This is the new Private Space for Android 15 in action

Experts recommend setting a strong screen lock on your smartphone to prevent other people from accessing your data, but you might want to enable an extra layer of security in case you have to give your phone to someone else. The Samsung Secure Folder feature offers an encrypted storage space for your files and apps, but is only available on Galaxy devices. Stock Android doesn’t currently offer a feature like Secure Folder, but that will change with the upcoming Android 15 update.

Android 15 will introduce a new feature called Private Space, which is similar to Samsung’s Secure Folder. Although Google hasn’t announced this feature yet, we got an early glimpse of it. Here’s how it is!

Back in December, I first spotted evidence that Google was working on a feature called Private Space. Although I was able to activate the feature, it was not fully functional at the time. Additionally, the settings page had a lot of placeholders and a “note to Google employees” that said “this feature is still under development.”

In the months since, Google has made significant progress with Private Space, tweaking the UX for the setup process, adding new privacy features, and improving Home screen integration. However, I was unable to fully enable the updated version of Private Space when I shared these changes in a post last week. However, after some more tinkering, I got it fully up and running on my Pixel 8 Pro with the latest Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2.1 release.

You can check out some screenshots and a video above to see for yourself.

How Private Space works

To set up a private space, you need to go to Settings > Security & Privacy and tap Private space. Android will ask you to authenticate before starting the setup process, ensuring that only the primary user can create it. During setup, you have the option to sign in to your Google Account to facilitate downloading apps to Private Space. Google recommends creating a separate account dedicated to a private space so your data and history don’t appear outside of it, but that’s up to you. You can also use your existing screen lock or create a new one. Obviously, creating a different screen lock only further increases your security because even if someone discovers your phone’s screen lock, it won’t automatically give them access to the private area.

Once you’ve completed the setup, you can find Private Space by returning to the home screen, opening the app drawer, and then scrolling down. You will see a small bar with the text “Private” and a lock icon. By tapping the lock icon, Android will prompt you to enter the screen lock you’ve set specifically for Private Space. After unlocking, the bar expands to show the apps installed there.

Several apps are preloaded here, such as Google Camera, Chrome, Contacts, Drive, Files, Photos, and the Play Store. To install more, you can tap the “install apps” button or long press an app in the primary profile, then tap “install private”. Either option opens the Play Store app in Private Space, where you can browse and install any app you choose.

While using apps installed in Private Space, a lock icon appears on the status bar so you don’t accidentally make a mistake with your data. This icon also appears in notifications from Private Space apps. Speaking of notifications, they are minimized on the lock screen by default so that they don’t show any content while the device is locked. This can be changed by going to Settings > Security & Privacy > Private Space and switching “sensitive notifications on the lock screen.” Here you can also choose when you want to automatically lock Private Space, change the screen lock used for it, automatically hide it from appearing in your app list when it’s locked, or delete it entirely.

If you choose to hide your private space when it’s locked, you’ll no longer see it in your apps list. This makes it harder for others to find out that you installed it, but also makes it harder for you to start. To activate it when hidden, you need to search for “private space” and tap the chip that appears.

One last thing to note is that Android 15 hides all settings, stats, and intent redirects to a private space while locked. For example, if you want to change its location settings, see how much space your apps and files take up, share a file with a private app, or open a file in a private app, you’ll need to unlock it first. This ensures that other users cannot see your Private Space apps unless they are already unlocked.

The Private Space feature is not yet available in the latest Android 15 Developer Preview 2 release, which is actually older than the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2.1 release I enabled it on. Given that this feature is already fully functional, it will likely become active in one of the upcoming beta releases of Android 15. Perhaps Google will announce it at the upcoming I/O developer conference, which opens on May 14.