home Screen and Library into a Hidden apps folder. It's only discovered after you unlock the Hidden Apps folder using Face/ Touch ID.

The app is present nowhere else on the system. All notifications and calls from the messages are suspended, you cannot find it using Spotlight, Siri cannot return results regarding it, and it's absent from all other apparent places in Settings as well, such as the list of apps or iPhone Storage (there's a separate category of 'Hidden apps' that needs to be authenticated to access).

But it isn't foolproof. There are other ways an app can give away its presence on your phone despite being in the Hidden Apps folder. For instance, if you have recently used the app, anyone can find it in the Battery settings under 'Battery Usage by App'.

Similarly, there are other places in Settings where the app can be present, such as in various categories on Privacy Settings. For example, if the app requested access to your location, it can be found under 'Location Services' in Privacy & Security settings, even if it does not have access to your location.

There are also more ways someone can figure out if you have an app installed on your iPhone. Searching for the app in the App Store, for instance, would show 'Open' next to it, instead of the 'Get' or 'Cloud' icon that usually appears for apps not on your phone.

Tapping on 'Open' would take one to the authentication screen. Granted, one would need to search for apps individually in the App Store, but anyone with enough resolve and access to your unlocked iPhone can play Sherlock.

Similarly, navigating to the website counterpart of the app would show the 'Open App' banner at the top.

Granted, the page for hiding an app does say that the app will be visible in a few places, such as Settings, so Apple never says that it will be completely hidden.

Still, I had dived into Settings and when I hadn't found the hidden apps in any apparent places, I had assumed, much like most people would have, that the apps would really not be discoverable. So, when I found one of them staring back at me in the Battery section, naturally, I was a bit taken aback initially.

Perhaps, in future updates, there will be a separate category for 'Hidden Apps' in all the places in Settings as there is in iPhone Storage or App list. But for now, this is the state of things and it's better to know. While it's no one's business to see what apps you do or don't have on your phone, things are rarely that black & white. So, while the presence of a Hidden Apps folder on someone's phone does not indicate whether they have hidden apps on their phone or not, it isn't completely impossible to find them either.