What are decoy vaults in Cryptile?
Every pattern you draw opens its own vault. A pattern that matches nothing opens an empty vault, so nobody can tell a real vault from a decoy.
How do I set up a decoy vault?
- Open Cryptile and create your main vault with a long pattern.
- Create a second vault and draw a different pattern.
- Put harmless photos in the second vault.
- Write down the recovery phrase for each vault you care about.
- If someone makes you open the app, draw the decoy pattern.
The free plan allows up to 3 vaults. Plus removes that limit.
How does Cryptile hide the vaults?
There is no vault list in the app. The app keeps spare decoy slots in its storage, and some of them hold random data. File sizes are padded.
An examiner who copies the app's files cannot count your vaults. They can see an upper limit, not the real number.
What do decoy vaults protect against?
- Someone who makes you open the app. They see only the vault for the pattern you drew.
- Someone browsing the app. There is no list of vaults to find.
- Someone copying the app's files. They learn no sizes and no exact vault count.
What do decoy vaults not protect against?
- A weak pattern. A pattern is weaker than a passphrase. With your files and Keychain, a short one can be guessed offline. Use 8 or more cells.
- An empty-looking app. A decoy with nothing in it can look odd. Add believable content.
- Someone who knows how Cryptile works. They know a second vault may exist.
- Losing everything. Lose the pattern and the recovery phrase, and the vault is gone. There is no reset.
The panic pattern in Plus goes further. Drawing it makes every vault on the phone stop opening until you restore it. Read the security page for the full limits.