How to move a photo vault from iPhone to Android

Moving your camera roll from an iPhone to an Android phone is a solved problem. Moving a photo vault is not. Your private photos sit inside one app’s encrypted storage, and if that app only exists on one platform, or only backs up to a cloud tied to one platform, they stay behind.

Why vaults get stuck on one platform

There are three common reasons:

• The app is iPhone-only. Some popular vault apps don’t have an Android version at all, so there is nothing to restore into.
• The backup lives in iCloud. iCloud is built for Apple devices. A backup stored only in your iCloud account can’t be opened by an Android app.
• The backup format is private to each platform. Even apps with both versions sometimes can’t read each other’s backups, and the store listing won’t tell you.

The workaround people fall back on is the risky one: export everything back to the camera roll, copy the plain photos across, and import them into a new app. For a while your private photos are unencrypted, in your gallery and often in Google Photos or iCloud Photos backups too.

Before you switch: a quick checklist

1. Find out if your vault app runs on Android. Search the Play Store for the exact app and publisher, not just the name.
2. Check what the backup is. Is it a file you can hold, or only a copy in iCloud? A file can travel. An iCloud-only copy usually can’t.
3. Find your recovery details. Whatever unlocks the backup (a phrase, a password, an account login) has to come with you.
4. Don’t wipe the iPhone yet. Keep it until you have opened every vault on the new phone.
5. Remember purchases don’t cross stores. App Store subscriptions and lifetime purchases stay with your Apple account. On Android you buy through Google Play.

How to move an Umbra vault from iPhone to Android

Umbra uses the same encrypted backup format on iPhone, iPad and Android, so a backup made on one opens on the other. The file stays encrypted the whole way. Only your recovery phrase opens it.

1. On the iPhone, open the vault you want to move with its pattern.
2. Go to Settings and tap Export encrypted backup. Umbra creates a single .umbra file for that vault.
3. Save the file somewhere the Android phone can reach. Google Drive, a USB drive, a cable to your computer, or emailing it to yourself all work. The file is encrypted, so it is safe to store in ordinary places.
4. Install Umbra on the Android phone from Google Play.
5. On the welcome screen, tap Restore a backup and choose the .umbra file.
6. Enter the vault’s recovery phrase, the 12 words (or your own phrase) you saved when you created it.
7. Draw a pattern for the vault on the new phone. It can be the same as before or a new one.

Repeat for each vault. Every vault in Umbra has its own pattern and its own phrase, and nothing links them, so each one is exported and restored on its own. That is deliberate: a backup of one vault says nothing about the others.

Moving from Android to iPhone

The same steps work in reverse. On Android, open the vault, go to Settings and tap Export encrypted backup. Move the file to the iPhone (through Files, iCloud Drive, a USB drive or your computer), then on the iPhone tap Restore a backup, choose the file and enter the phrase.

Moving between two iPhones or to an iPad

On iPhone and iPad, Umbra can also back up to iCloud automatically, encrypted before anything leaves the device. On the new device, choose Restore a backup, then Restore from iCloud, and enter the vault’s 12 words. With Umbra Pro you can keep the same vault open on your iPhone and iPad at once, with changes merged between them.

What doesn’t move

• Purchases. Umbra Pro bought on the App Store doesn’t carry over to Google Play, because each store handles its own payments. The free plan (3 vaults, 100 photos, 10 videos and unlimited notes and documents) works on both.
• iCloud sync and vault sharing. These are iPhone and iPad features. On Android you use exported backups.
• Your patterns. Patterns are tied to the device they were set on. You draw a new one after restoring, which is also a good moment to pick a stronger one.

Questions