Underlock vs Keepsafe on iPhone
Keepsafe has its own PIN, and it works on iPhone, iPad and Android. But it needs an account with your email, and a forgotten PIN is reset by email. Underlock is a private vault for your iPhone that opens with a pattern you draw on a grid of dots. Underlock needs no account. If you forget your pattern, the 12 words Underlock shows you at setup get you back in. You write the 12 words on paper.
We make Underlock, so read this knowing that.
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store.
Which is right for you?
Keepsafe may be all you need if:
- you want Face ID to open your vault
- you also use an iPad or an Android phone
- you want to share albums with people you invite
- you’d rather reset a forgotten PIN by email than keep 12 words on paper
Underlock is worth a try if:
- you’d rather not give an app your email
- you’d rather keep 12 words on paper as your way back in
- you want to get back a deleted photo without paying
Trying Underlock changes nothing in Keepsafe. Your photos stay in Keepsafe until you delete them there.
Side by side
The table shows where Keepsafe does as well as Underlock, or better. Analytics means data an app collects about how you use it.
| Feature | Underlock | Keepsafe |
|---|---|---|
| A lock of its own, not your iPhone passcode | Yes | Yes |
| Opens with Face ID | No | Yes |
| Encrypted on your iPhone | Yes | Yes |
| On iPad and Android too | No | Yes |
| Share an album with people you invite | No | Yes |
| No account or email to sign up for | Yes | No |
| If you forget how to open the vault | 12 words on paper | A code sent to your email |
| Analytics in the app | None | Yes, anonymized |
| Get back a deleted photo, free | Yes, for 30 days | Only with Premium |
What Keepsafe does well
Keepsafe gets the basics right, and it does some things Underlock doesn’t.
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Its own PIN
A PIN of its own, separate from your iPhone passcode. You can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID to open Keepsafe.
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iPhone, iPad and Android
Sign in with the same account on each device. Photos in Keepsafe’s backup show up on all of them.
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A backup on the free plan
Keepsafe backs up your first 200 items for free, and up to 10,000 with Premium.
Keepsafe resets a forgotten PIN by email
To set up Keepsafe, you make an account with your name and email. If you forget your PIN, Keepsafe emails a code to that address. You enter the code and choose a new PIN. If you can no longer get into that email, Keepsafe says it can’t recover the account.
Underlock never asks for an email. 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 somewhere safe: someone who has the paper and can unlock your iPhone could open your vault. If you lose both your pattern and the paper, nobody can open your vault, not even us.
Staying with Keepsafe? Add a second email address to your Keepsafe account. Then losing one inbox doesn’t lock you out.
Can the app’s maker see your photos?
Both apps encrypt your files on your iPhone. Encrypted files are scrambled, and only a key unscrambles them. So what matters is who can use the key.
Keepsafe’s help centre says its staff can technically view your data in three cases: if you ask them for help, if they’re required to, or if they suspect someone broke Keepsafe’s terms. Otherwise, Keepsafe says, it doesn’t look at your photos. Keepsafe also collects anonymized usage data and analytics, to check that the app works as intended.
We never receive your files, your pattern or your keys, so we can’t open your vault. Underlock has no analytics: the app doesn’t report how you use it.
Moving photos from Keepsafe
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store. Here’s how moving will work.
First, Keepsafe exports your photos to the Photos app. Next, Underlock imports the photos. Then you delete the photos from the Photos app and from Keepsafe.
- In Keepsafe, open the album you want to move.
- Tap Select, then choose the photos.
- Tap the send icon, then Export to Camera Roll. The photos go back to the Photos app. If iCloud Photos is on, the photos also go to iCloud Photos until you delete them for good in step 8.
- In Underlock, tap the Add button (a plus sign), then Import from Photos.
- Choose the same photos. Look for the photos under the dates they were taken, not with today’s 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 iOS asks. The photos wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
- Before you delete anything for good, check that the photos are in your vault.
- In the Photos app, delete the photos from Recently Deleted. The photos then leave iCloud Photos too.
- In Keepsafe, delete the photos you moved, then empty Keepsafe’s Trash. Every plan has a Trash, the free plan included. Emptying the Trash removes the photos from Keepsafe’s cloud too.
Paying for Keepsafe Premium? Deleting the app doesn’t cancel Premium. To cancel, open the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions.
Questions people ask about Keepsafe
Against someone who picks up your phone, yes: Keepsafe has its own PIN and encrypts your files on your iPhone. Keepsafe’s help centre adds that its staff can technically view your data in three cases, such as if you ask them for help.
Yes, Keepsafe Basic is free, and it backs up your first 200 items. Premium adds more backup space, getting photos back from the Trash, and other features.
On Keepsafe’s PIN screen, tap Forgot PIN. Keepsafe emails a code to the address on your account. Enter the code, then choose a new PIN. Without access to that email, Keepsafe says it can’t recover the account. See what to try if no code comes.
Export the photos from Keepsafe 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 Keepsafe. Keepsafe won’t open? See what to try.
No. Underlock is for iPhone, with iOS 17 or later.
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
- Recovery phrase 12 words that get you back in.
- Move Keepsafe to a new iPhone Keepsafe moves only the photos it backed up, and its free plan backs up 200.
- Underlock vs Private Photo Vault Private Photo Vault needs no account for the vault on your phone, but its backup comes with Premium.
- Keepsafe vs Private Photo Vault How the two differ: email, the backup, and getting back in.
- Photo vault apps for iPhone, compared Four ways to keep photos private, row by row.
- Free photo vault apps What each free plan includes, and what costs money.
A private vault that never asks for your email
Free for one vault, with no file limit. No account, no email.
For iPhone with iOS 17 or later.