Photo vault apps for iPhone, compared
Here are Keepsafe, Private Photo Vault and the iPhone’s own Hidden album, row by row, next to Underlock. We checked each one on its maker’s own pages. Underlock is a private vault for your iPhone, for photos, videos, files and notes. Underlock 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?
The Hidden album may be all you need if:
- nobody else knows your iPhone passcode
- you’d rather not have anything new to remember
- you want your photos on your iPad and Mac too
Keepsafe may suit you 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
Private Photo Vault may suit you if:
- you want your vault to need both Face ID and your PIN
- you’d rather not make an account
- you also use an iPad, a Mac or an Android phone
Underlock may suit you if:
- you’d rather keep 12 words on paper as your way back in
- you’d rather not give an app your email
The App Store shows each app’s prices for your country, on the app’s page. The Pricing page shows Underlock’s prices.
All four, side by side
The table has every row we checked, including those where another app does better than Underlock. Every answer in the table comes from the app’s own pages. Not stated means those pages don’t say. Analytics means data an app collects about how you use it.
| Feature | Underlock | iPhone Hidden album | Keepsafe | Private Photo Vault |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A lock of its own, not your iPhone passcode | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Opens with Face ID | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Encrypted on your iPhone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On other devices too | No, iPhone only | iPad and Mac | iPad and Android | iPad, Mac and Android |
| Account or email to sign up | None | None | Name and email | Only for backup |
| If you forget how to open the vault | 12 words on paper | Nothing extra to forget | A code sent to your email | A recovery email, if you set one up |
| Analytics in the app | None | Not stated | Yes | Yes |
| Undo a delete, for free | Yes, for 30 days | Yes, for 30 days | Only with Premium | Not stated |
What the others do well
Each one gets something right, and some do things Underlock doesn’t.
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The Hidden album
Built into the Photos app, free, and locked by default with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
-
Keepsafe
A PIN of its own, Face ID, and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. You can share albums with people you invite.
-
Private Photo Vault
A lock of its own, and no account unless you add its Premium backup. Private Photo Vault can ask for both Face ID and your PIN before it opens.
A lock of its own, and a way back in
The Hidden album opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode. So anyone who knows your passcode can open the Hidden album. Keepsafe, Private Photo Vault and Underlock each have a lock of their own, separate from your passcode. In Underlock, your iPhone passcode, Face ID and Touch ID don’t open your vault.
If you forget an app’s lock, each app gets you back in its own way. Keepsafe emails a code to the address on your account. Private Photo Vault can reset your PIN or password through a recovery email, if you set one up.
Underlock shows you 12 words at setup, to write on paper: your recovery phrase. Those 12 words open your vault if you forget your pattern. Keep the paper somewhere safe. The 12 words work like your pattern: anyone who has them 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.
Whichever app you choose, set up its way back in on the first day, before you add your photos.
Who can see your photos
All four encrypt your photos on your iPhone. Encrypted photos are scrambled, and only a key unscrambles them. The difference is who else can use that key.
With iCloud Photos on, your hidden photos are in iCloud too, and Apple holds the keys to them. Apple’s Advanced Data Protection is an iCloud setting. With Advanced Data Protection on, Apple no longer holds those keys. The setting is off by default.
Keepsafe backs up your first 200 photos and videos for free. Keepsafe says its staff don’t look at your photos unless you ask them to. Keepsafe also names two cases when its staff can technically view your data: when they’re required to, and when they suspect Keepsafe’s terms were broken.
Private Photo Vault says its team can’t view your photos, in the app or in its Premium backup. We can’t open your vault either: we never receive your files, your pattern or your keys.
Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault both collect analytics: data about how you use the app. Underlock has no analytics.
Questions people ask about vault apps
The Photos app has a Hidden album built in. Vault apps such as Keepsafe, Private Photo Vault and Underlock keep photos behind a lock of their own, separate from your iPhone passcode.
Against someone who knows your iPhone passcode, yes. Anyone with your passcode can open the Hidden album. A vault app has a lock of its own, which your passcode doesn’t open.
Yes. All four on this page encrypt photos on your iPhone. What differs is who else can use the key that unscrambles them. For iCloud Photos, Apple can, unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection.
Yes, if you choose. Each app copies your photos in first. Underlock then offers to remove the photos from the Photos app, and iOS asks you to confirm. With Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault, you can remove the photos too. Removed photos wait in Recently Deleted, in the Photos app, for 30 days. To remove them sooner, delete them there too.
So that unlocking your iPhone doesn’t open your vault too. Your iPhone passcode, Face ID and Touch ID don’t open your vault. You open your vault with your own pattern instead.
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
- Are photo vault apps safe? Check 5 things before you trust a vault app with your photos.
- Underlock vs the iPhone Hidden album The Hidden album is free, built in and locked by default, but it opens with your iPhone passcode.
- Underlock vs Keepsafe What Keepsafe does well, and how it differs from Underlock.
- Underlock vs Private Photo Vault What Private Photo Vault does well, and how it differs from Underlock.
- Free photo vault apps What each free plan includes, and what costs money.
- Keepsafe vs Private Photo Vault How the two differ: email, the backup, and getting back in.
Give what’s private a lock of its own
Free for one vault, with no file limit. No account, no email.
For iPhone with iOS 17 or later.