Sharing your smartphone with family members, friends, or coworkers often creates anxiety regarding personal privacy, financial applications, and confidential enterprise data. Android 15 introduces Private Space—a native, sandboxed operating profile that isolates designated applications, notifications, and media behind a separate biometric lock or secondary PIN, completely invisible from your primary application drawer when locked.
How Private Space Works Under the Hood
Private Space leverages Android’s multi-user framework to create an isolated user profile partition. When Private Space is locked:
- Complete App Isolation: Apps installed inside Private Space run in their own sandbox. They have separate application storage, private clipboard buffers, distinct browser cookies, and independent notification channels.
- Hidden from App Drawer: When Private Space is locked, private apps do not appear in recent apps, search results, or the main application drawer.
- Notification Suppression: Notifications originating from private applications are completely suppressed on the lock screen and notification shade until Private Space is unlocked.
- Secondary Google Account: You can link a dedicated secondary Google account inside Private Space to keep Google Drive, Photos, and browsing history segregated from your primary personal identity.
| Security Parameter | Standard App Profile | Android 15 Private Space |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | Device Lock Screen PIN / Biometric | Independent PIN, Password, or Biometric (optional) |
| Storage Sandbox | Shared primary user storage | Isolated private user directory |
| App Drawer Visibility | Always visible in app list | Completely hidden when locked (optional) |
| Recent Apps Card | Visible with preview screenshot | Blanked out or hidden upon locking |
Setting Up Private Space in Android 15
To enable and configure Private Space on supported devices running Android 15 (such as Google Pixel 6 and newer):
- Open the Settings app on your Android 15 device.
- Navigate to Security & privacy and scroll down to select Private Space.
- Tap Set up and authenticate using your device screen lock.
- Choose whether to use your existing screen lock or create a new separate lock (such as a unique 6-digit PIN or dedicated fingerprint) for Private Space. A separate lock provides maximum protection against someone who knows your main phone PIN.
- Sign in with an optional secondary Google Account to download apps directly to Private Space via Google Play Store.
Installing and Moving Apps to Private Space
Once setup is complete, scroll to the very bottom of your application drawer. You will see a dedicated Private container with a padlock icon.
- Tap the Private bar and authenticate with your biometric or private PIN.
- Tap Install apps to launch the sandboxed Play Store and install banking, dating, or confidential communication apps.
- Alternatively, long-press any existing app in your main drawer and tap Install in private. Once verified, uninstall the public copy from your main profile.
Hiding Private Space from the App Drawer Completely
For ultimate stealth, you can prevent the Private Space bar from appearing in your app drawer altogether:
- In Settings > Security & privacy > Private Space, tap the gear icon to access settings.
- Toggle on Hide Private Space when locked.
- To access your hidden space, simply open the app drawer search bar, type
Private Space, and tap the search result to trigger the biometric prompt. - Configure Auto-lock Private Space to lock immediately every time the screen turns off or after 5 minutes of inactivity.