A photo vault or an encrypted cloud

Disclosure. Sealed is made by Loopware LLC. Sealed is a vault. Where a cloud is the better tool, this page says so.

They protect against different things

An encrypted cloud protects the copy on someone else’s computer. The company stores your files but can’t read them. Proton’s listing, for example, says even Proton can’t view your content (listing).

A vault protects the copy on your phone. It puts chosen items behind a code that is not your phone’s passcode, out of the camera roll. Sealed has a passcode of its own, a gate inside the app that is separate from your iPhone passcode. Photos and videos are sealed the moment they arrive, and afterwards you can remove the originals from Photos if you like.

So the question is not which is “more secure”. It is which risk you are dealing with. A company or a breach reading your cloud? Or a person holding your unlocked phone?

Five questions that decide it

1. Is it everything, or a few things? Clouds back up the whole camera roll; MEGA and Proton Drive both offer automatic camera backup (MEGA, Proton Drive). A vault keeps only what you add. Sealed imports only the photos and videos you choose, and deletes the originals in Photos only when you ask.

2. Do you need it on a computer? Ente works on mobile, desktop and the web (listing). A vault usually stays on the phone. Sealed runs on iPhone and iPad.

3. Who opens your phone? If a family member, a colleague or a repair desk sometimes holds it unlocked, a cloud app with no lock of its own shows them everything it has. Proton’s iPhone app can add Face ID, Touch ID or a PIN (Proton support); a vault is built around that lock. You can open Sealed with Face ID or Touch ID, a 4-, 6- or 9-digit passcode, a password or a pattern. Sealed locks as soon as you leave it unless you choose a delay, and it covers its contents in the app switcher.

4. Do you want an account? Clouds need one, since your files live with them. Sealed has no account, so there is nothing to sign up for.

5. How do you get back in? In both, a key only you hold means nobody can reset it for you. Because your key never reaches us, we cannot recover your vault or reset your passcode for you. Write the recovery key down on day one, whichever you choose.

At a glance

The table is a rule of thumb, not a promise for every app. Check each one’s own pages. Our list of encrypted clouds for photos does that for seven services, and how photo vault apps work does it for vaults.

When to use both

Most people who care about this end up with one of each:

1. The cloud backs up the whole camera roll.
2. The passport scan, the health photo and the bank card go into the vault. You can add photos from Photos, files from Files, and items from the share sheet of other apps.
3. You delete those originals, so the next cloud backup doesn’t pick them up. After you import photos, Sealed asks whether to delete the originals from Photos or keep them, and says that deleted originals move to Recently Deleted in Photos.
4. The vault’s own backup stays encrypted. Files, names, notes and record fields are encrypted on your iPhone before they are uploaded, so iCloud receives only ciphertext.

If you would rather keep everything off any account, an offline vault with no account covers that path.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps if the worry is someone with your phone in their hand. Sealed has a passcode of its own, a gate inside the app that is separate from your iPhone passcode. Sealed locks as soon as you leave it unless you choose a delay, and it covers its contents in the app switcher.

It helps if you want no account and no data collected. Sealed has no account, so there is nothing to sign up for. Sealed contains no analytics or tracking SDKs, and it collects no data.

It doesn’t back up your camera roll or sync files to a computer. Sealed imports only the photos and videos you choose, and deletes the originals in Photos only when you ask. Sealed runs on iPhone and iPad.

It doesn’t hold videos or documents on the free plan. On the free plan you can add photos. Videos, documents, notes and records need Sealed Pro.