2 ways to lock Google Drive with Touch or Face ID on iPhone and iPad
Similar to locking Chrome’s incognito tabs with Face ID, you can password-protect the Google Drive app to protect your personal files and folders. In this article, let’s see how to lock and enable Face ID or Touch ID lock for Google Drive on iPhone or iPad.
Lock files and folders in Google Drive on iPhone and iPad
Sometimes you may need to give your iPhone to your friends or family to make a call or check something online. And while it’s easy to hide private photos and videos, files you’ve uploaded to your Google Drive app can still be accessed, putting your privacy at risk.
Fortunately, Google Drive has a built-in privacy feature that lets you lock it with Face ID or Touch ID. You can also lock the app using shortcuts. This will help you protect and hide your sensitive files and folders from unauthorized access. Keep reading.
Method 1 – Enable Face ID or Touch ID for Google Drive
Here’s how to enable the privacy screen in the Google Drive app on iOS and iPadOS:
1. Open the Google Drive app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Click on it hamburger menu icon in the upper left corner.
3. Choose Settings from the available options.
4. Here, click confidentiality Filter.
5. Enable the switch for confidentiality Filter.
6. Then click on Authentication Requirement and choose whether you want the app to lock immediately after closing, after 10 seconds, 1 minute, or 10 minutes.
This can delay app locking when switching between apps.
Note that the Privacy Screen feature does not protect or hide notifications from Drive, files shared with the Files app, and photos shared with the Photos app. You can also uninstall and reinstall the Drive app to access your cloud files – take note.
Method 2 – Lock the Drive app using a shortcut
In our previous guide to lock Messages on iPhone, we used the Shortcuts app to create an automation that automatically locks your iPhone when someone tries to open Messages. You can use the same automation to lock iPhone when Google Drive is open, as shown below:
Timer setting in the watch
1. Open it Clock app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Go to Timer tab on the bottom menu.
3. Click on When the timer endsscroll down and select stop yourself I’m playing.
4. To hit Together top right.
Create automation
5. Now open Shortcuts device application.
6. Go to Automation and press + icon.
7. Click on Create Staff Automation.
8. Scroll down and select Application.
9. Click on Choose and select Conduct, leadership. You can also select other file apps that you want to lock, such as Files, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more.
ten. Click on Do it in the top right corner.
Added timer to automation
11. Return to the automation screen, click Following in the top right corner.
12. Crane Add an action.
13. Search for “timer” and select start the timer.
14. Touch the number to Start the timer for. Change it to 1.
15. Then press Minutes And change it to seconds.
16. Once the timer is set to 1 secondClick on Following top right.
17. Uncheck the switch for Ask before you run. To hit Do not ask when prompted.
18. Also, make sure Notification while running is disabled. Crane Do it top right.
When you open Drive, it automatically locks your iPhone for second. And you will need to use Face ID/Touch ID or enter your password to access the app. This will prevent unauthorized access to your files and folders in Drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the easiest way to lock Google Drive on iOS?
The easiest way to lock the Google Drive app on iOS is to use the built-in privacy screen feature shown above. All you have to do is open Drive, go to Settings > confidentiality Filterand enable the feature.
Q. Is the privacy screen feature not working in the Drive app?
Update the Google Drive app from the App Store. Also, make sure your iPhone’s lock screen is protected by Face ID or Touch ID, depending on the model.
Q. How to access Google Drive locked from privacy screen?
When locked with the privacy screen, the Drive app cannot be accessed unless Face ID or an enabled passcode is used. However, as a workaround, you can uninstall and reinstall the app from the App Store. This will reset the app settings and remove the privacy screen.
You can lock the App Store app (using the shortcut method above) to prevent others from doing this on your iPhone.
Q. Is there a privacy screen available in Google Drive for Android?
No, the privacy screen feature is currently only available on iOS. You can’t use it on Android. To lock Drive on Android, read our guide to locking apps on Android.
Wrap it up
Here’s how you can enable the privacy screen to lock the Google Drive app with Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone. We also mentioned how you can use shortcuts to lock your iPhone when someone tries to open the Drive app. I hope the above guide will help you protect your sensitive cloud files. Stay tuned for more such updates.
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