Underlock vs Hide It Pro on iPhone
Underlock is a private vault for your iPhone that opens with a pattern you draw on a grid of dots. Underlock and Hide It Pro have a lot in common. Both apps have a lock of their own, separate from your iPhone passcode. Both apps encrypt your photos on your iPhone: they scramble the photos, so nobody can see them until the vault opens. Both apps lock again when you leave them. Where the two apps differ is what happens if you forget how to open your vault, and whether you can get back a photo you deleted.
We make Underlock, so read this knowing that.
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store.
Which is right for you?
Hide It Pro may be all you need if:
- you also use an iPad, a Mac or an Android phone
- you want to export all your files to a computer in one go
Underlock may suit you if:
- you want a free way back in if you forget: 12 words on paper
- you want deleted photos kept for 30 days
Trying Underlock changes nothing in Hide It Pro. Your photos stay in Hide It Pro until you delete them there.
Side by side
In 4 of the 7 rows, the two apps are the same. Not stated means Hide It Pro’s own pages don’t say yes or no.
| Feature | Underlock | Hide It Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Its own lock, separate from your iPhone passcode | Yes | Yes |
| Encrypted on your iPhone | Yes | Yes |
| Locks when you leave the app | Yes | Yes |
| Documents and notes too | Yes | Yes |
| On iPad, Mac and Android too | No, iPhone only | Yes |
| If you forget how to open the vault | 12 words on paper | A reset you buy |
| Get back a deleted photo | Yes, for 30 days | Not stated |
What Hide It Pro does well
Hide It Pro does the main jobs of a vault well. Hide It Pro also does two things Underlock doesn’t: it works on more devices, and it exports all your files at once.
-
Its own PIN
A PIN of its own, separate from your iPhone passcode. Hide It Pro locks again when you leave the app.
-
iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android
Hide It Pro works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and on Android too.
-
Easy to get files out
Unhide photos back to the Photos app, or export all your files to a computer in one go.
Getting back in, and getting a photo back
Hide It Pro opens with a PIN you choose. If you forget your PIN, you can buy a reset, called Password Reset, inside Hide It Pro.
In Underlock, getting back in is free. When you set up a vault, Underlock shows you 12 words to write on paper: your recovery phrase. If you forget your pattern, those 12 words open your vault.
Keep the paper where nobody else can find it. If you lose both your pattern and the paper, nobody can open your vault, not even us.
If you delete a photo by mistake, Underlock keeps the photo for 30 days in Recently deleted, inside your vault. Every plan has Recently deleted. Hide It Pro’s App Store page and website don’t say whether a deleted photo can be brought back.
Staying with Hide It Pro? Choose a PIN you’ll remember, and keep a copy of it somewhere safe, away from your phone.
Moving photos from Hide It Pro
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store. Here’s how moving will work.
First, Hide It Pro puts your photos back in the Photos app. Next, Underlock imports the photos. Then you delete the photos from the Photos app. While you move the photos, they’re back in the Photos app, and in iCloud if you use iCloud Photos. Deleting the photos from the Photos app at the end removes them from iCloud Photos too.
- In Hide It Pro, unhide the photos you want to move. Hide It Pro puts the photos back in the Photos app.
- In Underlock, tap the Add button (a plus sign), then Import from Photos.
- Choose the same photos. Keep Underlock open until the import finishes.
- When the import finishes, Underlock offers to remove the photos from the Photos app. Tap Remove, then confirm when your iPhone asks. The photos stay in the Photos app’s Recently Deleted album for 30 days.
- Check that the photos are in your vault. The photos you removed are still in Recently Deleted, so nothing is gone yet.
- In the Photos app, delete the photos from Recently Deleted. The photos then leave iCloud Photos too.
- Open Hide It Pro, and delete the photos you moved if they still show there.
Paying for Hide It Pro’s cloud storage? Deleting the app doesn’t cancel the subscription. To cancel, open the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions.
Questions people ask about Hide It Pro
Against someone who picks up your phone, yes. Hide It Pro has a PIN of its own, separate from your iPhone passcode, and Hide It Pro’s website says your data is encrypted on your device.
Yes, Hide It Pro is free to download. Some extras cost money inside the app, such as more cloud storage, paid monthly. Hide It Pro’s App Store page shows the prices for your country.
Yes. Hide It Pro’s App Store page offers a backup of your files to cloud storage, and sells more space as a monthly subscription.
You can buy a reset inside Hide It Pro, called Password Reset. Don’t delete Hide It Pro to start over. Deleting an app from your iPhone also deletes what’s stored in it.
Unhide the photos in Hide It Pro, so the photos go back to the Photos app. Then import the photos into Underlock: tap Add, then Import from Photos. Afterwards, delete the photos from the Photos app, and from Hide It Pro if they still show there.
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
- Forgot your photo vault password? What you can still do, step by step.
- Recovery phrase 12 words that get you back in.
- How Underlock protects your files What we can’t see, and why.
- Photo vault apps for iPhone, compared Four ways to keep photos private, row by row.
- Underlock vs Keepsafe What Keepsafe does well, and how it differs from Underlock.
- Calculator vault apps vs Underlock A calculator vault app looks like a calculator.
A private vault that opens with your own pattern
Free for one vault, with no file limit. No account, no email.
For iPhone with iOS 17 or later.