What people hate about photo vault apps
We read about 375 recent and most-helpful US App Store reviews of four of the biggest vaults: Keepsafe, Private Photo Vault, SPV and Calculator#. The one-star reviews tell the same few stories again and again. Here they are, with what Mavaul does about each.
At a glance
| What Mavaul does | What reviewers say | |
|---|---|---|
| Forgot the passcode, lost everything | A recovery key at setup, on every plan. Email Recovery sends it to you even while the app is locked (Premium) | “Got locked out with no way to reset password or get back in” |
| Photos gone on a new phone | Encrypted backup to your own Dropbox, Nextcloud or Files, restored with your recovery key (Premium). Wi-Fi Share downloads them to a computer (every plan) | “Years of photos, gone” |
| The disguise gives it away | Decoy mode is a calculator that really calculates. No logo on the launch screen. Change the icon | “It completely gives away the fact that it’s a secret photo/video vault” |
| Support never replies | Every email gets a reply from the person who builds Mavaul, usually within 24–48 hours on weekdays | “I’ve tried emailing and I’ve just been ghosted” |
| An update broke the app | No account or sign-in that can break. Automated tests for the passcode and vault. Every update listed in the changelog | “Keepsafe decided to update itself and now everything is a mess” |
| Ads every few seconds | No ads, on any plan | “There is an ad every 30 seconds” |
“I forgot my passcode and lost everything”
Most vaults have no way back in. Reviewers who forgot a PIN describe reinstalling the app and losing every photo, because the photos only lived inside it.
When you set up Mavaul it gives you a 24-character recovery key. Type it in and you set a new passcode, with every photo still there. That works on every plan.
With Email Recovery (Premium) you can also email the key to yourself ahead of time and ask for it again from the lock screen, even while the app is locked. Mavaul never sees your photos or keeps a key that could open them. Forgot your vault passcode? walks through it.
“My photos disappeared when I got a new phone”
This is the most common one-star story, in every app we read. People switch phones or reinstall, sign back in, and the vault is empty.
Mavaul makes an encrypted backup of the whole vault to your own Dropbox, Nextcloud or Files (Premium). It is encrypted on the phone before it leaves, and Mavaul never hosts it. On the new iPhone you pick the backup, type your recovery key and you are back. Moving my vault to a new iPhone has the steps.
Want a copy on a computer instead? Wi-Fi Share opens the vault in any browser on your Wi-Fi, where you can download your photos and videos. It works on every plan, and nothing goes over the internet.
“The disguise gives it away”
Reviewers complain about calculator vaults whose calculator does not calculate, a splash screen that shows the vault’s logo, and albums that flash up before the lock.
Mavaul’s Decoy mode replaces the lock screen with a working calculator. It does real sums, and you type your passcode on its keypad to get in. The launch screen has no logo. Change the home screen icon to a calculator for free, or with Premium to a cat, a bottle of hot sauce and more.
iOS always shows an app’s name under its icon, and no app can change that. To take it off the home screen too, use iOS’s own Hide App.
“Support never replies”
Almost every one-star review we read mentions emails that went unanswered, often from paying users locked out of their own photos.
Every email to hello@mavaul.com gets a reply from the person who builds Mavaul, usually within 24–48 hours on weekdays. Ideas and bugs can also go on the feedback board, where you can see what is being worked on.
“An update broke the app”
Reviewers describe updates that crash the app on open, change the layout overnight, or ask paying users to sign in to an account that no longer works.
Mavaul has no account, so there is no sign-in to break. Your photos are encrypted files on the phone, and the app finds them by a path that survives iOS moving its folder during an update or a restore. The passcode and vault flows have automated tests that run on an iPhone simulator, and every change is listed in the changelog. If something does go wrong, email us and we will fix it.
“Ads every few seconds”
On some free vaults, reviewers count an ad every few photos.
Mavaul has no ads, on the free plan or on Premium.
Questions
Can Mavaul recover my photos if I forget the passcode?
Yes, with your recovery key. Mavaul gives you a 24-character recovery key at setup, on every plan. With Email Recovery (Premium) you can have it emailed to you even while the app is locked.
Will my photos move to a new iPhone?
Yes, with an encrypted backup to your own Dropbox, Nextcloud or Files (Premium), restored with your recovery key. You can also download them to a computer over Wi-Fi Share on any plan.
Can I change the name under Mavaul’s icon?
No. iOS shows each app’s name under its icon and no app can change it. You can change the icon, turn on the calculator decoy, or hide the app with iOS’s Hide App.
Does Mavaul have ads?
No, on any plan.
Sources
Reviews read in October 2026: two pages each of the most recent and the most helpful US reviews per app. Quotes are reviewers’ own words, trimmed.