A vault you actually open
Private photos aren't just stored. You look at them. The trip, the two of you, the before-and-after. They deserve a gallery of their own: on your phone, encrypted, behind a code that isn't your phone's.
Hidden is still Photos
You hand someone your phone to show one picture. The Hidden album is one tap away, and it opens with the same Face ID or passcode as everything else. With iCloud Photos on, it syncs to every device on your Apple Account too.
A vault is a different app, with a different code. Mavaul has its own passcode and Face ID. It locks the moment you leave. With Premium, pick a grace period from 5 seconds to 10 minutes.
Bring them in, then look
- Import a few photos and videos from your library. Each one is encrypted with AES-256 as it arrives.
- Open one. Tap the right edge for the next, the left edge to go back. Pinch to zoom, pull down to close.
- Start a slideshow. Hold to stop on a photo, let go to carry on, tap to skip ahead.
- Leave the app. It locks behind you.
That's the whole idea. A gallery that's nice to use, so the private photos don't drift back to the camera roll.
The second copy is the problem
Importing copies a photo. The original is still in Photos. Mavaul offers to delete it after the import, and it goes to Recently Deleted, where it stays for 30 days. Empty that too.
Anything you put in a Shared Album or a Shared Library is already with other people. Remove it there. And turning off iCloud Photos stops new uploads, but doesn't take back what's already in iCloud.
The full checklist: Move photos into a vault without leaving copies.
Yours alone. Keep the key
No account. No Mavaul cloud. Not even we can peek. At setup you get a 24-character recovery key. Forget your passcode without it and the vault stays locked, for you and for us.
Premium can email you that key, or make an encrypted backup to Dropbox, Nextcloud or Files. It's encrypted on the phone first, and we don't host it.
iCloud Backup and computer backups are Apple's, not ours. If this phone should hold the only copy, check those settings too.
Looks like a calculator
Turn on decoy mode and the icon becomes a calculator. So does the lock screen, and it really calculates. Type your passcode on the keypad and your gallery opens. Free. Other icons, like a cat or hot sauce, come with Premium. It's a disguise, not a fake album.
On the big screen
Some photos look better on a TV. Wi-Fi Share opens your gallery in the browser of a TV or laptop on the same Wi-Fi. Scan a QR code, and that's it. No account, no upload. Nothing leaves your Wi-Fi.
Questions
Do I need an account?
No. No sign-up, no email. Open the app, set a passcode, save your recovery key.
Can Mavaul see my photos?
No. They're encrypted on your phone and never sent to us.
Does it sync to my other devices?
No. The vault lives on this iPhone. To move to a new one, make an encrypted backup and restore it with your recovery key.
What if I lose my phone?
Whoever finds it gets a locked, encrypted vault. You lose it too, unless you made a backup.
Is it free?
Free holds 20 photos and videos, with full encryption, Face ID, Wi-Fi Share and the calculator disguise. Premium is unlimited, from 1,99 € a month or 49,99 € once. See pricing.