HiddenApp or Failshot for your Mac?

MacUpdated 14 October 2026

If you're weighing up HiddenApp for your Mac, start with what you want to know: where the Mac is, or who unlocked it. HiddenApp is built to help you find and protect a missing device, across several kinds of device. Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac while it's on. They overlap only in part, and depending on what you need, HiddenApp may be the better fit.

Quick answer

Choose HiddenApp if you want to locate a missing device, lock or wipe it remotely, or cover several devices, including ones that aren't Macs. Its pricing page lists location, camera photos, screenshots, remote lock and remote wipe. Choose Failshot if you want a photo and short video of whoever unlocks your own Mac while Failshot is on, and a switch-off someone with your Mac password can't use. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit, and restarting or logging out closes it.

What is HiddenApp?

HiddenApp is device security software, and its site gives an address in London. Its site's sign-up panel says it protects Android, Apple, Chromebook and Windows devices, and its help centre has set-up guides for macOS, Windows, iOS and ChromeOS. It serves individuals and small teams with up to 10 devices, and sends businesses and schools with more than 10 devices to its new platform, Senturo.

Its home page lists location history and last known location on a map, remote lock with a passcode and warning message, remote wipe, and gathering locations, pictures, screenshots and nearby Wi-Fi networks to help you get a missing device back. Its pricing page also lists network data, keystroke logs, a spoken message and device status.

When does HiddenApp take photos?

HiddenApp's help centre says that once a device is set to missing, a Mac sends data to its servers at set intervals, including a camera photo every 5 minutes, a screenshot every minute and its location every 3 minutes. Its help centre also says you can request data for a device manually from the dashboard. Remote lock and remote wipe become available once you set the device as missing. HiddenApp's help centre also says it collects no information from a computer until you set it to Missing in your dashboard.

So HiddenApp's photos are part of finding a device you've marked as missing, not a record of each time your Mac is unlocked.

What is Failshot?

Failshot is a Mac app, out now as a free download from failshot.app, for macOS 14 or later. Turning it on needs Failshot Pro, a paid subscription, with no free trial. With Failshot on, it photographs whoever unlocks your Mac, then by default records a 5-second video. Video can be switched off. Sound is off unless you turn it on, and the app warns you that recording someone's voice without their permission is against the law in some places. Whoever unlocks sees Failshot's window saying the unlock was photographed, and when a video is recording. With the Mac's built-in camera, the green light comes on.

You don't need to report anything first: every unlock while Failshot is on and running gets a photo, as long as it has camera access. Email alerts are optional, and off until you turn them on. With them on and signed in to a Failshot account, an alert with the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the video follows shortly after an unlock you don't confirm as yours. Unlocks you confirm as yours don't send one. With alerts on, Failshot also emails you about a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on.

How do HiddenApp and Failshot compare?

HiddenApp's home page, personal pricing page and help centre were checked on 14 October 2026. Features and prices change, so check each company's current pages before you buy.

	HiddenApp	Failshot for Mac
Built for	Finding and protecting missing devices, for individuals and small teams of up to 10 devices	A photo and short video of whoever unlocks your own Mac
Devices	Says it protects Android, Apple, Chromebook and Windows devices; help centre covers macOS, Windows, iOS and ChromeOS, though it says Chromebooks need a business plan and lists macOS 10.13 to macOS 14 (Sonoma) as supported, so check with HiddenApp for later versions	Mac (macOS 14 or later)
Locate a missing device	Yes, location history and last known location	No
Remote lock	Yes, with a passcode and warning message, once the device is set to missing	No
Remote wipe	Yes, once the device is set to missing	No
Photos	Camera photos every 5 minutes once a Mac is set to missing; you can also request data from the dashboard	A photo of whoever unlocks the Mac while Failshot is on
Video	Not listed	5-second video after the photo, on by default, can be switched off; sound is off unless you turn it on, and the app warns about recording-consent laws
Other features listed	Screenshots, network data, keystroke logs, spoken message, device status	Approximate location in an alert, if you turn location on and allow it
Alerts	Optional emails when a device hasn't checked in for 7 or 30 days, or is added or removed	Optional email alerts, which you turn on while signed in, for an unlock you don't confirm as yours (with the photo, the time and, when it's ready in time, the video), a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on
Price	Shown to us in pounds, per month, billed annually: £1.67 for 1 device, £3.75 for 3, £5.75 for 6, £8.25 for 10. The page doesn't say whether VAT is included. 30-day money-back guarantee	Free to download; a Failshot Pro subscription is needed to turn it on. Failshot Pro is £3.99 a month or £23.99 a year, VAT included, for as long as you stay subscribed, if you subscribe by 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 new subscriptions are £5.99 a month or £35.99 a year. One subscription covers every Mac signed in with the same email
Free trial	7-day free trial with no credit card needed, at the top of the pricing page (the FAQ on the same page says 14 days)	No free trial

When is HiddenApp the better fit?

HiddenApp is the better choice if any of these matter more to you than knowing who unlocked your Mac:

You want to find a missing laptop on a map whenever you choose. Failshot can't: if you turn location on, an alert can only say roughly where the Mac was when it was unlocked.
You want to lock or wipe a device remotely.
You want one plan covering several devices, including Windows PCs or an iPhone. HiddenApp's help centre says its Chromebook app is for business plan customers only, because it's installed through the Google Admin console.
You want screenshots or network data from a device you've reported missing, or to send a device a spoken message.
You look after several devices. HiddenApp's plans go up to 10, and it points larger fleets to Senturo.

On a Mac, Apple's Find My also locates, locks and erases a lost Mac, and Apple says it must be set up before the Mac goes missing.

When is Failshot the better fit?

Failshot suits you if your worry is the person at your Mac, not the Mac's location: whoever unlocks it while you're away from it, or after it's taken. It photographs each unlock while it's on and running, without you having to mark anything as missing first. Switching it off, or quitting it from its menu, takes Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, never your Mac password. Like any Mac app, it can still be force-quit. If you want both, Apple's Find My locates, locks and erases a lost Mac, and Failshot photographs whoever unlocks it while it's on. We haven't tested Failshot alongside HiddenApp.

Please use either tool only on your own devices. If your worry is about a partner, an ex or a family member, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, is on 0808 2000 247, and you can contact your local police.

Where Failshot fits

Location is off until you turn it on in Settings and allow it; then an alert can say roughly where the Mac was when it was unlocked. Photos are kept on your Mac. They leave it only in email alerts and the encrypted web vault, if you turn those on, and, if you join your organisation with its invite code, encrypted for its security team too. A wrong Failshot PIN or answer takes another photo.

With a stolen Mac, it only helps if the person gets past your login. It doesn't photograph a wrong password at the login or lock screen. It doesn't photograph the first login after a restart or a log out. Logging out, restarting or shutting down closes Failshot without asking for Touch ID or your Failshot PIN, and unless you've set it to start at login, it stays off until you open it again. It can't locate a Mac on demand, has no remote lock or wipe, and doesn't prevent theft. Failshot is for your own Mac, or a Mac your organisation has authorised you to manage. iPhone, Android and Windows versions are coming soon.

HiddenApp is a trademark of its owner. Failshot isn't affiliated with it. Find My, Mac, macOS and Touch ID are trademarks of Apple Inc.

Questions people also ask

Does HiddenApp work on a Mac?

Yes. HiddenApp's help centre has a guide to enrolling a macOS device, and a page listing the macOS permissions it may need, including Location, Camera and Screen Recording. Its site's sign-up panel says it protects Apple devices. Its help centre lists macOS 10.13 to macOS 14 (Sonoma) as supported; check with HiddenApp for later versions.

How much does HiddenApp cost?

Its personal pricing page, shown to us in pounds, lists plans from £1.67 a month for 1 device to £8.25 a month for 10, billed annually, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The page doesn't say whether VAT is included. Check HiddenApp's own site for current terms.

Is Failshot free?

Failshot is free to download, but turning it on needs Failshot Pro, and there's no free trial. Failshot Pro is £3.99 a month or £23.99 a year, VAT included, for as long as you stay subscribed, if you subscribe by 31 October 2026. From 1 November 2026 new subscriptions are £5.99 a month or £35.99 a year. One subscription covers every Mac signed in with the same email.

Does HiddenApp take a photo every time someone unlocks my Mac?

HiddenApp's help centre describes photos sent at intervals once a device is set to missing, and data you can request from the dashboard. It doesn't describe a photo on every unlock. Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac each time while it's on and running, as long as it has camera access. It doesn't photograph the first login after a restart or a log out.