Move them out of the Photos app, into a vault that your iPhone passcode does not open. Then find the copies that stay behind: in Recently Deleted, iCloud Photos, Shared Albums and old backups.
The Hidden album is not a separate lock
The Hidden album takes photos out of your main library. Apple locks it by default, but Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode opens it. If a partner or a child knows your passcode, they can open it. So can anyone who holds your unlocked phone.
Move the photos in this order
- Unhide the photos first. The Vault9 photo picker does not show the Hidden album.
- In Vault9, tap Import and pick the photos from the Photos app.
- Delete the originals in Photos yourself. Vault9 never deletes anything there.
- Open Recently Deleted, unlock it, and delete the photos there too. They stay in that album for 30 days.
Look for the copies you forgot
- iCloud Photos. With it on, a deletion on one device also deletes the photo on your other devices. Check which devices are signed in to your Apple Account.
- Shared Albums. Everyone on an album sees its photos. Delete the photo from the album, or remove the person. If you delete the whole album, it goes from your subscribers’ devices, but a person who saved a photo keeps it.
- iPhone backup in iCloud. Without iCloud Photos, Apple says an iCloud Backup may hold the photos from your Photos app. A backup made before you moved the photos may still have them.
- Photos you sent. The other person has their own copy. You cannot take it back, and neither can we.
What the vault does not do
Vault9 keeps files encrypted. It does not fix everything. For intimate photos, these limits matter most:
- It does not protect a vault that is open on an unlocked phone. The app locks when it goes to the background, after the Auto-lock time, or when you lock it.
- It has no decoy mode. A wrong pattern shows an error, not an empty vault.
- It does not protect against malware on your phone.
- It cannot share with other people. An exported photo is a normal photo outside the vault.
Someone with your iPhone can try to guess
Whoever holds your phone also holds the Secret Key, so only your pattern or passphrase is left. A thief or a curious person can try to guess it, which is why a long one matters. From the 5th wrong try in a row, the app makes them wait. For other ways someone may have seen your photos, read signs that someone went through them.
Write the pattern on your kit
Vault9 cannot reset your pattern or passphrase. Write it on your Emergency Kit. Keep the kit on paper in a very safe place, in a password manager, or on a device with a different iCloud account.
If you forget the pattern and it is not on the kit, the photos are lost for good. The iCloud backup is an encrypted copy of the vault in your own iCloud storage, and it never holds the Secret Key. Without it, the vault exists only on your iPhone.
Sources
- Apple iPhone User Guide: Delete or hide photos and videos on iPhone (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: What does iCloud back up? (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: How to use Shared Albums in Photos (checked 2026-11-06)
