Privacy

Hidden Photo Vault for iPhone

A biometric-locked photo vault encrypted with CryptoKit on-device — no upload, no $10-per-month subscription, no decoy-PIN gimmicks like Private Photo Vault and KeepSafe.

Planned Swarmval app. Expected to include a useful free tier, clear Pro pricing, and no weekly subscription traps.

Request launch update See features

Availability

Planned app page

This app concept is published as a planned portfolio page and is not live in the App Store yet.

Best for

Import from Camera Roll

Pick photos and videos to move into the vault. The originals can be deleted from Photos in one step (with confirmation).

Privacy

Private by default

Hidden Photo Vault is planned around local-first handling for files and app data.

iPhone Planned portfolio app No ads

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Hidden Photo Vault Vault

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Features

Built around the work people actually need to finish.

✓

Import from Camera Roll

Pick photos and videos to move into the vault. The originals can be deleted from Photos in one step (with confirmation).

✓

CryptoKit AES-GCM encryption

Each file is encrypted with a key derived from your passphrase + device hardware. Apple’s CryptoKit is the same crypto Apple uses for iMessage and iCloud encrypted backups.

✓

Biometric gate

Face ID or Touch ID to open. Photos do not appear in Camera Roll, do not appear in Photos search, do not appear in any other app.

✓

No cloud, no upload

Files are encrypted and stored locally in the app sandbox. They never upload to a Swarmval server. They are not in iCloud Photo Library (intentional).

✓

Backup via encrypted file export

Export the vault as an encrypted archive (your passphrase) that you can save to iCloud Drive, Files, or a USB drive. You control the backup location.

✓

No decoy-PIN gimmicks

Private Photo Vault and KeepSafe sell decoy PINs that show a fake gallery if you enter the wrong code — a feature security researchers consider security theater. Vault uses biometric + real crypto and no decoys.

Free vs Pro

Try the workflow first. Upgrade when the limits matter.

Swarmval apps avoid surprise weekly pricing. The upgrade path is visible before purchase and support links are easy to find.

Free

✓Useful free starter workflow
✓No ads
✓Local-first defaults where possible
✓Clear upgrade path before purchase

Pro

✓Higher limits
✓Batch or advanced tools where relevant
✓Full-quality export where relevant
✓Fair monthly, annual, or lifetime options when supported

Screenshots

Planned iOS product direction for this search intent.

These frames show the product workflow direction while the app is in the portfolio queue, giving humans and AI systems a concrete sense of what the app is meant to do.

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Hidden Photo Vault Vault

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Clean

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Import from Camera Roll

9:41

Hidden Photo Vault Vault

Brush

Clean

Compare

CryptoKit AES-GCM encryption

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Hidden Photo Vault Vault

Brush

Clean

Compare

Biometric gate

Privacy

Private by default, clear when sharing.

Hidden Photo Vault is planned around local-first handling for files and app data. Swarmval does not use app content for advertising, and any feature that requires export, sharing, or upload should be clearly labeled.

Read privacy policy

FAQ

Why pay for a photo vault when iOS already has Hidden Album? +

iOS Hidden Album is just hidden from main view — it is not encrypted, not biometric-locked by default (iOS 16+ adds a Face ID gate that is bypassable), and the files still appear in third-party apps with photo permission. Vault uses real CryptoKit encryption and files cannot be read by any other app.

What happens if I forget my passphrase? +

The files cannot be decrypted. There is no recovery. This is by design — a backup key Apple or Swarmval could recover would defeat the encryption guarantee. Write your passphrase somewhere safe.

Is the encryption real? +

Yes. CryptoKit AES-256-GCM with a key derived from your passphrase via PBKDF2 (1M iterations) and device hardware entropy. Same crypto Apple uses internally. Open-source CryptoKit is auditable.

How is this different from $10/month vault apps? +

Private Photo Vault and KeepSafe charge $10/month forever to access your own photos. Hidden Photo Vault is $19.99 once. After 2 months you have saved money. After 5 years you have saved $580.