How to Find and Hide Your NSFW Photos on IOS
iOS: If you’ve ever taken an R-rated photo with your phone, chances are good that you know it exists somewhere in your photo library. I’m quite forgetful, but I know I will remember this fact. I mean, there is a customization process – lighting is important! – the fact that you have to strip at least partially, the many photos you take before settling on one perfect one, the knowledge that you are probably sending this to someone (and might regret it later), etc. etc.
Simply put, it’s hard to forget that you’ve taken a naked selfie. Nelfie? A thirst trap? Whatever you call it, it’s there, buried in your photo library so that anyone with access to your device can find it by accident or otherwise. That’s why I’m so interested in the idea of Orga , an app that promises to help you find objectionable (NSFW) content on your device and, if necessary, isolate it in a password-protected gallery.
When you launch Orga, you will see a large splash screen that tells you the purpose of the application: to scan your photos to help you determine what’s in them (especially NSFW stuff). You will then be asked to set a password – the standard set – and eventually you will be taken to a page conveniently labeled “Is my data safe?” link in the upper right corner. You’ll want to click on it and read the FAQ carefully, but I’ve also attached a screenshot below that shows how Orga answers the most burning question you probably have:
You should be suspicious of any application that promises to do something with your photos, especially if the whole purpose of the application is to help you “find” and organize your risky photos. I’m not speaking on behalf of Orga and I don’t have much knowledge of how the app works under the hood, but at least it’s reassuring that Orga does work completely offline.
There is no way in iOS to turn off an app’s internet access over Wi-Fi or cellular (unfortunately). However, you can always make a shortcut to turn on airplane mode and then launch the app. It might sound annoying, but I suspect Orga is an app that you won’t be using often, not every day. (And don’t forget to force close the app when you’re done if you’re nervous and turn off airplane mode.)
Once you have made your choice in favor of the application, you will click on the big button “Scan Photos” to do so. You will leave the app open while it is browsing your photo library, and it will flag various elements in your photos (including things like text and things that look nude).
When that’s done, you can search your photo library for whatever you want. While I find this feature more complex (and less accurate) than, say, Google Photos, the app does a pretty good job of finding and displaying whatever you’re looking for. In particular, when you search for “nudity,” you even get a small slider bar that you can use to adjust the sensitivity of the app.
I was surprised, but not so surprised, that there is nothing scandalous on my device. (I don’t remember taking pictures of nude bodies all the time I had an iPhone, because my life is boring and meaningless.) However, I definitely had a few pictures of myself shirtless when I was on vacation. in the Caribbean, so I moved the slider to see if this opens anything.
Well, at least one photo from my vacation. Also, I wore a wig at the theatrical performance where I was, again my rough scratched knee and … a dust filter for my computer. I don’t quite understand how this is perceived as “nudity.”
Since I’m (presumably) so boring, I decided to save a bunch of photos of everyone’s favorite shirtless superhero, Jason Momoa , to my iPhone and re-scan my library with Orga. No cubes; the app did not find any by searching for “nudity”. Is shirtless the new never nude?
Then I said “to hell” and threw a bunch of porn on my phone. I (obviously) won’t post this screenshot of the search results for “nudity”, but the app convincingly showed risky images. However, it did not detect most of them with default sensitivities; I had to gain traction a bit for the most porn to appear.
Orga’s search engine is a helpful guide, but not the most accurate. However, another key feature of the app – Photo Vault – is certainly useful. Pull it up (using a PIN or Touch ID / Face ID, which you can toggle in the app settings) and you can crop photos from your iOS Photo Library and hide them in Secure Vault. While you will lose the ability to sync these photos with your iCloud, the problem can be easily fixed by using another application like Google Photos to back up those photos in the first place, you will be able to provide yourself with additional protection from anyone who may have access to your device.
For example, if a friend knows your iPhone’s PIN, they can log into your device and search whatever they want, but they will still be blocked from viewing your collection of NSFW selfies protected by Orga unless they recognize your secondary PIN ( or there was a finger or a face at hand). Obviously, your friend doesn’t need to be a super spy to figure out that they can find your parts on Google Photos as well if you followed my advice and used it to back up your NSFW photos first, but maybe you can bury this app somewhere in another folder. (They may not be smart enough to figure out that Google Photos even exists.)
Of course, this all seems like a little overkill, but you can never be too careful with your personal photos. While Orga may not be one of the best tools for finding them, it is quite reliable for preserving and protecting them.