Calculator vault apps vs Underlock
If kids and family use your iPhone, a calculator vault app can sound ideal. A calculator vault app looks like a plain calculator, and your private photos open when you type your code into it. But the calculator is only a disguise. Two things keep your photos private: the lock that opens the vault, and encryption. Encryption scrambles your photos, so nobody can see them until the vault opens. This page compares two calculator vault apps, Calculator# and Calculator Lock, with Underlock. Underlock is a private vault for your iPhone that opens with a pattern you draw on a grid of dots.
We make Underlock, so read this knowing that.
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store.
Which is right for you?
Calculator# may suit you if:
- you want Face ID to open your vault
- you want a backup to Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive
- you also use an iPad
Calculator Lock may suit you if:
- you’d rather answer a security question than keep 12 words on paper
- you want a backup to iCloud or Google Drive
- you also use an iPad
Underlock may suit you if:
- you’d rather get back in with 12 words on paper than with an email
- you want a free plan with no file limit
- you want photos, videos, files and notes encrypted on your iPhone before they’re saved
Using a calculator vault now? Trying Underlock changes nothing in that app. Your photos stay in that app until you delete them there.
Side by side
The table has every row we checked, including the rows where a calculator app does better than Underlock. Not stated means the app’s own pages don’t say yes or no.
| Feature | Underlock | Calculator# | Calculator Lock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Its own lock, separate from your iPhone passcode | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Opens with Face ID | No | Yes | Not stated |
| Encrypted on your iPhone | Yes | Yes | Not stated |
| If you forget how to open the vault | 12 words on paper | Your registered email | A security question |
| Get back a deleted photo | Yes, for 30 days | Yes, from its Trash | Yes, from recently deleted files |
| On iPad too | No, iPhone only | Yes | Yes |
What calculator vaults do well
Calculator# and Calculator Lock both have real strengths, and some are things Underlock doesn’t do.
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A plain icon
Each one looks like a calculator on your Home Screen. The vault opens when you type your code.
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Face ID and iPad
Calculator# can open with Face ID or Touch ID. Calculator# and Calculator Lock both work on iPad too.
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A choice of cloud backup
Calculator# backs up to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Calculator Lock backs up to iCloud or Google Drive.
The calculator is a disguise. The lock is behind it.
Kids tap everything. A child who opens a calculator vault finds a calculator. The vault behind the calculator opens with your code. In Calculator Lock, you type your password into the calculator, then tap the equals key.
If you forget your code, Calculator# says you can get your lost password back through the email you registered. Calculator Lock’s App Store page says you can reset your password by answering a security question you set up.
Underlock opens with a pattern you draw. A child who opens Underlock finds the pattern screen: a grid of dots, with no photos and no names. Wrong tries never erase your vault.
If you forget your pattern, Underlock has a way back in: 12 words. Underlock shows you the 12 words when you first set up Underlock, and you write them on paper. Underlock never asks for your email.
Keep the paper where the kids can’t find it, because the 12 words open your vault too. If you lose both your pattern and the paper, nobody can open your vault, not even us.
Whichever vault you choose, open it where nobody can watch you type your code or draw your pattern.
Are the photos inside encrypted?
A calculator icon changes how an app looks. Encryption changes the photos themselves. Encrypted photos are scrambled before they’re saved. Opening your vault unscrambles them, so there’s nothing extra for you to do.
The company that makes Calculator# says, in its privacy policy, that it encrypts photos and videos on your device.
Calculator Lock’s App Store page mentions encryption only for passwords you save in the app. Calculator Lock’s pages don’t say whether your photos and videos are encrypted.
Underlock encrypts your photos, videos, files and notes on your iPhone before it saves them. We never receive your files, your pattern or your keys, so we can’t open your vault.
Questions people ask about calculator vaults
A vault app that looks like a calculator. On your Home Screen, its icon is a calculator. Type your code into the calculator, and the vault opens. Two on the App Store are Calculator# Hide Photos Videos and Calculator Lock - Secure Vault.
A calculator vault is as safe as its lock and its encryption. Both apps on this page have a lock of their own, separate from your iPhone passcode. Before you choose one, check what each app’s maker says about encryption.
Keep the app on your iPhone until you’re back in, because deleting a vault app can delete the photos inside it. Calculator# says you can get a lost password back through the email you registered. Calculator Lock’s App Store page says a reset uses the security question you set up.
Both apps on this page are free to download. Calculator#'s App Store page says the free version has limits, and a yearly subscription unlocks the full app. Calculator Lock sells upgrades inside the app, such as Calculator Lock Pro.
Yes, with Pro, Underlock’s paid plan. You can choose a plainer icon for your Home Screen, such as a calculator. The name under the icon stays Underlock, and Underlock still opens with your pattern.
Yes. Underlock is free forever: one vault, no file limit. If the free plan ever changes, you keep the plan you started with. More vaults come with Pro, Underlock’s paid plan.
Related
- When kids or family use your phone Let them play or scroll without seeing what’s private.
- Are photo vault apps safe? Check 5 things before you trust a vault app with your photos.
- Encrypted vault Photos, videos, files and notes, encrypted on your phone.
- Underlock vs Hide It Pro Hide It Pro and Underlock both have their own lock and encrypt your photos.
- Photo vault apps for iPhone, compared Four ways to keep photos private, row by row.
- How to lock or hide an app on iPhone Lock an app with Face ID, or hide it in a locked folder.
Your photos, behind your own pattern
Free for one vault, with no file limit. No account, no email.
For iPhone with iOS 17 or later.