Calculator Pro+
Risk Score
High
App Details
This app allows users to hide SMS and MMS messages, hide call logs and make selected contacts secret (so that all interaction between the user and the secret contact will enter into the private vault). The app is designed to look like a calculator, and a user gains access through entering a pin on the calculator keyboard. The app can also be totally hidden from the device desktop and entered through pincode entry onto the device dialler.
Why is it a risk?
This type of app is known as a hidden vault app. Whilst the app itself is not inherently dangerous, the manner in which some individuals use them can put that individual at risk. These apps are commonly used to store inappropriate images and pornographic content, which can cause serious issues if that content belongs to a minor. There has been a recent outcry about these apps and the manner in which deception is designed into the app itself (standing as a calculator rather than displaying as a vault). Apple has made a move to ban these apps out of fear that children are using them to store inappropriate images and prevent a parent being able to intervene.