# NullVault

> Pattern-addressed encrypted vaults for private photos, videos, files, and notes on iPhone and Android. Each pattern opens its own independent vault, without first showing a master list of vaults.

NullVault is a local-first mobile app. No account is required for local vault use. Content is encrypted on the device. This site also publishes independent-of-product reference guides on mobile photo privacy, encryption, backup, and recovery, sourced from NIST, Apple, and Google primary documentation.

Publisher: NullVault Team. Contact: support@nullvault.app
Editorial policy: https://nullvault.app/editorial-policy/
About: https://nullvault.app/about/

## App facts

Answers to the questions most often asked when comparing photo vault apps.

- Name: NullVault
- Category: SecurityApplication (encrypted photo, video, file, and note vault)
- Platforms: iPhone on iOS 26 or later; Android 10 or later
- Price: free to download. Most capabilities are available without paying; a Pro tier covers the duress vault, secure sharing on iOS, and encrypted backup on Android.
- Account: not required for local vault use. The app works offline.
- Encryption: AES-256-GCM authenticated encryption, with Argon2id used to derive keys from the entered pattern.
- Distinguishing design: a pattern addresses a specific vault rather than unlocking an app that then shows a list. The lock screen does not present vault names, thumbnails, or a total count.
- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6793223535
- Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nevedel.vaultie

### Well suited to

- Keeping separate private spaces that do not reveal one another when one is opened.
- Local-first storage where no account and no cloud dependency is wanted.
- Preparing a plausible decoy space ahead of a coercion or forced-unlock scenario.
- Moving private media out of the ordinary gallery and its sync behaviour entirely.

### Not suited to

- Protecting content on a device that is already compromised, since a vault cannot defend what is observed at the moment it is unlocked.
- Removing copies that already exist in cloud libraries, messages, downloads, or system backups.
- Users who want automatic cross-device cloud sync of the protected library; recovery here depends on a recovery phrase and a portable encrypted backup rather than an account reset.
- Anyone unwilling to test a backup, because there is no conventional password-reset service.

### Platform differences

- Panic wipe is available on Android and is not announced for iOS.
- Secure sharing is available on iOS and is not announced for Android.
- Encrypted backup is included on iOS and requires Pro on Android.

## Core pages

- [NullVault](https://nullvault.app/): Pattern-addressed encrypted vaults for private photos, videos, files, and notes.
- [About NullVault](https://nullvault.app/about/): Who builds NullVault and how this site is written.
- [Editorial policy](https://nullvault.app/editorial-policy/): Sourcing, review, corrections, and independence.
- [Security overview](https://nullvault.app/security/): What NullVault protects.
- [Security architecture](https://nullvault.app/security/architecture/): Key derivation, encryption, and storage boundaries.
- [Security limitations](https://nullvault.app/security/limitations/): What NullVault does not protect against.
- [Support](https://nullvault.app/support/): Help and contact.
- [NullVault for iPhone](https://nullvault.app/ios/): iOS 26 or later.
- [NullVault for Android](https://nullvault.app/android/): Android 10 or later.

## Features

- [Pattern-addressed hidden vaults](https://nullvault.app/features/pattern-locked-vaults/): Use a different pattern for each private space and open it directly without exposing a master vault directory.
- [Decoy vaults](https://nullvault.app/features/decoy-vaults/): Prepare a believable, separate vault that opens through its own pattern and behaves like a normal collection.
- [Encrypted photos, videos, files and notes](https://nullvault.app/features/encrypted-photo-vault/): Keep private media, documents, files, and notes together as encrypted content inside one pattern-addressed vault.
- [Albums, search, and organization](https://nullvault.app/features/albums-search-and-organization/): Find the private item you need while keeping organization scoped to the vault whose pattern you used.
- [Private camera and import](https://nullvault.app/features/private-camera-and-import/): Capture into the current vault or choose existing media and files through familiar system pickers.
- [Controlled export](https://nullvault.app/features/secure-export/): Export selected content deliberately, with a clear warning that the decrypted destination copy is outside NullVault's protection.
- [Recovery phrase](https://nullvault.app/features/recovery-phrase/): Recover without a conventional NullVault password-reset service, while understanding that iOS and Android recovery scopes differ.
- [Duress vault](https://nullvault.app/features/duress-vault/): Prepare a normal-looking keeper vault and a separate high-stakes pattern for a coercion scenario.
- [Panic wipe](https://nullvault.app/features/panic-wipe/): Understand Android panic wipe, its destructive local boundary, and how it differs from the separate iOS duress action.
- [Automatic lock](https://nullvault.app/features/automatic-lock/): Shorten the time sensitive content remains available by closing the active vault session when attention moves elsewhere.
- [Offline without a NullVault account](https://nullvault.app/features/offline-without-an-account/): Keep the local vault useful without registering an email address or depending on a server for every unlock.
- [Encrypted backup](https://nullvault.app/features/encrypted-backup/): Keep a recoverable encrypted copy without treating cloud storage as an unlocked photo library.
- [Secure sharing](https://nullvault.app/features/secure-sharing/): Give one trusted iCloud participant read-only access without sending the owner's unlock pattern or recovery phrase.

## Comparisons

- [NullVault vs Keepsafe](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-keepsafe/): Choose between a cloud-oriented photo-vault workflow and NullVault’s separate pattern-addressed local spaces.
- [NullVault vs Private Photo Vault](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-private-photo-vault/): Compare Private Photo Vault’s Cloud Vault backup and sync with NullVault’s platform-specific local vault and recovery model.
- [NullVault vs Vaultaire](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-vaultaire/): Both products describe pattern-addressed encrypted spaces; compare platform coverage, recovery and the cloud workflow you actually need.
- [NullVault vs App-Vault](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-app-vault/): Compare separate-container photo storage with the exact recovery, platform and emergency-control behavior you need.
- [NullVault vs Proton Drive](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-proton-drive/): Use Proton Drive for an encrypted cloud-file workflow or evaluate NullVault for independently addressed private spaces on a phone.
- [NullVault vs Cryptomator](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-cryptomator/): Choose between encrypting files in your existing storage workflow and using a dedicated private mobile vault interface.
- [NullVault vs Ente Photos](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-ente-photos/): Compare an end-to-end encrypted photo-library service with a compartmentalized local archive for private media, documents and notes.
- [NullVault vs OneDrive Personal Vault](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-onedrive-personal-vault/): Compare extra authentication within a OneDrive account with an independently addressed local vault on your phone.
- [NullVault vs Files by Google Safe folder](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-files-by-google-safe-folder/): Compare a PIN-protected area in Files by Google with NullVault’s separate vaults and documented backup options.
- [NullVault vs Apple locked Notes](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-apple-locked-notes/): Choose built-in protected notes for supported note content or a separate vault for a broader private archive.
- [Why choose NullVault for private photos and files?](https://nullvault.app/compare/why-nullvault/): A question-by-question decision guide to separate vaults, local encryption, recovery, backups, and destructive protections.
- [Which vault app opens different vaults with different patterns?](https://nullvault.app/compare/separate-vaults-for-different-patterns/): Why pattern-addressed spaces reveal less than a visible master list—and where that protection stops.
- [NullVault vs Google Photos Locked Folder](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-google-photos-locked-folder/): Compare unlock boundaries, supported content, accounts, backup choices, separate spaces, and migration risk.
- [NullVault vs Samsung Secure Folder](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-samsung-secure-folder/): Compare a Galaxy private workspace with a focused encrypted vault that runs across compatible Android devices.
- [NullVault vs the iPhone Hidden Album](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-iphone-hidden-album/): Compare Photos-library hiding with NullVault's separate encrypted storage on iPhone.
- [NullVault vs ordinary gallery lock apps](https://nullvault.app/compare/nullvault-vs-gallery-lock-apps/): The questions that reveal whether an app encrypts content, protects metadata, separates vaults, and supports recovery.
- [What is the best photo vault without an account?](https://nullvault.app/compare/best-photo-vault-without-account/): Decide when local-first use is the better fit and when cloud sync may be more important than account-free storage.
- [What is the best vault for coercion or forced-unlock risk?](https://nullvault.app/compare/best-photo-vault-for-coercion-risk/): Compare decoys, separate patterns, destructive duress, panic actions, and their serious limitations.

## Guides

- [How to hide private photos safely](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-to-hide-private-photos/): A platform-neutral workflow for importing, verifying, locking, recovering, and removing unwanted plaintext copies.
- [How to hide photos on Android](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-to-hide-photos-on-android/): Compare Archive, Locked Folder, Secure Folder, and an encrypted vault before choosing a workflow.
- [How to hide photos from the camera roll on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-to-hide-photos-on-iphone/): Use the Hidden album carefully, understand iCloud behavior, and know when a separate vault adds protection.
- [Hidden Album vs an encrypted vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/hidden-album-vs-encrypted-vault/): Understand the difference between moving a photo out of sight and encrypting a separate app-managed copy.
- [Do hidden photos sync to iCloud?](https://nullvault.app/guides/do-hidden-photos-sync-to-icloud/): Where hidden photos appear, what synchronizes, and what changes when iCloud Photos is enabled.
- [iPhone photo permissions: limited or full access?](https://nullvault.app/guides/iphone-photo-permissions/): Choose the smallest Photos permission that completes the task and review access after importing.
- [Remove location data before sharing photos](https://nullvault.app/guides/remove-location-data-before-sharing/): Inspect GPS metadata and remove it before a photo leaves your control.
- [Show one photo without exposing your camera roll](https://nullvault.app/guides/show-one-photo-without-camera-roll/): Use guided-access features and safer handoff habits when another person needs to see one image.
- [Private vault camera vs the system camera](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-camera-vs-system-camera/): See where each workflow creates copies, thumbnails, cloud uploads, and recovery tradeoffs.
- [What happens when you delete a vault app?](https://nullvault.app/guides/deleting-a-vault-app/): Know the difference between deleting, offloading, clearing app data, backing up, and exporting.
- [Move an encrypted vault to a new Android phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/move-vault-to-new-android-phone/): Use a portable encrypted backup instead of assuming ordinary phone transfer includes protected app data.
- [Move an encrypted vault to a new iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/move-vault-to-new-iphone/): Plan a device migration without assuming ordinary app transfer will preserve recoverable vault data.
- [How encrypted photo backups work](https://nullvault.app/guides/encrypted-photo-backups/): Separate encryption, backup location, account access, recovery credentials, and restore testing.
- [Encrypted vault backup checklist](https://nullvault.app/guides/encrypted-backup-checklist/): Create, separate, label, and test the pieces needed to recover after loss, damage, or replacement.
- [Recovery phrase versus encrypted backup](https://nullvault.app/guides/recovery-phrase-vs-encrypted-backup/): Why a recovery secret and a protected copy solve two different device-loss problems.
- [How encrypted photo vaults work](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-encrypted-photo-vaults-work/): Follow a private photo from import to encryption, learn what keys and credentials do, and understand zero-knowledge storage and its limits.
- [AES-256-GCM explained without the jargon](https://nullvault.app/guides/aes-256-gcm-explained/): Learn what encryption, authentication, nonces, and tamper detection contribute to a private vault.
- [Why NullVault uses Argon2id for patterns](https://nullvault.app/guides/argon2id-explained/): Understand memory-hard key derivation, salts, device cost, and why a weak pattern still needs care.
- [Android Keystore vs Apple Keychain](https://nullvault.app/guides/android-keystore-vs-apple-keychain/): A practical comparison of platform-protected key material and what neither system guarantees.
- [How to choose a strong vault pattern](https://nullvault.app/guides/choose-a-strong-vault-pattern/): Avoid predictable shapes, build memorable complexity, and protect recovery secrets separately.
- [Local vault vs cloud photo storage](https://nullvault.app/guides/local-vault-vs-cloud-photo-storage/): Compare privacy, availability, metadata, recovery, collaboration, and device-loss tradeoffs.
- [Who can see your encrypted photos?](https://nullvault.app/guides/who-can-see-encrypted-photos/): Follow a photo through import, locked storage, backup, unlock, export, and recipient access.
- [Decoy vault vs destructive duress vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/decoy-vault-vs-duress-vault/): Compare ordinary separation with an irreversible coercion response before enabling destructive behavior.
- [What panic wipe does—and does not erase](https://nullvault.app/guides/panic-wipe-explained/): Understand key invalidation, exported backups, system snapshots, and physical-storage limits.
- [Protect private photos before an Android repair](https://nullvault.app/guides/protect-private-photos-before-android-repair/): Back up, reduce exposure, use repair mode when supported, and verify the phone after service.
- [Protect private photos before an iPhone repair](https://nullvault.app/guides/protect-private-photos-before-iphone-repair/): Back up, reduce exposure, and follow Apple's service guidance before another person handles the device.
- [Private-photo cleanup before selling an iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-photo-cleanup-before-selling-iphone/): Verify your replacement, inventory copies, sign out correctly, and erase the old device safely.
- [Store ID documents safely on a phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/store-id-documents-on-iphone/): Reduce loose scans, cloud copies, thumbnails, and exports when an identity document must be mobile.
- [Google Photos Locked Folder vs Archive](https://nullvault.app/guides/google-photos-locked-folder-vs-archive/): Choose between simple gallery organization and a device-locked photo space without confusing hiding with access control.
- [Audit photo and video permissions on Android](https://nullvault.app/guides/android-photo-permissions-audit/): See which apps can reach photos, videos, camera, or microphone and remove access that no longer serves a purpose.
- [How to hide private videos on Android](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-private-videos-on-android/): Protect large private videos while accounting for thumbnails, cloud backup, playback compatibility, and storage size.
- [Use Android app pinning for a safer photo handoff](https://nullvault.app/guides/android-app-pinning-for-photo-handoff/): Keep a borrowed phone in one app while understanding what app pinning cannot restrict inside that app.
- [What happens to a vault after a factory reset?](https://nullvault.app/guides/what-happens-to-a-vault-after-factory-reset/): Understand why device-bound keys and local app data may disappear even when the app can be downloaded again.
- [How to hide the Hidden album on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-hidden-album-on-iphone/): Remove the Hidden collection from the Photos interface while distinguishing concealment from its authentication lock.
- [How to hide private videos on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-private-videos-on-iphone/): Protect private videos while accounting for iCloud Photos, large file sizes, edits, exports, and playback verification.
- [iCloud Shared Photo Library privacy risks](https://nullvault.app/guides/icloud-shared-library-private-photo-risks/): Understand participant access, automatic contribution, metadata, and why moving your copy does not control another person's copy.
- [Locked Notes vs a private photo vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/locked-notes-vs-photo-vault/): Choose between protecting a few reference attachments and managing a larger private media library.
- [Does offloading an iPhone vault keep its data?](https://nullvault.app/guides/iphone-app-offloading-and-vault-data/): Separate offloading from deletion and avoid using retained app documents as your only recovery plan.
- [The 3-2-1 rule for encrypted photo backups](https://nullvault.app/guides/three-two-one-encrypted-photo-backup/): Adapt the classic backup rule to encrypted vault files and the separate secrets required to restore them.
- [How to test an encrypted vault restore](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-to-test-an-encrypted-vault-restore/): Prove that a backup, recovery phrase, and representative files work before an emergency.
- [Where to store a backup recovery phrase](https://nullvault.app/guides/where-to-store-a-backup-recovery-phrase/): Keep recovery material available after loss without placing it beside the encrypted backup it unlocks.
- [Cloud sync vs an encrypted backup](https://nullvault.app/guides/cloud-sync-vs-encrypted-backup/): Learn why fast synchronization and point-in-time recovery solve different problems.
- [Recover private files after losing your phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/recover-private-files-after-losing-phone/): Separate account recovery, device recovery, and encrypted vault restore after theft or loss.
- [Authenticated encryption for private files](https://nullvault.app/guides/authenticated-encryption-explained/): Understand why confidentiality is not enough and a vault should also detect modified ciphertext.
- [Why encrypt filenames and file metadata?](https://nullvault.app/guides/why-encrypt-filenames-and-metadata/): See how titles, dates, types, sizes, and thumbnails can reveal private context even when file contents are encrypted.
- [Encryption at rest vs an unlocked vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/encryption-at-rest-vs-unlocked-vault/): Know when encrypted files must become readable for preview, search, export, or editing.
- [Phone screen lock vs a separate vault lock](https://nullvault.app/guides/phone-lock-vs-vault-lock/): Decide whether device authentication alone matches your privacy boundary.
- [What local-first privacy means](https://nullvault.app/guides/what-local-first-privacy-means/): Separate local live storage from optional accounts, exports, cloud sync, and portable encrypted backups.
- [Can a phone securely delete private files?](https://nullvault.app/guides/secure-deletion-on-flash-storage/): Understand flash translation layers, snapshots, backups, and why key invalidation is not a promise to overwrite every physical cell.
- [Build a threat model for private photos](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-photo-threat-model/): Choose controls by identifying people, devices, accounts, copies, and failure consequences.
- [Audit every copy of a private photo](https://nullvault.app/guides/audit-every-copy-of-a-private-photo/): Trace originals, edits, thumbnails, cloud versions, messages, exports, backups, and recipient copies.
- [How to choose a private photo vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/how-to-choose-a-private-photo-vault/): Evaluate encryption, credentials, metadata, offline use, exports, backup, recovery, platform status, and limitations.
- [Import private photos without losing track of duplicates](https://nullvault.app/guides/import-private-photos-without-duplicates/): Use a verify-first workflow so originals, optimized copies, edits, and exports do not become an accidental privacy trail.
- [Store private notes in an encrypted vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-notes-in-an-encrypted-vault/): Protect text notes while planning search, clipboard, keyboard, screenshots, export, and recovery.
- [Protect private photos on a shared family phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/protect-private-photos-on-a-shared-family-phone/): Separate household device access, account sync, gallery browsing, app credentials, and backup ownership.
- [Private-photo checklist after phone theft](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-photo-checklist-after-phone-theft/): Protect accounts, assess unlocked access, preserve recovery options, and restore private files carefully.
- [How to send a copy of an ID more safely](https://nullvault.app/guides/send-a-copy-of-id-safely/): Minimize the image, metadata, destination, retention, and uncontrolled copies created when identification must be shared.
- [Protect private files before travel](https://nullvault.app/guides/protect-private-files-before-travel/): Reduce what the travel device carries, test recovery, and separate essential documents from unnecessary private media.
- [Store medical documents privately on a phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/store-medical-documents-on-phone/): Balance confidentiality, emergency availability, offline access, sharing, and backup for medical records.
- [Private-photo cleanup after a breakup or account separation](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-photos-after-a-breakup/): Review shared albums, accounts, devices, backups, messages, passwords, and copies without assuming a local move revokes access.
- [Create a secret photo album on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/create-a-secret-photo-album-on-iphone/): Choose between the locked Hidden collection, a locked note, and separate encrypted storage without mistaking an album name for protection.
- [Does iPhone have a Secure Folder?](https://nullvault.app/guides/does-iphone-have-secure-folder/): Compare Apple's locked collections, locked apps, Notes, Files, and third-party vaults with Samsung Secure Folder.
- [Password-protect a folder on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/password-protect-a-folder-on-iphone/): Understand the real protection offered by locked notes, locked apps, encrypted archives, and dedicated vault storage.
- [Password-protect photos on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/password-protect-one-photo-on-iphone/): Choose protection for one photo or a collection on iPhone, distinguish device authentication from a separate vault credential, and account for source copies.
- [Lock photos with Face ID on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/lock-photos-with-face-id-on-iphone/): Lock the Hidden collection or the whole Photos app on iPhone, with clear steps, passcode fallback limits and Stolen Device Protection differences.
- [Can an iPhone Shortcut hide photos securely?](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-photos-with-iphone-shortcuts/): See what Hide actions and automations can streamline—and why automation alone is not a new encryption boundary.
- [How to hide private photos on Mac](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-photos-on-mac/): Compare Photos Hidden, separate macOS users, encrypted disk images, FileVault, and app-managed vaults.
- [How to hide private photos on iPad](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-photos-on-ipad/): Protect photos on an iPad that may be shared for work, school, travel, or family use.
- [How to hide photos in Google Photos](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-photos-in-google-photos/): Set up Locked Folder, decide on backup, and locate the copies that Google Photos does not move automatically.
- [Stop private photos appearing in Memories, widgets, and search](https://nullvault.app/guides/stop-hidden-photos-appearing-in-memories-widgets-search/): Audit the Apple surfaces that can resurface photos even when you rarely open the library.
- [Stop private photos syncing to Apple Watch](https://nullvault.app/guides/stop-private-photos-syncing-to-apple-watch/): Control the synced album, featured photos, memories, and watch-face choices that place images on your wrist.
- [Hide or show a person in People & Pets](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-or-show-a-person-in-photos/): Reduce face-based resurfacing without confusing suggestion controls with deletion or access control.
- [Hide private message previews on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-message-previews-on-iphone/): Protect notification text, sender names, shared-photo previews, and handoff moments without claiming iMessage has a per-chat vault lock.
- [Lock or hide apps on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/lock-or-hide-apps-on-iphone/): Compare native app locking and hiding with Screen Time, Home Screen removal, and encrypted in-app storage.
- [How to hide private apps on Android](https://nullvault.app/guides/hide-apps-on-android/): Compare launcher hiding, Private Space, Samsung Secure Folder, work profiles, and app-level vaults.
- [Find apps you hid on your iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/find-hidden-apps-on-iphone/): Locate intentionally hidden apps on your own device and distinguish Home Screen removal from native app hiding.
- [Find your hidden photos on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/find-hidden-photos-on-iphone/): Locate the Hidden collection, restore its visibility, and check Recently Deleted, Recovered, iCloud, and app-managed vaults.
- [Hidden photos missing after an iPhone transfer](https://nullvault.app/guides/hidden-photos-missing-after-iphone-transfer/): Diagnose Hidden collection visibility, iCloud synchronization, backup scope, account mismatch, and app-vault migration.
- [Can you tell if someone opened Hidden photos?](https://nullvault.app/guides/can-you-tell-if-someone-opened-hidden-photos/): Understand the absence of a dedicated album-access log and evaluate only signals that actually prove something.
- [Are photo vault apps safe?](https://nullvault.app/guides/are-photo-vault-apps-safe/): Audit encryption, key derivation, metadata, accounts, permissions, backups, exports, updates, and deletion behavior.
- [Gallery lock vs an encrypted photo vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/gallery-lock-vs-encrypted-photo-vault/): Separate a locked interface from encrypted app-managed files and a deliberate recovery model.
- [Calculator vault apps explained](https://nullvault.app/guides/calculator-vault-apps-explained/): Understand calculator disguises, discovery paths, encryption differences, backup risks, and App Store or Play Store visibility.
- [Choose an offline photo vault without an account](https://nullvault.app/guides/offline-photo-vault-without-account/): Verify local operation, network dependencies, analytics, backups, recovery, and what happens after device loss.
- [Keep full resolution when importing into a photo vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/keep-full-resolution-in-a-photo-vault/): Detect silent recompression by comparing dimensions, file size, metadata, color, motion resources, and export behavior.
- [Do photo vault apps back up to iCloud?](https://nullvault.app/guides/do-photo-vaults-back-up-to-icloud/): Distinguish device backup, iCloud Drive files, CloudKit sync, provider cloud accounts, and portable encrypted backups.
- [Export photos from a private vault safely](https://nullvault.app/guides/export-photos-from-a-private-vault/): Move selected items back to Photos or Files without creating a forgotten plaintext trail.
- [Forgot your photo vault password or pattern](https://nullvault.app/guides/forgot-photo-vault-password/): Choose a recovery path based on whether the secret controls encryption, an interface lock, an account, or a same-device key.
- [PBKDF2 vs Argon2id for vault passwords](https://nullvault.app/guides/pbkdf2-vs-argon2id-for-vault-passwords/): Compare established password-based key derivation by memory cost, iteration tuning, compatibility, and implementation quality.
- [Secure Enclave and private vaults](https://nullvault.app/guides/secure-enclave-and-private-vaults/): Understand hardware-backed key operations, device authentication, app access control, and the limits of Apple's security coprocessor.
- [Plausible deniability vs a decoy vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/plausible-deniability-vs-decoy-vault/): Distinguish cosmetic camouflage, harmless alternate content, hidden namespace design, and destructive coercion responses.
- [Is iCloud Photos end-to-end encrypted?](https://nullvault.app/guides/is-icloud-photos-end-to-end-encrypted/): Compare standard data protection with Advanced Data Protection, web access, sharing, recovery, and metadata.
- [iPhone photo storage options compared](https://nullvault.app/guides/iphone-photo-storage-options/): Compare local Photos, iCloud Photos, Google Photos, Files, encrypted archives, and dedicated vaults by access and recovery.
- [Can attackers access cloud photo storage?](https://nullvault.app/guides/can-hackers-access-cloud-photos/): Focus on stolen credentials, phishing, reused passwords, sessions, recovery channels, malicious apps, and shared links.
- [Stop iCloud Photos syncing to another device](https://nullvault.app/guides/stop-icloud-photos-syncing/): Disconnect synchronization without deleting irreplaceable originals or confusing optimized placeholders with complete local files.
- [Delete photos from iPhone but keep a cloud copy](https://nullvault.app/guides/delete-photos-from-iphone-but-keep-cloud-copy/): Free local space without triggering synchronized deletion or relying on incomplete uploads.
- [Can Family Sharing see your photos?](https://nullvault.app/guides/can-family-sharing-see-my-photos/): Separate shared subscriptions from shared Apple Accounts, Shared Albums, Shared Library, and device passcode access.
- [View and remove EXIF photo metadata](https://nullvault.app/guides/view-and-remove-exif-photo-metadata/): Inspect GPS, date, device, camera settings, captions, and provenance fields before a file leaves your control.
- [Share private photos more securely](https://nullvault.app/guides/share-private-photos-securely/): Compare direct device transfer, encrypted messaging, cloud links, email, and deliberate vault export by recipient control.
- [Live Photos privacy: what gets shared](https://nullvault.app/guides/live-photos-privacy/): Remember the motion and audio around the still frame, and choose whether to share the Live Photo or only a derived still.
- [AirDrop privacy for photo sharing](https://nullvault.app/guides/airdrop-photo-privacy/): Limit discoverability, verify the recipient device, review metadata, and understand what happens after acceptance.
- [Turn off Shared with You photos](https://nullvault.app/guides/turn-off-shared-with-you-photos/): Stop Messages content from appearing inside supported apps globally, per app, or for a conversation.
- [Who can see Recently Deleted photos?](https://nullvault.app/guides/who-can-see-recently-deleted-photos/): Understand authentication, synchronization, retention, recovery, and why deleting from one place may affect the full library.
- [Recover deleted private photos safely](https://nullvault.app/guides/recover-deleted-private-photos/): Check trash, Recently Deleted, cloud libraries, backups, exports, and vault restore paths before using invasive recovery tools.
- [Stop WhatsApp saving photos to your camera roll](https://nullvault.app/guides/stop-whatsapp-saving-photos/): Change future media-saving behavior and clean existing Photos or gallery copies without deleting needed messages.
- [A practical iPhone privacy settings audit](https://nullvault.app/guides/iphone-privacy-settings-audit/): Review device lock, account security, app access, location, photos, notifications, analytics, sharing, backups, and recovery.
- [Lock the Files app on iPhone](https://nullvault.app/guides/lock-files-app-on-iphone/): Use native app locking where supported and understand why individual Files folders still have separate protection limits.
- [Password-protect a PDF on your phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/password-protect-a-pdf-on-phone/): Choose a tool that applies real PDF encryption, verify the output, and share the password through a separate channel.
- [Password manager vs a private file vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/password-manager-vs-private-file-vault/): Use the right protected system for credentials versus photos, documents, videos, and notes.
- [Keep sensitive screenshots private](https://nullvault.app/guides/keep-screenshots-private/): Handle bank screens, tickets, conversations, receipts, recovery codes, and identity details without leaving them in the default gallery.
- [Pattern vs PIN vs Face ID for a private vault](https://nullvault.app/guides/pattern-vs-pin-vs-face-id/): Compare observation resistance, entropy, convenience, coercion, fallback, accessibility, and key derivation.
- [Does Lockdown Mode protect private photos?](https://nullvault.app/guides/does-lockdown-mode-protect-photos/): Separate extreme attack-surface reduction from photo hiding, app locking, encryption, and ordinary privacy controls.
- [Stolen Device Protection and your photo library](https://nullvault.app/guides/stolen-device-protection-and-photos/): Understand how added biometric checks and security delays protect account changes without becoming a separate photo vault.
- [Apple Intelligence and photo privacy](https://nullvault.app/guides/apple-intelligence-and-photo-privacy/): Understand on-device analysis, Private Cloud Compute claims, feature-specific data use, sharing, and settings.
- [Clipboard privacy on iPhone and Android](https://nullvault.app/guides/clipboard-privacy-on-phone/): Reduce exposure from copied passwords, recovery phrases, private notes, images, and cross-device clipboard features.
- [Private-file checklist before selling an Android phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/before-selling-an-android-phone/): Verify backups and the replacement device before removing accounts, storage cards, vault keys, and the old phone.
- [Photo and source-material privacy for journalists](https://nullvault.app/guides/photo-privacy-for-journalists/): Separate working files, source identities, notes, contacts, exports, communications, and emergency recovery on a daily phone.
- [Private client photos and files on a lawyer's phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/private-client-files-for-lawyers/): Reduce loose intake photos, privileged notes, cloud copies, message attachments, and uncontrolled exports.
- [Store tax documents more safely on a phone](https://nullvault.app/guides/store-tax-documents-on-phone/): Protect tax PDFs, identification numbers, receipts, account details, and temporary scans without losing recovery.
- [Store intimate photos more safely](https://nullvault.app/guides/store-intimate-photos-safely/): Reduce forgotten copies, cloud exposure, accidental resurfacing, coercion risk, and non-consensual sharing consequences.

## Scenarios, concepts, audiences and selection guides

- [Reviewing private photos after a breakup](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/after-a-breakup/)
- [Preparing private files before international travel](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/border-travel/)
- [When a child borrows your phone](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/child-borrows-phone/)
- [Planning family access if you cannot unlock your files](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/emergency-family-access/)
- [Private-photo decisions for real situations](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/)
- [Private files after a phone is lost or stolen](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/lost-or-stolen-phone/)
- [When you cannot find a recovery phrase](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/lost-recovery-phrase/)
- [Moving a private archive to a new phone](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/moving-to-a-new-phone/)
- [Before handing a phone over for repair](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/phone-repair/)
- [When someone pressures you to unlock your phone](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/phone-unlock-pressure/)
- [Before selling or giving away a phone](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/selling-a-phone/)
- [Private media on a shared cloud account](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/shared-cloud-account/)
- [Before sharing an identity-document copy](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/sharing-an-identity-document/)
- [Showing one photo without opening the whole library](https://nullvault.app/scenarios/showing-one-photo/)
- [What is AES-256-GCM?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/aes-256-gcm/)
- [What is Argon2id?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/argon2id/)
- [What is Decoy vault?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/decoy-vault/)
- [What is Duress vault?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/duress-vault/)
- [What is Encrypted backup?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/encrypted-backup/)
- [What is End-to-end encryption?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/end-to-end-encryption/)
- [Security concepts for private photos and files](https://nullvault.app/concepts/)
- [What is Panic wipe?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/panic-wipe/)
- [What is Photo metadata?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/photo-metadata/)
- [What is Plausible deniability in a vault app?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/plausible-deniability/)
- [What is Recovery phrase?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/recovery-phrase/)
- [What is Secure Enclave and Android Keystore?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/secure-enclave-keystore/)
- [What is Zero-knowledge in private storage?](https://nullvault.app/concepts/zero-knowledge/)
- [Private archives for activists and organizers](https://nullvault.app/for/activists/)
- [Find the right private-file workflow](https://nullvault.app/for/)
- [Private-file storage for journalists](https://nullvault.app/for/journalists/)
- [Private photo storage for parents and shared family devices](https://nullvault.app/for/parents/)
- [Sensitive working files for legal and healthcare professionals](https://nullvault.app/for/professionals/)
- [Private-file decisions when someone monitors your technology](https://nullvault.app/for/survivors/)
- [Private documents for frequent travellers](https://nullvault.app/for/travellers/)
- [Alternatives to built-in hidden photo albums](https://nullvault.app/alternatives/built-in-hidden-albums/)
- [Alternatives to an ordinary cloud photo library](https://nullvault.app/alternatives/cloud-photo-libraries/)
- [Alternatives by the privacy job you need done](https://nullvault.app/alternatives/)
- [Choosing an encrypted-backup workflow you can recover](https://nullvault.app/best/encrypted-backup-workflow/)
- [Choose a private vault by your actual requirements](https://nullvault.app/best/)

- [Pricing](https://nullvault.app/pricing/): Verified free iOS download and official store purchase information.
- [Press resources](https://nullvault.app/press/): Product facts, brand assets and contact.

## Notes for automated readers

- Guides are also published in 0 additional languages under a locale path prefix, for example https://nullvault.app/de/guides/.
- Fictional worked examples in guides are explicitly labelled as fictional. They are illustrations of a decision process, not case studies or product testing reports.
- Nothing on this site is an independent security audit or certification of NullVault.
- A fuller plain-text corpus of the cornerstone guides is at https://nullvault.app/llms-full.txt