ShadeType

The person next to you can read your screen. ShadeType is a privacy screen built for typing: it veils your display while you write, so what you type stays yours.

Unlike a screen filter that dims everything all day, ShadeType is built around the keyboard. Your keyboard stays fully visible while the rest of the screen is covered, so you keep typing at full speed while the person beside you sees nothing but a dark panel.

How it works

• A small control appears above your keyboard the moment you start typing.
• Tap it once to drop the veil and hide your screen.
• Press and hold the veil to peek at your own text, then release to hide it again.
• Tap OFF to lift it. The veil also disappears on its own when you close the keyboard.
• Drag the control anywhere on screen, so it never covers what you are writing.
• The veil stays very slightly translucent, so your own text remains faintly readable to you at arm’s length while it is unreadable to someone sitting beside you.

Where it helps

• Typing private messages on the bus, train, subway or plane
• Entering a password or bank details in a café or a shop queue
• Writing in an open-plan office where screens are easy to read
• Chatting, journaling or taking notes in a waiting room or classroom
• Any moment you feel someone reading over your shoulder

Keeps your own keyboard

ShadeType is not a keyboard replacement. You keep Gboard, SwiftKey or whichever keyboard you already use, along with your autocorrect, swipe typing and emoji. Nothing about the way you type changes.

The veil is a system overlay, so it works anywhere you can type: messaging, email, notes, browsers, banking apps, social media.

Free

• The veil, hold-to-peek and instant off
• A draggable control that remembers where you put it
• Turns itself off automatically when the keyboard closes
• No ads, no subscription, no account

Pro, a single one-time purchase

• Veil opacity, from a light shade to almost fully dark
• Veil styles and colours: Ink, Slate, Warm and Pure
• Control size and starting position
• Animation speed, including instant
• Auto-veil in the apps you choose
• Skip apps where you never want the control to appear
• Quick Settings tile for one-tap control
• Starts again automatically after a restart

Honest about what this is

ShadeType is a software overlay, not a polarising privacy screen protector. It does not change your display’s hardware viewing angles, and it does not block screenshots, screen recording, or a camera pointed at your phone. What it does is hide your screen from the people around you while you type.

What you type never leaves your device, because ShadeType never has access to it.