Blur Application Screens for Mobile User Privacy in iOS Apps

Last updated March 31, 2024 by Appdome

Learn to Blur Application Screen in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is the Blur Application Feature?

The Blur Application Screen feature is designed to prevent malicious actors from capturing sensitive data through screenshots or screen recordings. In some cases, sensitive application data that is cached in the background can be exposed outside of the app. This feature is particularly useful for protecting applications that contain sensitive data, such as banking and financial apps or apps that contain confidential medical information.

How does Appdome Implement the Blurring of Application Screen?

Blurring mobile app screens is an important part of Appdome’s mobile privacy strategy. It prevents data loss using data loss prevention (DLP).Appdome Blur Application Screen blurs the application preview screen when it is minimized to prevent sensitive data from being visible outside the app.

Prerequisites for Using Blur Application Screen:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Blur Application Screen , you’ll need:

Blur Application Screen on iOS apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Blur Application Screen without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

    1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

    2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
    3. iOS Formats: .ipa
    4. Blur Application Screen Compatible With: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more
  2. Build the feature: Blur Application Screen.

    1. Building Blur Application Screen by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Blur Application Screen feature as shown below:
      2. fusion set that contains Blur Application Screen

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Blur Application Screen feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      3. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Blur Application Screen feature via Appdome Console, to add the Blur Application Screen feature to this Fusion Set.

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
    2. Building the Blur Application Screen feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Blur Application Screen protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > Mobile Privacy section.
      2. How: Check whether is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . The feature Blur Application Screen is enabled by default, as shown below. Toggle (turn ON) Blur Application Screen, as shown below.
        If needed, Customize the Threat Notification to be displayed to the mobile end-user in a standard OS dialog notification when Appdome Blurs Application Screen.
        Blur Application Screen option

        Figure 3: Blur Application Screen option
        Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.

      3. When you select the Blur Application Screen you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Blur Application Screen

        Fusion Set applied Blur Application Screen

        Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Blur Application Screen protection

      4. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
    Congratulations!  The Blur Application Screen protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Blur Application Screen feature in iOS Apps

    After building Blur Application Screen, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Blur Application Screen protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Blur Application Screen protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Blur Application Screen shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Blur Application Screen has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Blur Application Screen and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for Application Screen Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Application Screen is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Application Screen in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Application Screen shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Application Screen are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Blur Application Screen Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Blur Application Screen
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Bluring Application Screen Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME BlockedScreenCaptureEvent
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 2560
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
context Context of the security event

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Application Screen is detected.

The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Blur Application Screen:


Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using Blur Application Screen. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Blur Application Screen

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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