Asus

How to Lock, Unlock, Hide & Unhide Apps in Asus Zenfone 2

ZenUI LogoAsus Zenfone 2 runs a customized version of Android 5.0 Lollipop called ZenUI and hence includes a lot of extra goodies that are missing from the stock Android operating system. Features such as locking specific apps with a password and hiding certain apps are built directly into the ZenUI (Asus Launcher actually) making them easily accessible, more stable and more reliable over 3rd party apps downloaded from the Play Store. This post throws some light on the inbuilt app lock and hide feature of Zenfone 2.

Locking and Unlocking Apps in Asus Zenfone 2

App Lock in the Asus Launcher lets you lock any app with a password to restrict any unauthorized access. The locked apps will no longer show up in the Recent apps list, but notifications will pop up and get stacked to the pull-down notifications bar. The lock functionality also prevents apps from being launched via Google Play Store.

To lock/unlock an App:

  1. Open App Drawer
  2. Tap on options key (3 vertical dots) or press and hold the recent apps (multitasking) button and choose ‘Lock Apps‘.options zenlauncher
  3. Create an App Lock password and do set a recovery email.
  4. Change the state of apps (locked/unlocked) and tap Done. Locked apps are sorted at the last page.

That’s it. You will be needed to key in the password before accessing the locked apps.

To Set the Password Frequency, Hiding Notifications etc:

  1. Open App Drawer
  2. Tap on options key (3 vertical dots) and choose ‘Preferences‘.
  3. Scroll down and tap on Lock App settings.
  4. Key in the password and set the options according to your needs. You can also change the App Lock password here.

Hiding and Unhiding Apps in Asus Zenfone 2

The hide apps function hides the apps from the homescreen and app tray, disallowing direct access to the application. It can be used standalone or in addition to the Lock Apps function depending on the amount of security and privacy the user needs. To access the said app, either tap an app notification or use the Open function in Play Store.

To hide/unhide an app

  1. Open App Drawer
  2. Tap on options key (3 vertical dots) and choose ‘Hide Apps‘.
  3. Check the apps that you want to hide and uncheck the ones to unhide. Hidden apps are sorted at the last page and not alphabetically.
  4. Tap Done when finished.
The App Lock and Hide functions only work with ZenLauncher. If you change your launcher, the hidden apps will be visible and the locked apps can be accessed without a password.

32 Comments

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  • Applovck is an inconvenuence. not real security. Creating a second Admin user gives that user full access at the cost of installing another copy of each downloaded app into that users profile.

    To reset the Applock without a complete factory reset, you need to do a reset of the Launcher to its original state, without a password.

    1. Install a different Launcher and set it as the default. Restart.
    2. Go to Settings/Applications /ZenUi Launcher and click Uninstall (rolls back updates to factory version). Restart. Youlll have full access to all apps through that launcher.

    3. Reopen Settings and clean the cache and data from the Zen Launcher.

    (Later versions of Android may store access status in the data of individual apps. If so, you may need to clean and reset them in a similar manner).

    3. Select the ZenUI Launcher as the default. Keep the other launcher as a backdoor.

  • For unhide apps
    Just go to 3 vertical dots then go to hide option click them now sweep or scroll till the last app is not seen. Last page pr hi aapki hide app hogi.

  • Sir i have Asus z010d model. In this I’m downloaded Gallery lock app and put a passwrd for this. it has a special feature that STEALTH MODE Icon option. Bcz of this we can hide the gallery lock icon also. While opening this we directly go to contacts dailpad and enter our passwrd in that dailpad but before entered passwrd we first put a * that means if pswrd is 1234, while opening we put *1234 and we need to dail. It works in every android phone but in my mobile it is not working. But I’m 200% sure that my paswrd is Right. So cn u help me that how i open that or how i recovery my all the photos photos it is tooo important phtos plz help me sir

    • Open App Drawer.
      Tap on options key (3 vertical dots) and choose Hide Apps. It will show the list of all Apps to select and also it will show the Apps which were already hidden at the last page/list. And just deselect the apps we want to unhide from it. And tap Done. And you have finished the job

  • Hw to unlock d app lock in case if v dnt kno d password as der z no any forgot button on d screen…..

    • my asus zenfone2 laser gallery locked by applock…i donot know the password…..how do i unlock my gallery…

  • Has password some one sold me gave me password won’t
    Work so how I can remove password to acces phone to resale

    • Just tap the forgot button on the screen where you enter password. If you did not set a recovery, your best bet would be removing and re-installing Zen Launcher. Not sure if it is removable though.

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