Vaultumi

Hiding photos on iPhone without an app, and what a vault app adds

By Vaultumi. Published .

You do not need to install anything to get a photo out of sight. iOS has several free options. They are enough for some situations and not for others, and the gap between them and a vault app is smaller or larger depending on who you are hiding the photo from.

Key takeaways

  • The built-in options hide photos from a casual look. They all lean on your device passcode and your Photos library.
  • A vault app removes the photos from the library and puts them behind a separate lock.
  • A vault adds responsibility: a PIN, a recovery code and a backup that you must look after.
  • Whichever you pick, the original photo, its Recently Deleted copy and any synced copy are still yours to clean up.

What you can do without installing anything

Four free options cover most casual needs. Menu names can differ a little between iOS versions, so use Settings search if you cannot find one.

  • The Hidden album. Open a photo, tap the more button, choose Hide. The photo leaves the main grid and sits in the Hidden album. In Settings > Photos you can usually decide whether that album is shown at all and whether it needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open.
  • Locking the Photos app. On iOS 18 and later you can press and hold an app icon and require Face ID to open it. This guards the whole app, not single pictures.
  • Hiding the app itself. iOS 18 and later can also hide an app from the Home Screen and keep it behind Face ID. That helps against someone browsing your icons, not against someone who opens Photos some other way.
  • A locked note. The Notes app can lock a note with a password and lets you attach photos to it. It works as a small stash, but the photo you attached is a copy, and the original stays in Photos until you remove it.

For a handful of photos that you simply do not want to meet while scrolling, this is a perfectly sensible answer.

Where the built-in options run out

All of them share the same weak spots, and it helps to know them before you rely on them.

  • The lock is your device passcode. Anyone who knows it, such as a partner, a parent or a friend who watched you type it, opens everything.
  • The photos are still in the library. A hidden photo is a setting on a library item. It follows your iCloud Photos settings and can sync to other devices signed in to your account.
  • Other copies are untouched. Shared albums, messages you sent, screenshots and backups of the library are separate problems that hiding does not solve.
  • There is no separate recovery or export story. That is convenient, because Apple’s own account recovery applies, and it also means your photos live and die with your Photos library.

None of this makes the built-in options bad. It describes what they are for: privacy from a casual glance.

What a vault app changes

A vault app takes a photo out of the library and stores it in the app’s own private storage behind its own lock. In Vaultumi:

  • each photo or video is encrypted on your iPhone with AES-256-GCM, under its own random key, before it is stored, and names, dates, albums and thumbnails are sealed as well;
  • the lock is a 6-digit PIN that is separate from your device passcode, with optional Face ID, and wrong guesses trigger growing waits from 30 seconds up to an hour per attempt, with nothing ever deleted;
  • there is no account, no server and no analytics, and the app makes no network requests of its own; the only traffic is Apple’s App Store for purchases;
  • you can export any item at any time, and make an encrypted backup file you can restore on any iPhone.

The photos are no longer in the Photos library, so they do not appear in iCloud Photos, Memories or other apps’ photo pickers.

What a vault app costs you

Be honest about the trade. A vault is not free of effort.

  • Responsibility. Because there is no account and no server, nobody can reset your PIN. If you lose the PIN, the recovery code and every backup, the vault cannot be opened by anyone, including us.
  • Limits on the free plan. Vaultumi’s free plan holds up to 20 items and 2 albums. Premium removes those limits. Existing items are never locked if Premium ends.
  • Third-party software. Vaultumi uses Apple’s encryption primitives, but it has not been independently reviewed or audited. The review status says so openly.
  • Some leaks remain. A screenshot lands in your Photos library, an exported file is an ordinary unprotected copy, and a compromised or jailbroken phone defeats a vault as well as a hidden album.

The two approaches in one table

Built-in optionsVault app (Vaultumi)
CostFree, included with iOSFree up to 20 items and 2 albums; Premium beyond
LockDevice passcode, Face ID or Touch IDOwn 6-digit PIN, optional Face ID
Where photos liveYour Photos library or a noteThe app’s encrypted storage
SyncingFollows your iCloud settingsNo account and no cloud of its own
If you forget the lockApple’s recoveryRecovery code or a backup file

How to choose

Ask who you are hiding the photo from and what happens if you are wrong.

  1. A friend glancing at your screen. The Hidden album is enough.
  2. A family member who knows your passcode. Anything that depends on the passcode is not enough. Use a separate lock.
  3. You do not want the photos in iCloud or your library at all. A vault, or simply keeping them off the phone.
  4. You will not look after a recovery code. Stay with the built-in options. A vault you cannot recover is worse than a hidden album.

Many people use both: low-risk pictures in Hidden, the few that matter in a vault. The hidden album versus vault app guide compares them in more depth.

If you do switch to a vault

Do it in this order: import the photos, open a few in the vault to check them, make a backup, and only then delete the originals. Remember that iOS keeps deleted photos in Recently Deleted for about 30 days and that Vaultumi cannot erase them securely. The full routine is in how to move photos in and out of a vault safely.

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