How VaultCube keeps your photos private.
VaultCube encrypts every photo and video on your iPhone before saving it. The key comes from your pattern, and we never see it. Without that key, or your recovery phrase, the vault’s files are unreadable.
The model in plain words
Your pattern unlocks a key
It runs through a slow key-derivation function, which makes guessing it at scale expensive.
That key unlocks the vault
Each file is encrypted with AES-256-GCM, an authenticated cipher, so a changed or damaged file is detected and never shown.
Nothing readable leaves
We run no server that holds your photos or keys. Backups contain only encrypted data.
The phrase is your spare key
Shown once, when you create the vault. Without it and your pattern, nobody can recover the vault, including us.
What VaultCube protects against
| Situation | Protected? |
|---|---|
| Someone who knows your phone’s passcode opens the app | Yes. The vault needs its own pattern |
| Your phone is plugged into a computer and the files are copied | Yes. They copy encrypted data |
| Someone gets into your iCloud account | Yes. The backup is encrypted before upload |
| You lose your phone | Yes. Restore with the recovery phrase |
| Someone forces you to unlock it | Partly. A decoy vault can show harmless content |
What it does not protect against
- Photos still in the Photos app or iCloud Photos after you import them. Delete the originals; VaultCube offers to.
- A compromised phone. Spyware, a jailbreak or a malicious keyboard can see what you see while the vault is open.
- Screenshots or a camera pointed at the screen while the vault is open.
- A forgotten pattern and a lost recovery phrase. There is no back door, so there is no reset.
Technical details
| File encryption | AES-256-GCM, a unique nonce per file |
|---|---|
| Key derivation | PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 with 600,000 iterations and a random per-device salt |
| Key storage | iOS Keychain, “when unlocked, this device only” |
| File names and metadata | Encrypted too: file names, dates and thumbnails are sealed with AES-256-GCM |
| Analytics | Anonymous usage and crash data, on by default, with an off switch in Settings. Never vault contents. |
| Network access | Only Apple services (iCloud backup, App Store) and anonymous analytics. Never readable vault data. |
Every row describes the version on the App Store. If a release changes one, we update this table.
Questions
Can VaultCube staff see my photos?
No. We never receive your photos or the keys that decrypt them.
Can police or a court make you hand over my photos?
We have nothing to hand over: no account, no copy of your photos, no keys. They could still ask you to unlock your phone; that depends on the law where you are.
Is VaultCube open source?
Not today. This page documents the design in detail, and we welcome review: write to us and we’ll walk you through it.
How do I report a security problem?
Write to security@vaultcube.app. We reply within 2 working days and credit researchers who want credit.