Ray

[productlifeshare]

Trying a small experiment this week.

Most of my users come from places like Indonesia and Türkiye.The strange thing is that they see the store page in their own language, download the app, and then open it to find everything still in English.

So I finally decided to add Indonesian and Turkish inside the app and see what happens.

Not expecting miracles.

Just curious whether people stay a little longer when the app speaks their language from start to finish.

App growth is weird.

Sometimes you spend weeks building a new feature.

Sometimes a few translated buttons might matter more.

[productlifeshare]

A weird problem I've been thinking about this week.

My downloads in Arabic-speaking countries have been growing much faster lately.

So naturally, I thought:Maybe I should create dedicated screenshots for Arabic users.

Then I realized something.Arabic reads from right to left.

Which means all the screenshot layouts I've been using might feel backwards.

The arrows.

The reading flow.

The order of information.

Everything.

It's funny.

Building apps keeps reminding me how big the internet actually is.

And how easy it is to assume everyone sees things the same way you do.

[productlifeshare]

One weird thing I've learned from building Hide All:

People trust calculators.

Not apps.Not folders.Not privacy tools.Just calculators.

I added the calculator disguise feature because I thought it was funny.Turns out it's one of the most used features in the entire app.

Nobody questions a calculator.

Nobody opens it out of curiosity.

Nobody thinks,"I wonder what's inside that calculator."

It's probably the most invisible thing on a phone.

Kind of funny when you think about it.

Thousands of apps fighting for attention.

And the safest place to hide is something so boring that nobody notices it.

[productlifeshare]

Something unexpected happened recently.

My app downloads in Arabic-speaking regions suddenly grew by 40%+.

Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Saudi Arabia…

Way more people than I expected started using Hide All.

What surprised me most:

the calculator disguise feature seems especially popular there.

Maybe privacy means different things in different places.

Still kind of surreal that a small side project is reaching people around the world now.

If you want to try it and give feedback:

Hide All–Hide Apps, App Hider - Apps on Google Play

Hide apps in calculator vault.App hider&Hide secret app behind calculator!

[productlifeshare]

I spent part of this month translating my Google Play store pages into Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and a few other languages.

Honestly, I expected maybe a small bump.Then Brazil suddenly grew by 30%.Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Iraq all started climbing too.

What surprised me most wasn’t the numbers though — it was realizing how different it feels when someone opens a store page and sees their own language.

It feels less distant.

Less “foreign app from somewhere else.”

Still funny to me that tiny changes like screenshots and translated sentences can quietly change the trajectory of an app.

Meanwhile I’m sitting here，staring at spreadsheets and wondering why Mexico dropped 7%.

Building apps is weird.

[productlifeshare]

New update: Now in Arabic, Indonesian, Spanish & Portuguese

Shipped a new update this week.

Added store localization for Arabic, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Result? More impressions, better conversion. Simple as that.

One unexpected thing:

Arabic users love the calculator disguise feature way more than average.

I think in some places, privacy isn't just convenient. It's necessary.

That's why I keep building this.

New store pages live:

✅ Arabic ✅ Indonesian

✅ Spanish ✅ Portuguese

If you're in these regions, check the translations and let me know if anything sounds off 🙏

Hide All–Hide Apps, App Hider - Apps on Google Play

Hide apps in calculator vault.App hider&Hide secret app behind calculator!

[productlifeshare]

Shipped two things this week:

1. Password protection

Before: you open Hide All, you're in. Fast, but... maybe someone else spying on the continents?

Now: you set a password. PIN, pattern, whatever. Nobody gets in without it.

I went back and forth on this. Extra friction felt annoying. But then I remembered why people download this app in the first place. They're not hiding recipes. They're hiding stuff that matters.

So yeah. Password is mandatory now. Sorry for the extra tap. You'll thank me later.

2. Calculator disguise

This one's fun.

Your home screen shows a calculator. Normal calculator icon. Says "Calculator." Does calculator things if you open it normally.

But enter your secret code?

*poof*

Hide All opens.

Tested it on my roommate. Showed him my phone. "Just a calculator," I said. He didn't blink.

That's the point

Both features are live. Update if you haven't.

Download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hello.mihe.app.launcher

And if you have other ideas for hiding in plain sight, I'm listening.

[productlifeshare]

Weird thing I noticed after publishing a new version:

Most of the traffic came from people searching "how to hide apps from parents";Not "app locker" ,Not "privacy protection",Just... "hide apps from parents".

Makes sense I guess. Teenagers with TikTok and Instagram when mom said no social media. Or that one game you don't want your partner to know you still play.

Someone even searched "hide dating apps from wife"

Anyway, updated the blog intro. Less "digital privacy matters," more "we've all been there."

The ASO lesson: people search for their specific problem, not the fancy solution name.

[productlifeshare]

Weird ASO thing I learned:

People with Hindi phones still search "app hider" in English, not Hindi. Same for Spanish, Vietnamese, etc.

I was going to translate all my keywords, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe keep the English search terms and just localize the description?

Still figuring this out.

[productlifeshare]

The Unexpected Users: When India and Bangladesh Became My Main Market

The past two weeks have been a reality check.

100+ daily downloads. For a brand-new app with zero marketing budget and zero ASO experience, that number caught me off guard. But here's what really threw me off—opening the dashboard and seeing India and Bangladesh dominating the charts.

Awkward.

My app is English-only. Most of these users? English probably isn't their first language. What keywords are they typing into Google Play to find me? Do they even understand "Hide Apps" or "Calculator Disguise"? Can they figure out how to set a password and drag apps into hiding without getting lost?

I don't know. But I'm guessing a lot of them are dropping off somewhere in the flow.



So I'm going local.

Starting with Hindi and Bengali—the two obvious priorities.

But this isn't just about translating button labels. It's the Play Store description, the screenshot text, even the wording on the app icon itself. Every touchpoint needs to feel native, not like some Google Translate afterthought.

I'll keep posting updates here. If you're building something for global markets too—hit me up. Localization is way more complicated than I expected.

Try it:

Hide All–Hide Apps, App Hider - Apps on Google Play

Hide apps in calculator vault.App hider&Hide secret app behind calculator!

[productlifeshare]

In the past two weeks, my app downloads have exceeded 70 downloads per day, which I think indicates strong demand.

However, I see that the majority of downloads are from India and Bangladesh, but I haven't released a version supporting the languages of those regions, which is interesting.

I'll keep working hard, and you can download it through this link if you'd like to try it out!

Hide All–Hide Apps, App Hider - Apps on Google Play

Hide apps in calculator vault.App hider&Hide secret app behind calculator!

[productlifeshare]

Hooray!!

My app is finally released! Its main function is to hide other apps and disguise it as a calculator icon on the user's home screen. It has a password for access, ensuring security.

Could you guys give me some feedback?

Just search "hide all" on Google Play. Please help! 🙏🏻

Hide All–Hide Apps, App Hider - Apps on Google Play

Hide apps in calculator vault.App hider&Hide secret app behind calculator!

[productlifeshare]

I've already decided on a name for my app:

Hide All –Hide Apps, game space

I hope my app will be the easiest way to hide apps on your Android phone — safely, simply, and discreetly.

This week I'll be designing the perfect app icon. Stay tuned for good news!

[productlifeshare]

I've researched competitors that hide apps, and I've thought of a few differentiating factors that I think are worth trying. Here are the functional differences I've thought of:

1. Hide notification messages

2. Disguise it as a regular calculator

3. Clone the app to create multiple accounts

4. Completely free

I'll be developing this app myself now. Look forward to its release!

[productlifeshare]

Oh no! There's already a competitor!

I discovered a product that already has similar hiding features, including hiding photos, videos, games, and social media apps!

And they released their first version back in 2018! This is bad news for me.

I need to think about whether I should continue, or what differentiating features I should add?

Any suggestions? Help!

[productlifeshare]

I asked around. Everyone is hiding something.

I started asking people a simple question lately.

“Have you ever hidden something on your phone?”

Not in a dramatic way.Just casually.

And almost everyone said yes.

A friend in a relationship told me she hides old photos — not because she’s guilty, but because she doesn’t want unnecessary explanations.

One guy said he hides a notes app where he writes things he’s too embarrassed to show anyone.

A primary school kid told me he hides a game because his parents think he studies all evening.

Different ages. Different lives.

Not to deceive.

Just to keep something small and private.

That surprised me.

The more I listened, the more I felt this wasn’t about “hiding apps.”

It was about giving people a small sense of control.

A small locked door in a world that keeps asking you to open everything.

That’s probably I could develop an app to solve this.

And maybe that’s okay.

[productlifeshare]

I want to ask the guys on Tumblr with boyfriends or girlfriends, do you hide things on your phones? Do you have a need to hide photos, videos, or other private information on your phone?

Hide something on phone?

Yes

No

Voting ended onFeb 16