Locking the Photos app vs a vault

What the lock does

On the Home Screen, touch and hold Photos and choose Require Face ID (iPhone User Guide). From then on, the whole library, every album and every video, sits behind one check.

The iPhone User Guide says the lock is only on that iPhone and doesn’t sync with iCloud (iPhone User Guide, locking an app). If your library also lives on an iPad or a Mac through iCloud Photos, each of those needs its own lock.

Locking Photos, then Sealed, row by row

What the lock leaves open

Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode. The check accepts it in place of Face ID (iPhone User Guide). Someone who once watched you type it can open Photos.

Everything at once, once it is open. One check opens the full library, and it stays open until you quit Photos. The guide says it relocks after you quit, not after each picture.

Apps you already let in. Apple’s privacy page says Allow Full Access gives an app your photos and videos, and that Limit Access lets you pick which ones an app can see (Apple Legal, Photos & Privacy). Check Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Photos.

Your other devices. With iCloud Photos on, the same pictures are on your iPad and Mac. With iCloud Photos on, your photos and videos are stored in iCloud so that you can reach them on all your devices. The lock you set on the iPhone does not travel there.

When locking Photos is enough

• You want the camera roll closed whenever the phone sits unlocked on a table.
• Nobody near you knows your iPhone passcode.
• You want every picture behind one check, not a chosen few.
• You don’t want a new app, a new passcode or a recovery key to keep.

In those cases the built-in lock is the simpler tool, and it is free. Pair it with the locked album in Photos for the pictures you never want in the main grid. Our guide to locking any app has the steps, and our page on ways to password protect photos lists the other options.

When a vault fits better

Only some photos need a lock. Move those into Sealed and leave the rest of your camera roll as it is. Photos and videos are sealed the moment they arrive, and afterwards you can remove the originals from Photos if you like. 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.

Someone knows your iPhone passcode. Sealed’s own code keeps them out, as long as Face ID isn’t allowed to stand in for it. With Face ID unlock on, and Dual Lock and Maximum Security off, Sealed asks iOS for owner authentication and not for a face match alone. In iOS, an app that asks for owner authentication gets Face ID or Touch ID first, and the device passcode when biometry isn’t available or the person taps the fallback button. With plain Face ID unlock on, someone who knows your iPhone passcode can open Sealed through the Face ID prompt. So leave Face ID unlock off in Sealed, or turn on Dual Lock. Dual Lock asks for your passcode and a Face ID match together, and it is part of Sealed Pro.

You want the copies sealed, not just closed. Each file gets its own random 256-bit key, and that key is sealed with your vault key. Thumbnails are encrypted like the photos, and Sealed wipes the decrypted copies it shows in the grid when the vault locks.

You want wrong guesses slowed down and logged. By default, after three wrong passcodes in a row Sealed locks entry for 30 seconds, then for 1, 5, 15 and finally 60 minutes after each further wrong try. While Break-In Alerts is on, every wrong try is saved as a failed unlock attempt with its date and time. Break-in alerts are part of Sealed Pro.

For the other places pictures turn up, see where private photos still show up on iPhone. To weigh a face, a passcode and a pattern, see which lock is safest.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps when a few photos need a passcode that is not your iPhone’s. Sealed has a passcode of its own, a gate inside the app that is separate from your iPhone passcode. Sealed encrypts every file with AES-256-GCM before it is saved.

It helps when you want the copies out of your camera roll. Photos and videos are sealed the moment they arrive, and afterwards you can remove the originals from Photos if you like.

It doesn’t lock your whole library. What you leave in Photos, originals included until you delete them, stays as open as it was. Until you delete them, the originals stay in Photos, outside the vault.

It doesn’t keep more than a set number of photos for free. The free plan holds up to 100 photos. On the free plan you can add photos. Videos, documents, notes and records need Sealed Pro.

It can’t open without your passcode or your recovery key. Because your key never reaches us, we cannot recover your vault or reset your passcode for you.