Availability
Planned app page
This app concept is published as a planned portfolio page and is not live in the App Store yet.
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.
Free to try. Pro $4.99/month (3-day free trial), $14.99/year, or $19.99 lifetime. No weekly subscription traps.
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
9:41
Hidden Photo Vault Vault
Brush
Clean
Compare
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.
Quick answers
Short answers before this app ships.
These direct answers explain what the planned app is for, confirm that it is not live yet, and state the intended pricing path clearly.
What is Hidden Photo Vault?
Hidden Photo Vault is a planned Swarmval app for photo vault, private photo storage, hide photos on 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.
Is Hidden Photo Vault live in the App Store yet?
No. Hidden Photo Vault is a planned standalone app page in the Swarmval portfolio, so the page explains the product direction without claiming the app is already live in the App Store.
What pricing is planned for Hidden Photo Vault?
Free to try. Pro $4.99/month (3-day free trial), $14.99/year, or $19.99 lifetime. No weekly subscription traps. That is the intended Swarmval pricing model once Hidden Photo Vault ships.
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.
9:41
Hidden Photo Vault Vault
Brush
Clean
Compare
Import from Camera Roll
9:41
Hidden Photo Vault Vault
Brush
Clean
Compare
CryptoKit AES-GCM encryption
9:41
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.
What happens to my vault if I lose my iPhone? +
If you have iCloud Backup enabled, the vault’s encrypted blob is in the backup — restore on the new iPhone, enter your passphrase, files decrypt. If you don’t use iCloud Backup, the files are gone (which is the privacy-trade-off you accepted). The Pro “Export encrypted backup” feature exists for this exact case — save the encrypted blob to iCloud Drive or a USB drive on a manual cadence.
Does iCloud Photo Library see the vault files? +
No — the vault stores files in app-private sandbox storage, not in the Photos library. iCloud Photo Library, third-party photo apps with photo permission, and AirDrop preview cannot see vaulted files. Adding a file to the vault automatically removes it from Photos if you opt in to that flow.
Related tools
Same kind of work. Same anti-fleeceware promise.