Does Deleting a Vault App Delete Your Photos?
Yes, from your iPhone. Apple says deleting an app "removes it and its data from your iPhone", and vault photos are that app's data. Only a backup outside the app survives, such as one stored in iCloud.
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What do I need to know?
- The photos on the phone go with the app. There is no copy in your Photos library unless you left one there.
- iCloud data stays. Apple says app data stored in iCloud isn't deleted when you delete the app.
- Restoring needs whatever the app uses to unlock. A phrase, a code or an account.
What exactly does Apple say?
From Apple's iOS 27 guide: "Deleting an app removes it and its data from your iPhone." And: "If the app's data is stored in iCloud—such as photos or documents you saved through the app—that data isn't deleted when you delete the app."
Source: Apple, Remove or delete apps from iPhone.
What should I do before deleting a vault app?
- Decide what you want to keep. Export the photos you need back to Photos or Files first.
- Check the app's backup. Find out whether it is on, finished, and where it goes.
- Find the recovery method. Write down any recovery phrase or code on paper.
- Then delete. Touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, then Delete App, then Delete.
If you exported photos to the Photos library, they are no longer encrypted there. Delete them from Recently Deleted too if they should not stay.
What if I already deleted it?
- If it had a backup in iCloud, reinstall the app and use its restore option.
- If it had no backup, the photos were on the phone only. Deleting removed them.
- If you restore the whole iPhone from an older backup, app data may come back with it. Apple says iCloud Backup includes data for downloaded apps that don't sync with iCloud. See Apple, What does iCloud back up?
What happens with Cryptile?
Deleting Cryptile removes the vaults from your iPhone. Its encrypted iCloud backup lives in your iCloud account, so it stays.
To get a vault back, reinstall Cryptile and restore with that vault's 9-word recovery phrase. Then draw a new pattern. Without the phrase, the backup cannot be opened, even by us.
More detail in do photo vault apps back up to iCloud?
Can deleting the app be used to wipe a vault quickly?
It removes the vault from the phone, but not any backup in iCloud. Cryptile Plus has a panic pattern for that moment. Drawing it destroys this device's keys, so no vault on the phone opens until restored from its recovery phrase.
What this doesn't protect against
Deleting an app does not delete copies you shared, exported or sent. It does not delete an iCloud backup. If you lose both your Cryptile pattern and the recovery phrase, the vault cannot be recovered.
Do it with Cryptile
Cryptile encrypts every file with AES-256-GCM under a key derived on your device. There is no account and no server, and the developer never holds your keys.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos in total. Plus adds the panic pattern and removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once.