At a glance
| App (developer) | On Google Play | Stands out for | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| AppLock (DoMobile) | 100M+ installs · 4.2★ from 1.56M ratings · since 2013 | A photo and video vault, a random keyboard, an invisible pattern, locking incoming calls, 45 languages | You want the longest-running name, with a vault for photos and videos. |
| AppLock - Fingerprint (SpSoft) | 50M+ installs · 4.3★ from 960K ratings · since 2010 | A fake error window, an intruder photo or video sent to your email, a different password per app, time, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth rules, a notification lock | You want the most detailed lock rules. |
| App Lock (InShot) | 50M+ installs · 4.8★ from 772K ratings · since 2021 | A photo vault, intruder selfies, knock code, a fake icon, and hiding itself from recent apps | You want a vault in a simple, highly rated locker. |
| App Lock - Applock Fingerprint (Trusted Tools) | 100M+ installs · 4.7★ from 693K ratings · since 2022 | A safe vault, intruder selfies, a disguised icon, uninstall protection, and staying unlocked on trusted Wi-Fi | You want a vault plus uninstall protection. |
| AppLock (KewlApps) | 10M+ installs · 4.4★ from 312K ratings · since 2016 | A fake crash screen, intruder photos, a different PIN or pattern per app, a lock for the recent-apps screen, a file vault | You want a fake crash screen and separate codes per app. |
| AppLock Master (Jomo Studio) | 1,000+ installs · launched July 2026 | A notification history that keeps messages after the sender deletes them, a private browser that blocks ads and trackers, intruder selfies, a disguised icon, uninstall protection | You want the lock and a way to read deleted messages in one app. It has no photo vault. |
What all six have in common
Each one locks the apps you choose behind a PIN, pattern or fingerprint, and each can disguise or hide itself in some way. Each is free to install, and Google Play labels every one of them Contains ads and In-app purchases, AppLock Master included.
So if you searched for an app lock without ads, none of the popular ones is it. The ad-free options are the ones built into Android: Private Space, Samsung's Secure Folder, WhatsApp's own lock, and the app lock in Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Vivo settings. We compared those here.
If you want to hide photos and videos
Four of the five describe a vault. AppLock by DoMobile moves pictures and videos out of the gallery into its own photo and video vault. InShot's and Trusted Tools' lockers encrypt or hide photos and videos, and both say they need All Files Access to do it. KewlApps added a file vault for pictures, videos and files in a recent update. SpSoft's listing is about locking and doesn't describe a vault.
AppLock Master has no vault. It locks your gallery app instead, so your photos stay where they are, behind your passcode. If hiding files is the point, pick one of the four above, or Android's Private Space or Samsung's Secure Folder.
Catching whoever tried
SpSoft's AppLock goes furthest: it takes a picture or a video of whoever got the code wrong, and can send it to your email. InShot, Trusted Tools and KewlApps take a photo with the front camera. AppLock by DoMobile's listing doesn't mention intruder photos.
AppLock Master takes a quiet photo with the front camera and stamps it with the time, and uses the camera only while the feature is switched on. How the intruder selfie works.
Hiding the lock itself
SpSoft can show a fake error window over a locked app, and KewlApps a fake crash screen, so nobody can tell the app is locked at all. InShot and Trusted Tools can replace the locker's icon. AppLock by DoMobile, SpSoft and KewlApps can hide their icon completely; DoMobile then opens from a widget or a dialer code, and SpSoft from a widget.
AppLock Master changes its own icon and name, so it can sit on your home screen as a calculator, a clock or a weather app. It has no fake crash screen.
What they ask for
Every app lock needs to know which app just opened, and to draw its lock screen over it. Beyond that, the listings differ. AppLock by DoMobile, SpSoft and KewlApps offer a faster or battery-saving lock engine that uses Android's Accessibility Service, and use device administrator rights to stop themselves being uninstalled. InShot and Trusted Tools need All Files Access for their vaults, and Trusted Tools asks for location all the time to recognise trusted Wi-Fi.
AppLock Master uses Usage Access and permission to display over other apps. Notification access is only for the notification history and blocker, and the camera only for the intruder selfie. It doesn't use the Accessibility Service. Whichever app you choose, read the Data safety section of its listing first.
Where AppLock Master is different
None of the five listings mentions keeping notifications. AppLock Master keeps a history of the notifications you receive, for 7 days, 30 days or with no limit, so a message its sender deletes for everyone stays readable, as long as its notification arrived after you turned the history on. How that works.
It also has a private browser that blocks ads and trackers and keeps no history, which none of the five describes. And like SpSoft's notification lock, it can stop chosen apps from showing notifications at all. More about the private browser.
Where AppLock Master is behind
It's new. AppLock Master launched in July 2026 and has 1,000+ installs on Google Play; the five above have between 10 and 100 million each, and years of updates behind them. It has no photo vault and no fake crash screen, and it uses one passcode for every locked app, where SpSoft and KewlApps let you set a different one per app. It doesn't have SpSoft's time, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth rules either.
If any of those matter more to you than the notification history, one of the five is the better choice.