Best Photo Vault App for iPhone: 6 Checks Before You Pick
The best photo vault encrypts every file, needs no account and shows you its security claims. iOS can hide photos without an app, but the Hidden album is not encrypted. A vault app is worth it only if it passes the checks below.
What do I need to know?
- "Hidden" is not "encrypted". Ask whether the files are scrambled with a key, or only moved out of sight.
- Fewer parties is safer. No account and no server means nobody can hand over or leak your files.
- Claims should be checkable. Look for a published threat model, not a slogan.
What should a photo vault app have?
Run each check on any app, ours included. The answers are on the App Store page or the app's website.
- Named encryption. Look for AES-256-GCM or a similar standard, applied to photos, videos, files and thumbnails. A vault that encrypts only full-size photos leaks the small previews.
- Keys made on your device. If a company can reset your password, the company holds a key. A no-reset design is stricter and riskier for you.
- No account. An account means a server holds something about you.
- A published threat model. It should say who the app defends against, and who it does not.
- Backup you can restore. Check that backup is encrypted and that a lost phone does not mean lost photos. Without a backup, a new phone starts empty.
- Fair pricing, stated plainly. Read the free limits and the price of removing them before you import anything.
Is a free photo vault app good enough?
Often yes, for a small set of photos. Compare the free limits, since some apps cap photos, videos or vaults.
Cryptile's free plan gives up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos in total. Files, notes and folders are unlimited. Encryption, decoy vaults, the recovery phrase and encrypted iCloud backup are all included.
What does Plus add?
Plus removes the photo and video limits. It adds the panic pattern and search inside the vault, which reads text from photos and PDFs on your device.
- $19.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial
- $39.99 once
- $1.99 a week
Family is $49.99 a year or $99.99 once. The prices are the same every day.
How does Cryptile compare with other vaults?
Cryptile is new, so it has no long track record. Its encryption core is published for audit under a source-available licence, with a threat model and test vectors.
Vaultaire, another pattern-based vault, offers sharing and device sync today. Cryptile does not yet. See the Cryptile vs Vaultaire comparison for details.
What are the signs of a weak vault app?
- It boasts about strong encryption and never names the cipher.
- It asks for an email before it shows you anything.
- It can reset your lock for you.
- It hides behind a calculator icon but stores plain files.
- It has no stated limits.
What this doesn't protect against
Any vault can be beaten by someone who watches you unlock it. Malware on a phone can read a vault while it is open. A short pattern is weaker than a passphrase, so use 8 or more cells. If you lose both the pattern and the recovery phrase, the vault is gone.
Do it with Cryptile
Cryptile derives each vault's key on your device from a drawn pattern. There is no account and no server, and the developer never holds keys.
Cryptile is free for up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos, with encrypted iCloud backup included. Plus removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial), $39.99 once, or $1.99 a week. Family is $49.99 a year or $99.99 once.
The price is the same every day.
Cryptile Send, Files access and shared vaults are coming and are not available yet. Search inside the vault is part of Plus.