VaultCaveYour pattern is the key
Your pattern or passcode doesn't just lock the door; it's what encrypts everything inside. Without it, your files are unreadable, even to us.
Private vault for iPhone
Your photos and documents, encrypted. Your pattern, the only key.
VaultCave keeps your photos, videos and documents in encrypted vaults on your iPhone. No account, no tracking, and nothing ever lists your vaults.
- No account
- Data Not Collected
- Originals kept
- Free encrypted backup
Built to keep things private, not to collect them
Everything happens on your iPhone. There’s no VaultCave server holding your files, and no account to break into.
Hidden vaults
Each vault opens with its own pattern, and nothing ever lists them. Someone holding your iPhone can’t tell how many there are.
Photos, videos and any file
Import from Photos, Files, the share sheet or the built-in camera. Originals are kept at full quality, and PDFs and documents open right inside the vault.
Encrypted iCloud backup
Optional backup to your own iCloud, encrypted before it leaves your iPhone. Apple can’t read it, and neither can we. Included in the free version.
Duress mode
A decoy vault with its own pattern. If you’re forced to open VaultCave, the decoy opens and your real vaults are quietly erased from the device.
Encrypted sharing
Send files as an encrypted package plus a separate 12-word phrase. Without the phrase, the file is just noise. No server in between.
Not just photos
Your passport, medical results, contracts and scans deserve the same protection as your private pictures. VaultCave takes any file, and PDFs and documents open right inside the vault, so no readable copy is left lying around in Files.
Passport and ID
A copy for travel and emergencies, kept out of your camera roll and your cloud drive.
Medical records
Test results, prescriptions and letters, away from your photo library and your inbox.
Contracts and money
Leases, payslips, tax papers and bank statements, in folders you can search by name.
Anything else
Save any file from another app with the share sheet, or photograph a paper straight into the vault.
Honest about what it protects
Security apps love big promises. We’d rather tell you exactly what VaultCave does, and where any app on a phone has limits.
- Without your pattern, files are unreadable. AES-256 encryption with keys derived from your pattern and a secret tied to this iPhone.
- Guessing is slowed right down. Delays after wrong tries, and optionally erase after 10.
- Backups stay encrypted. Restoring needs the vault’s recovery phrase.
- No app on iPhone can block screenshots; VaultCave hides content from the app switcher and screen recordings.
- A file you export or share without encryption is readable wherever it goes.
- Lose your phrase and your pattern, and nobody can get your vault back. That’s the point, and the cost.
Free to start. Pro when you need more.
The free version is a real vault, not a trial, and it includes encrypted backup.
Free
Forever
- One vault
- Up to 100 photos, videos or files
- Encrypted iCloud backup
- Pattern or passcode, recovery phrase
- Receive encrypted shares
Pro WEEKLY · YEARLY · LIFETIME
Everything in Free, plus:
- Multiple hidden vaults
- Duress mode with a decoy vault
- Encrypted sharing
- Unlimited items
- Erase after 10 failed attempts
- Disguised app icons
Guides
Practical help with photo privacy on iPhone, whether or not you use VaultCave. All guides · Situations · Comparisons
How to hide files and documents on iPhone
The Files app has no lock or hidden folders. Here's how to hide files on iPhone with locked notes, password-protected documents or an encrypted vault.
How to hide photos from Memories, widgets and search on iPhone
Stop private photos popping up in Memories, featured photos, the Photos widget and search on iPhone, with the exact settings for current iOS.
How to hide photos on iPhone: Hidden album and beyond
Step-by-step ways to hide photos on iPhone with the Hidden album, how to lock it and remove it from view, and when an encrypted vault is the better choice.
Lending your phone without showing your private photos
Showing a photo, lending your phone for a call or letting a child play? How to keep the rest of your iPhone private with Guided Access, sharing and a vault.
Photos from a past relationship: keep them private or let go
Decide what to keep from a past relationship, stop old photos surfacing in Memories, leave shared albums with an ex, and handle intimate images respectfully.
Best photo vault apps for iPhone (2026), compared fairly
Apple's Hidden album, VaultCave, Vaultaire, Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault compared on encryption, accounts, backups, ads and recovery.
Questions
Can VaultCave see my photos?
No. Everything is encrypted on your iPhone before it is stored, with keys that never leave the device. There is no VaultCave account and no VaultCave server holding your files, so there is nothing for us to look at.
What happens if I forget my pattern or passcode?
Use your 12-word recovery phrase. It is shown once when you create a vault, and it is the only other way in. Nobody can reset it for you, including us, because your pattern or passcode is part of the encryption itself.
Why is there no Face ID?
Each vault opens with its own pattern or passcode, and nothing lists the vaults. Face ID can only say "it's you"; it can't choose which vault to open, so it would undo hidden vaults and duress mode.
Is the iCloud backup safe?
The backup is optional and goes to your own iCloud account, encrypted on your iPhone before it is uploaded. Apple stores only encrypted data it can't read, and so do we. Restoring needs the vault's recovery phrase. Someone with access to your iCloud account could delete the backup, but not read it.
What is duress mode?
A Pro feature. You set up a decoy vault with ordinary-looking content and its own pattern. If you are ever forced to open VaultCave, opening the decoy silently erases your real vaults on that iPhone, with no alert. They can come back later from your encrypted backup with their recovery phrases.
Can VaultCave stop screenshots?
No app on iPhone can block screenshots, and we won't claim to. VaultCave hides its content from the app switcher and covers the screen while it is being recorded or mirrored.
What does Pro add, and is there a subscription?
The free version gives you one vault with up to 100 items and encrypted backup. Pro adds multiple hidden vaults, duress mode, encrypted sharing, unlimited items, erase after 10 failed attempts and disguised app icons. Choose weekly, yearly, or a one-time lifetime purchase.
Does VaultCave collect any data?
No. There are no analytics, ads or trackers, and the App Store privacy label is "Data Not Collected". Nothing leaves your iPhone unless you choose to back it up, share it, or export it.
Keep what’s private, private.
VaultCave is coming to iPhone and iPad.
Join the beta on TestFlight