The best photo vault app for iPhone and Android

Most "best photo vault" lists rank a dozen apps and never say what they’re protecting you from. That’s the question that decides the answer. Hiding photos from a friend scrolling your camera roll is a different problem from keeping them safe from someone who knows your passcode, and both are different from making sure you never lose them.

This page is written by the team behind Umbra, so weigh our section accordingly. Every claim about another app links to that app’s own page, checked in November 2026.

Quick picks

• Best free option on iPhone: the built-in Hidden album, if your goal is keeping photos off the main grid.
• Best free option on Android: Google Photos Locked Folder, or Private Space on Android 15 and later if you want a lock that’s different from your screen lock.
• Best for Samsung only: Secure Folder, with its own PIN, password or pattern.
• Best for encryption with no account, on both iPhone and Android: Umbra.
• Best iPhone-only alternative with a similar design: Vaultaire.
• Best if you want a company cloud and sign-in recovery: Keepsafe or Private Photo Vault.

What we judged them on

We only included apps whose own pages we could check. Five things decide whether a vault is worth trusting:

1. A lock that isn’t your phone passcode. If your screen lock opens the vault, anyone who knows it can open your photos.
2. Encryption described specifically. A named algorithm and an explanation of how your passcode becomes a key, not "bank-level security".
3. No account, or one you’re comfortable with. An account means a company can reset access, which also means your vault is tied to an identity and a login that can be phished.
4. A backup you understand. Most vaults delete their files when you delete the app. Know where the backup goes and what opens it.
5. What the free plan costs you. Ads, tracking, limits, or a trial that becomes a subscription.

Our 10-point secure vault checklist goes deeper on each of these.

The options side by side

Sources are linked in each section below. Checked November 2026.

Do you need a vault app at all?

Often not. Be honest about who you’re hiding photos from.

If it’s someone glancing at your phone while you show them a picture, the built-in tools are free, already installed and good enough. On iPhone, Apple says the Hidden album is locked by default since iOS 16 and opens with Face ID or Touch ID, and you can remove it from the Photos app entirely. On Android, Google Photos' Locked Folder keeps photos out of your grid, search and other apps.

The limit of both: they use your phone’s own lock. Google’s page says outright that the Locked Folder password is the same as your screen lock. The Hidden album unlocks the same way your phone does, with Face ID, Touch ID or, if those fail, your device passcode: Apple says Face ID allows only five unsuccessful attempts before the passcode is required. Anyone who knows that passcode, a partner, a family member, someone who watched you type it, can open them.

Two built-in options do give you a separate lock. Android 15’s Private Space lets you choose a different PIN, pattern or password, though Google says its data isn’t included in device backups and is lost if you forget that lock. Samsung’s Secure Folder has its own PIN, password or pattern on Galaxy devices, but Samsung now says Secure Folder data backup is no longer available, so plan how you’d move your photos out.

Our guides to hiding photos on iPhone and hiding photos on Android walk through each one step by step.

When a vault app is the better answer

A dedicated vault earns its place when one of these is true:

• Someone close to you knows, or could learn, your phone passcode.
• You might be pressured to unlock your phone and want a way to show something harmless.
• You keep ID scans, documents or videos that you want encrypted with a key only you hold.
• You use Android and iPhone, or might switch, and want the vault to move with you.

Umbra: encrypted, no account, iPhone and Android

Umbra is our app. It’s built for the second set of reasons above.

• Its own lock: a pattern on a 5x5 grid, at least 6 dots with at least one change of direction. Each pattern opens its own vault, and the unlock screen never lists how many exist.
• Encryption you can check: every item is encrypted with AES-256-GCM under its own random key. Your pattern is stretched with Argon2id and mixed with a secret that never leaves the phone (iOS Keychain or Android Keystore), so files copied off the device can’t be guessed at elsewhere.
• No account, no ads, no analytics. The only outside code handles purchases and never sees vault content.
• Free backups that move between platforms: an end-to-end encrypted iCloud backup on iPhone and iPad (on by default for new vaults), and an encrypted backup file you can export on any phone. Backups restore on iPhone or Android with your recovery phrase.
• For being forced to unlock: a duress pattern (Pro) opens a decoy vault and at the same moment removes every other vault’s pattern from the phone.
• Also: screenshots and screen recordings come out black, a secure camera that never touches your camera roll, a document scanner that saves encrypted PDFs, and a break-in log.

Price: free for up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos, with unlimited notes and documents. Pro is $14.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, $1.99 a week, or $39.99 once.

Where it’s weaker: the free photo allowance is smaller than Keepsafe’s, there’s no company that can reset your vault, and if you lose both the pattern and the recovery phrase, nobody can open it, including us. Sync and sharing are iPhone and iPad only for now, and the app is in English only.

Vaultaire: a strong iPhone-only choice

Vaultaire is the closest app to Umbra: a pattern on a 5x5 grid, no account, AES-256-GCM encryption, a recovery phrase, and an encrypted iCloud backup that’s free and on by default. Its free plan is the same size as ours (3 vaults, 100 photos, 10 videos). Pro adds unlimited vaults, a duress mode, sync, custom icons and creating shared vaults, at $19.99 a year with a 7-day trial or $39.99 for life, per its homepage and App Store listing, which says no ads.

Two things to know. It’s iPhone and iPad only, so it doesn’t help Android users or anyone who might switch. And its homepage says anonymous usage and crash data are on by default, with a setting to turn them off. It turns your pattern into a key with PBKDF2, where Umbra uses Argon2id; both are serious designs. Full detail in Umbra vs Vaultaire.

Keepsafe: popular, with an account and a cloud

Keepsafe has a 4.7 rating from about 386,000 ratings on the US App Store. Its products page lists 200 photos on the free plan and 10,000 on Premium, AES-256 encryption on the device and in its private backup, and a 30-day free trial. Its App Store listing puts photo backup and sync across all your Keepsafe installations under the free Basic plan, so the free version backs up through its cloud too.

The trade-offs: you sign in with an email address, and Keepsafe’s help center sends access codes to it. The free plan is ad supported, and the App Store privacy label lists Usage Data as used to track you. If you like the idea of signing in on a new phone and seeing your vault come back, Keepsafe does that well. If the account is what bothers you, see our Keepsafe alternatives.

Private Photo Vault: long track record, cloud optional

Private Photo Vault has about a million ratings on the App Store. Its homepage says it needs no account to store files on your phone, works offline by default, and encrypts files with AES. Its features page lists a decoy password and a break-in report.

The catches: the App Store listing says the app contains advertising and that the free version doesn’t back up to Cloud Vault. Cloud Vault is premium and needs an account. Without a backup, deleting the app means losing the photos in it. More in Umbra vs Private Photo Vault.

What about calculator vault apps?

A fake calculator icon hides the app, not the photos. Many of these apps are free with ads and say little about encryption. If disguise matters to you, choose an app that encrypts first and offers a disguise on top. We looked at what their own listings say in calculator vault apps vs Umbra.

Test any vault for 10 minutes before you trust it

The ranking articles we read skip this step, and it’s the one that saves people’s photos. Use three or four throwaway pictures, not your real ones.

1. Read the privacy label. On the App Store, scroll to App Privacy; on Google Play, open Data safety. Look for "Data used to track you" and advertising data.
2. Import the test photos and delete the originals. Then check your phone’s Recently Deleted or Trash: the copies sit there until you empty it, on iPhone for up to 30 days.
3. Take a screenshot inside the vault and open the app switcher. A careful vault shows black or a cover, not your photos.
4. Make a backup, then delete and reinstall the app. Restore from the backup. If the test photos don’t come back, your real ones wouldn’t either.
5. Write down the recovery method (phrase, email or account) and keep it somewhere other than the phone.
6. Only then move your real photos in, and check the item count matches.

Questions