Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR Google may be working on a native App Lock feature for Android 17 that lets users secure specific apps without the restrictions of Private Space.
This new API allows the default launcher to lock apps, eliminating the need to use third-party app lockers.
We spotted code for this feature in a recent Android Canary build, though it isn’t expected to officially launch until next year’s major update.
People store a lot of sensitive data on their Android phones, so it’s no wonder they are reluctant to hand them over to anyone they don’t trust. Even if you are comfortable letting a friend or family member borrow your device, you probably still have data you don’t want them to see. Locking down specific apps is a great way to protect your privacy, but the core Android OS still lacks a native way to do this, forcing many users — especially of Pixel devices — to rely on third-party tools. Fortunately, Google may finally address this in next year’s Android 17 update by adding a new App Lock feature.
Apart from Private Space, Android lacks a native way to secure apps behind your screen lock or biometrics. The issue with Private Space is that it isn’t designed for convenience. When you move an app there, it is sequestered; that works fine for apps you rarely open, but it quickly becomes a hassle for apps you open daily. Apps inside Private Space cannot be placed on your home screen, and the container itself lacks a shortcut. To access these apps, you are forced to unlock the space by opening the app drawer then and scrolling or searching every single time.
Furthermore, apps within the Private Space are completely siloed from the rest of your system because they run in a separate user profile. This isolation prevents them from easily accessing files in your main profile — great for privacy, but a headache for productivity. While you can manually move files back and forth, it is not a workflow you want to be doing daily.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
This is why many OEMs developed their own App Lock solutions for their specific Android skins. Without a native option in the core OS, however, Pixel users are forced to rely on third-party app lockers, which are fundamentally flawed. Since these tools are just standard apps, they can be easily bypassed by simply uninstalling them. The developers of these apps often try to plug this hole by requesting Device Administrator privileges, but granting that level of control to a third-party app requires a massive amount of trust. Furthermore, the detection methods are often hacky, relying on the Accessibility API to monitor your screen for specific window openings — which poses both privacy and performance problems.
A native, system-level App Lock would solve all of these problems. It would be impossible to uninstall, inherently more trustworthy, and wouldn’t rely on janky workarounds to detect when a protected app is launched. The good news is that there is strong evidence Google is working on a native App Lock for Android, and it appears it will be accessible to all launchers, not just the stock one.
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