How to Reset a Photo Vault Password (and When You Can't)
Open the vault app's lock screen and look for "Forgot PIN", "Forgot password" or "Recover". What happens next depends on how the app stores your key.
If the app can reset your PIN by email, the company can get into your vault. If the app truly encrypts with your PIN, there is no reset, only a recovery code you saved earlier.
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What do I need to know?
- A reset needs someone else to hold a key. That is convenient, and it is also a way in for others.
- Real encryption means no reset. The PIN or pattern is part of the key, so nobody can replace it for you.
- Set up recovery on day one. A recovery code written down today is the only fix later.
What do vault apps usually offer?
Email or account reset. The app sends a link or code to your email. Your photos are kept on a server or under a key the company can use. Anyone who gets into that email can reset your vault too.
Security question. You answer a question you set earlier. Answers like a pet's name are often easy to find or guess.
Face ID or Touch ID fallback. Some apps let biometrics open the vault even if you forget the PIN. Check whether the photos are encrypted at all, or just hidden behind a screen.
Recovery phrase or key. The app shows you a code when you create the vault. Enter it later to set a new PIN. Nobody can recover it for you.
Nothing. Some apps have no recovery. Forgetting the PIN means losing the photos.
What if it is the iPhone Hidden album?
The Hidden album opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode. There is no separate password to forget.
If you forget the iPhone passcode itself, Apple's forgotten passcode page explains the reset. Apple says that process erases the data on your iPhone. Plan on getting your photos back from iCloud Photos or a backup.
How do I get back into Cryptile if I forget my pattern?
Cryptile has no reset. Your pattern is the source of the key, and there is no account to reset it through. What you have instead is the 9-word recovery phrase shown when you create a vault, plus the encrypted iCloud backup.
- Make sure Encrypted iCloud backup was on in Cryptile's Settings. The restore downloads from it.
- On the lock screen, tap Restore a vault from iCloud backup.
- Tap Use the recovery phrase instead.
- Type the 9 words in order and tap Download backup and find vault.
- Draw a pattern for this phone. It can be the old one or a new one.
The restored vault matches the last backup. Anything added after that backup is not in it.
How do I avoid getting locked out?
- Write the recovery phrase on paper the day you make the vault. Store it away from the phone.
- Keep iCloud backup on, and tap Back up now after adding important photos.
- Use a pattern of 8 or more cells that you draw often enough to remember.
What this doesn't protect against
A recovery phrase is a key. Anyone who finds it, and can get into your iCloud backup, can open that vault. If you lose both the pattern and the phrase, the vault is gone. Neither Cryptile nor Apple can open it.
Do it with Cryptile
Cryptile derives keys on your device from your pattern, with no account and no server. The developer never holds your keys, which is why there is no reset.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos, with encrypted iCloud backup included. Plus removes the limits and adds search and the panic pattern. It costs $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once.