A locked note or a vault app?

Side by side

The note column comes from the Notes pages listed under Sources. The Sealed column comes from dated facts checked against the app.

The catch most people miss

Your iPhone passcode can be the lock. Apple gives two choices: lock notes with the passcode that unlocks your phone, or make a password only for Notes (Apple, article 102537). If you pick the phone passcode, anyone who knows it can open the note. Pick the Notes password if that matters to you, and write it down: Apple can’t reset it for you.

A locked note can’t hold most files. Apple says a note with tags, a PDF, audio, video, or a Keynote, Pages or Numbers document can’t be locked (Apple, article 102537). A scan of a passport saved as a PDF falls on the wrong side of that line.

A photo taken in Notes can land in Photos. The iPhone User Guide says photos and videos taken in Notes go to the Photos app when Save to Photos is on (Apple, iPhone User Guide). Check Settings, then Apps, then Notes, before you take a picture of a card inside a note.

The note opens for a while. Apple says an unlocked note stays open for several minutes, and locks again when you close Notes or the phone goes to sleep (Apple, article 102537). Sealed has its own rule. Sealed locks as soon as you leave it unless you choose a delay, and it covers its contents in the app switcher.

Which fits which job

A few lines you want out of plain sight, such as a door code or a gift list. A locked note fits, and it costs nothing. Use a Notes password rather than your phone passcode.

Photos you want out of your camera roll. A note isn’t built for that, and a photo taken inside it may still be saved to Photos. A vault fits better. Photos and videos are sealed the moment they arrive, and afterwards you can remove the originals from Photos if you like. Until you delete them, the originals stay in Photos, outside the vault. For the locked album in Photos, see the locked album compared with a vault.

A long note with an attachment. Apple won’t lock a note that carries a PDF or a recording (Apple, article 102537), so the lock you counted on may simply be greyed out. Split the text from the file, or keep both in Sealed. Secure notes are sealed like everything else in the vault. Our page on where to keep a passport photo covers scans.

A 2FA setup key. In a note it is one more line of text. In Sealed it becomes a live code. 2FA codes stay live in the vault and are ready to copy.

Something a person who knows your phone passcode must not open. A note locked with the phone passcode doesn’t help. A Notes password does, and so does Sealed’s own passcode, with one setting to watch. Sealed has a passcode of its own, a gate inside the app that is separate from your iPhone passcode. 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. 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.

If you move notes into Sealed

1. Open the locked note and copy its text.
2. In Sealed, tap the plus button, then New Note, and paste. On the free plan you can add photos. Videos, documents, notes and records need Sealed Pro.
3. Send each photo in the note to Sealed from the share sheet, or save it to Files first and add it from there. You can add photos from Photos, files from Files, and items from the share sheet of other apps.
4. Delete the old note in Notes when you have checked the copy, then empty Recently Deleted in Notes.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps when you want one passcode of its own over photos, scans, notes and records together. Sealed has a passcode of its own, a gate inside the app that is separate from your iPhone passcode. Names, notes and the fields of a record are sealed with your vault key too, not just the photos.

It helps when you want a written way back if you forget the passcode. During setup Sealed gives you a recovery key: a long code of letters and numbers, in groups, that can bring your vault back. Keep it safe with the recovery key checklist.

It doesn’t give you notes for free. On the free plan you can add photos. Videos, documents, notes and records need Sealed Pro.

It doesn’t have a Windows or web app. An iPad can join the same backup with your recovery key. Sealed runs on iPhone and iPad. Other devices join your backup with your recovery key.

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

Read how Sealed protects your files for what the encryption covers and where it stops, and how to password protect photos on iPhone for every option side by side.