Can anyone who knows about apps help? Hidden dating apps

[dove11]

I’ve been with my fiancé for 5 years and we are getting married this year. We are long distance (a 3 hour journey away) and met on Tinder.

I’ve been cheated on in the past and have trust issues. My last relationship ended when I was dumped my text after 3 years and he moved in with his pregnant (married) girlfriend. It was a lot to deal with.

Six years later I met my fiancé. He’s never done anything to make me think he’s cheating or untrustworthy. Until now.

We use each other’s phones with permission. I was curious about what apps he’s had and clicked on a folder called ‘hidden apps’ on the iPhone. I expected it to be empty. But inside were about 5 dating apps. When I clicked ‘show’ they disappeared and aren’t anywhere on the iPhone.

I asked him to explain and he said he didn’t know anything about them, didn’t hide them and hasn’t been using them. He said they were probably from years ago when he was single. He said he loves me and would never cheat.

Can this happen? Can apps from years ago randomly show in the hidden purchases section? I really want to believe him 😕

Do you have any way to access his email? I found dating apps on my ex’s phone and to verify when he created them I went onto his email to find the verification links. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.

It's plausible he left them from when he was single but my question would be why did a single man feel the need to hide dating apps?

You should have made him open the folder (with face ID) in front of you and gone on to the apps to check they weren't active profiles. Now he will have quickly deleted them and you'll never know for sure.

I’ve got an iPhone and used dating apps in the past.

I’ve just clicked onto my hidden apps folder and it’s empty. You have to physically add any apps to that folder they don’t randomly move themselves through lack of use.

I have an iPhone and as above you need to chose to hide an app in hidden apps section. They open with Face ID or his passcode.

I did do this with the Face ID thing but they disappeared when they were opened. That’s why it’s so odd. And they can’t be found anywhere in the apps now. He can’t explain why he hid them. Just keeps saying he didn’t.

He deletes all emails instantly after reading so there is no trail there. He’s always been like that.

the not knowing is driving me insane.

I have hidden apps. Every now and then my phone tells me "hey, you haven't used these apps for a while. Do you want me to hide them?" and I say yes because I can't be arsed to figure out what they are and whether I still need them. It is quite possible I have various dating apps squirreled away even though I haven't used them for ages.
I also have trouble finding my apps if the screen is too cluttered so I often move less used apps off it and you can only find them by typing things into a search. Again, who knows what they actually are as I don't have a habit of looking through my apps to properly declutter.
Ultimately, nobody can tell you whether your fiance is cheating or not but I wouldn't personally jump to any conclusions based just on this information.

You use each other’s phones with permission only and you ended up somehow finding a hidden apps file that you didn’t know were a thing by mistake?

Just admit you were snooping deliberately and looking for evidence of cheating!

Has he really had the same phone for over five years since before you got together?! Sorry sounds sus to me.

@Angelic999 Not the same phone. Same Apple ID if that makes a difference.

With iPhones your apps transfer as long as you use the same Apple ID.

I have a few hidden apps. They can only be opened in that hidden apps folder with Face ID/passcode. They still show as normal in the App Store/My Apps

I will sometimes delete apps from my phone with the intention of never wasting my time on them again... and then download them again at some point. When I do my account is still there. So if he is still using the dating sites he could have deleted them his phone for the time being.

I'm puzzled by "hidden apps". It seems it is easy to see if there are hidden apps and to gain access to them, so what is the point? Unless it is to thwart only the really tech dim.

But I think he must have hidden them at some point which, as someone else has
someone else has said, is shady if he was only using them when he was single - who would he be hiding them from. Maybe he used and then hid them to remove temptation and have a break from them, then forgot they were there.

If you aren't prepared to believe that (I don't think I would) what would he need to do for you to trust him again. If there isn't anything or he is unwilling to do what is necessary, I think your relationship is doomed to a life of mistrust and insecurity.