Google Photos feature that keeps private photos hidden is getting a wider rollout

Hiding private pictures on your Android phone got easier when Google introduced its Locked Folder feature back in May. Soon a much larger chunk of Android users will get the same privilege.

Google announced Thursday that its popular Locked Folder feature, which lets you hide sensitive pictures in a passcode- protected space on your phone, will roll out "soon" to Android phones running Android 6.0 or later. The feature was introduced back in May at the company's annual developers conference, after which it was released exclusively to Google's own line of Pixel phones.

The feature works though Google Photos, which provides a locked folder where you can store photos you want to keep private. The locked folder silos photos so that they won't show up in other folders, shared folders or search results. The idea is to keep sensitive photos off your camera reel so you don't have to worry about showing them to someone you didn't mean to while scrolling through other pictures. 

When Google's Jen Fitzpatrick, the company's senior vice president of core systems and experiences, introduced the feature at Google I/O, she gave the example of a photo of your passport or a surprise gift for someone in your life as sensitive. But an obvious application would be keeping photos that include nudity or sexual intimacy locked away.