# How to choose a photo vault app for iPhone

> No photo vault app is best for everyone. Four questions sort the choice, and we say where Vault9 fits and where it does not.

Source: https://vault9app.com/guides/best-photo-vault-apps-iphone/
Updated: 2026-11-12

No photo vault app is best for everyone, so we will not name one. Four questions narrow the choice.

## Does it encrypt the files, or only lock the app?

A lock screen decides who can open the app. Encryption scrambles the files themselves. App pages often say "secure" and stop there. Look for a named method such as AES-256-GCM, and treat the developer's words as a claim, not a fact.

## Does your phone passcode open it?

If it does, anyone who knows your passcode can open the vault. A separate pattern or passphrase gives you a second lock.

## What do you need besides storage?

Sync across devices, an iPad or Mac app, sharing and a decoy password are separate features. Decide which ones you need before you compare. If you need one of them, check that the app has it before anything else.

## What happens if you forget the code?

Ask if the company can reset your secret. Each answer has a cost, and [the page on forgotten passwords](https://vault9app.com/guides/forgot-photo-vault-password/) explains both. Read where the backup goes in the same breath: some apps keep a copy in their own cloud, some use yours, some keep nothing off the phone. Ask who holds the key to that copy.

Read the **App Privacy** section of each App Store page as well. The developer fills it in, so it is a claim too.

Vault9 suits you if your answers are "encrypted on the phone, no account, my own iCloud backup". It opens with your pattern or passphrase plus a Secret Key, or Face ID if you turn it on, and never with your phone passcode. [Vault9 on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6830759639?pt=129716075&ct=best-photo-vault-apps-iphone-md)

## Where Vault9 is the wrong choice

- It has no sync between devices, no iPad or Mac app, and no Android app.
- It has no sharing with other people from inside the app, and no decoy or duress mode.
- It cannot reset your pattern or passphrase. If it is not on your [Emergency Kit](https://vault9app.com/emergency-kit/), the vault is lost for good.
- It does not protect photos while someone holds your unlocked phone, and it does not protect against malware.
- No independent security audit has happened yet.

## Sources

- [Apple Support: About privacy information on the App Store](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102399) (checked 2026-11-06)