Someone else knows your iPhone passcode
Your passcode is not only the key to the lock screen.
In short
Your iPhone passcode also opens the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums, notes locked with the device passcode and, in many cases, saved passwords. If someone you no longer trust knows it, change it, review Face ID and the devices signed in to your Apple ID, and keep anything sensitive behind a secret that is not your passcode.
Key takeaways
- The passcode unlocks the Hidden album and Recently Deleted.
- Change the passcode, then review Face ID and signed-in devices.
- Safety Check helps review who has access, in one place.
What your passcode opens
- The phone itself, whenever Face ID fails or is skipped.
- The Hidden and Recently Deleted albums of the Photos app.
- Notes locked with the device passcode.
- Saved passwords, in many cases.
What to change
- Change the passcode in Settings › Face ID & Passcode.
- In the same place, check whether an alternate appearance has been added to Face ID, and reset Face ID if you did not add it.
- In Settings, tap your name and review the devices signed in to your Apple ID.
Safety Check
In Settings › Privacy & Security › Safety Check, iOS lets you review and reset what you share with other people and which devices have access, in one place.
Keep sensitive files behind a different secret
Even after changing the passcode, anything protected only by it is one glance away from being exposed again. A vault like Latent opens with its own pattern, independent from the passcode, and shows no list of its vaults.