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Recovery

What can go wrong, and how you get your vault back

Three things keep your vault safe: your pattern (in your head and on your kit), your Emergency Kit (in a safe place), and your iCloud backup (working). Lose one, and there is usually a way back. Lose two, and your photos may be gone for good.

Your patternIn your head and on your kit
Your Emergency KitIn a safe place
Your iCloud backupWorking

Cases

Nine cases

Each case shows what happened, what you get back and what to do.

Case 1Everything

Your iPhone is lost or stolen.

You have your kit, your pattern and the iCloud backup.

You get back: Everything in the iCloud backup.

What to do: On the new iPhone, open the vault from the iCloud backup. Scan or type the Secret Key from your kit once. Enter your pattern. Items download in the background. Then change your pattern or passphrase.

Pattern: keptKit: keptiCloud backup: kept
Case 2Part

Your iPhone is lost, and the iCloud backup was not complete.

You get back: Only the items that are in the iCloud backup.

What to do: Nothing can bring back the other items. To prevent this: when the app shows the "not backed up" banner, fix it soon.

Pattern: keptKit: keptiCloud backup: partial
Case 3Everything

You lost your Emergency Kit. Your iPhone is fine.

You get back: Everything.

What to do: Print the same kit again from Settings.

Pattern: keptKit: lostiCloud backup: kept
Case 4Everything

Someone may have seen your kit.

You get back: Everything. Your vault is still yours.

What to do: Change your pattern or passphrase at once. Copies that already exist still open with the old kit and the old pattern.

Pattern: keptKit: lostiCloud backup: kept
Case 5Everything

You forgot your pattern, and it is written on your kit.

You get back: Everything.

What to do: Read it from the kit.

Pattern: lostKit: keptiCloud backup: kept
Case 6Nothing

You forgot your pattern, and it is not on your kit.

You get back: Nothing.

What to do: Nobody can reset it, not even us.

Pattern: lostKit: keptiCloud backup: kept
Case 7Nothing

You lost your iPhone and your kit.

You get back: Nothing.

What to do: The iCloud backup cannot be opened on any other iPhone.

Pattern: keptKit: lostiCloud backup: kept
Case 8Part

You deleted the app.

You get back: Only what is in the iCloud backup.

What to do: Deleting the app deletes the vault on that iPhone. Open it again from the iCloud backup.

Pattern: keptKit: keptiCloud backup: partial
Case 9Nothing

You deleted an item.

You get back: Nothing.

What to do: A delete is final, also in the iCloud backup. There is no Recently Deleted album.

Pattern: keptKit: keptiCloud backup: kept

Limits

What Vault9 cannot protect against

  • Someone who has your unlocked vault in their hands.
  • Malware on the iPhone.

Checklist

How to stay safe

  1. Keep your pattern in your head and on your kit.
  2. Keep the kit on paper in a very safe place, in a password manager, or on another device that uses a different iCloud account. Not in iCloud, Notes, Passwords or the vault.
  3. Do the kit test when the app reminds you (every 3 months).
  4. Keep the iCloud backup working. Act on the "not backed up" banner.
About the Emergency Kit

Get Vault9

Point your iPhone camera at the code. The App Store opens.

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