Situations
Lending your phone, a repair, a trip abroad, a new iPhone: what to do before, during and after, written one situation at a time.
Everyday moments
- A child wants your phone for a game: keep them in it A few minutes of a game on your iPhone shouldn’t end in deleted photos or a camera roll on show. Set it up once, then hand it over in two seconds.
- A stranger tried to send you a photo nearby A request from a name you don’t know popped up on your screen. Decline it, check that nothing was saved, and stop strangers on the train from reaching your phone.
- Choosing photos for a dating profile Picking five good photos of yourself for a dating app, and keeping the shortlist, the rejects and what the app can see under your control. Your own photos only.
- Guests staying over, and devices everyone uses A family iPad on the sofa, guests asking for the Wi-Fi password, a shared photo library: where private photos turn up when devices are shared, and what to change.
- Lending your phone to someone for a call or a photo Someone asks to borrow your iPhone for a quick call or a photo. What to do in the ten seconds before you hand it over, while they hold it, and after.
- One Mac, several people, one Photos library When the whole family shares one Mac login, everyone sees everyone’s photos. How separate user accounts split them, and where the photos that are yours alone go.
- Planning a surprise: keeping it off your camera roll A gift receipt, a venue booking, a slideshow of old photos: planning a surprise on a phone the guest of honor might glance at. Where to keep it all until the day.
- Selling things online: the photos you take along the way Listing a bike, a laptop or a pair of concert tickets? The photos of serial numbers, receipts and your ID that a sale leaves behind, and where they belong.
- Selling your car: the paperwork photos Selling a car privately fills your phone with photos of the title, the registration, the VIN and service records. What to post, what to keep, and when to clear it.
- Sharing a room, a kitchen and a Wi-Fi network In a dorm or shared flat, your phone sits on a desk others walk past. Simple habits for photos, ID scans and the shared Wi-Fi, without seeming to distrust anyone.
- Showing holiday photos on the living-room TV You want to show the family your trip on the big screen. Why one swipe too far shows the wrong picture, and how to send only the photos you picked.
- Showing someone one photo, and only that photo You want to show one picture and keep the rest of your camera roll to yourself. Three ways to do it on an iPhone, and what each one leaves open.
- Someone saw a photo on your lock screen Your wallpaper, a widget or a message preview showed a stranger more than you meant. The three places a locked iPhone shows photos, and the settings that stop it.
- You left your phone unlocked on the table You walked away and the screen stayed on. What a person could open in sixty seconds, how to spot what changed, and the settings that close that gap.
Work and travel
- Client photos on a photographer’s phone Behind-the-scenes shots, previews, a model release: client work on your personal iPhone. How to keep it out of your camera roll and hand it over cleanly.
- Clients' IDs, offers and contracts on an agent’s phone Agents get photos of IDs, proof of funds and offers by text at all hours. Your brokerage’s rules come first; then how to keep them apart and clear them.
- Days without reception: what still works A cruise, a trek or a roaming plan you’d rather not use. Which parts of your vault work with no connection, which wait for one, and what to do first.
- Looking for a new job while you still have one CVs, cover letters, offers and references on a phone you also use at work. Where each one belongs, what a work-managed phone sees, and what to clear later.
- Mirroring or sharing your iPhone screen in a meeting You’re about to put your iPhone on a projector, a TV or a video call. What can pop up on screen, how to stop it, and what your vault does while the screen is shared.
- On hotel or café Wi-Fi with private files Public Wi-Fi at a hotel, café or holiday rental. What the network can learn about your phone, what your vault sends over it, and the two features to keep for home.
- Private photos on a work or managed iPhone Your employer gave you an iPhone, or manages the one you own. What its administrator can see and control, and why your private photos belong on a phone that’s yours.
- Reporting photos that could identify a source A photo can name a source by its location, its device or a face in the corner. What to strip, where to keep originals, and what a phone vault can’t solve.
- Running a small business from your phone: the paperwork Receipts in your wallet, contracts in email, a client’s ID in your camera roll: keeping a small business’s papers on your iPhone, in order and apart from photos.
- Session notes on your own iPhone You jot notes between clients on your phone. What your professional rules decide first, what a vault with sealed notes adds, and what it can’t promise for you.
- Starting a new job: sending your ID and tax documents Your new employer wants your ID, a tax form and bank details by Friday. How to send them from your iPhone without leaving copies in your camera roll and email.
- Traveling with your passport and documents on your phone Your passport, bookings and insurance papers on your iPhone for a trip: what to scan before you leave, how to reach them offline, and what if the phone goes missing.
- Work files on a phone that’s yours A contract, a client list or a draft report ends up on your own iPhone. Read the rules first. If copies are allowed, keep them apart and clear them on time.
Documents and records
- A dispute at work: keeping a dated record A disagreement with a manager or about pay is turning formal. How to keep dated notes and screenshots in order on your own phone, and what to ask an adviser first.
- Applying for a mortgage from your iPhone A lender or broker asks for months of pay slips, bank statements and ID. How to gather them once, send only what’s asked, and clear the copies after closing.
- At the roadside after a crash Once everyone is safe, your phone is the best notebook you have. What to photograph at the scene, how to handle the other driver’s details, and where it all goes.
- Caring for a parent: their documents on your phone Insurance cards, medication lists, appointment letters and account numbers for a parent you help. How to keep them on your iPhone, ready at a front desk, and safe.
- Debt letters, statements and screenshots you’d rather nobody saw Money trouble comes with paper: final notices, payment plans, court letters, balance screenshots. How to keep them in order on your iPhone, out of sight.
- If something happens to you: letting family reach your documents Your passport scan, insurance papers and account details sit in an encrypted vault. How to make sure the right people can open it if you can’t, and nobody else.
- Keeping letters and keepsake photos for later A grandparent’s letters, a card from a friend, prints from a shoebox: how to scan and keep keepsakes on your iPhone so you can still open them years from now.
- Making an insurance claim: photos and receipts Water on the floor, a dented car, a fence down after a storm. What to photograph right away, which receipts to dig up, and how to keep the claim’s file together.
- Moving house: the papers and photos you can’t lose Boxes everywhere and a folder of papers you’ll need next month. What to scan before you pack, which photos to take on the last day, and where to keep them.
- Photos of a rash, a scar or a wound as it heals Your doctor asked you to photograph a mole, a rash or a healing wound every week. How to take photos you can compare, keep them off the camera roll, and send them.
- Renting an apartment: move-in photos and the lease The day you get the keys is the day to record the place’s condition. How to take move-in photos that hold up later, and where to keep them and the lease.
- The paperwork behind a side business A market stall, a craft shop or weekend tutoring brings licences, permits, insurance and ID checks. Where to keep them, when they expire, who gets copies.
Phone changes
- Moving to a new iPhone, on the day The new iPhone is out of the box. A morning-to-evening checklist that keeps your vault safe, from the old phone’s last backup to the first unlock.
- You lost your iPhone: what happens to your private photos Your iPhone is missing. What a finder can and can’t reach, what to do in the first hour, and how to get your vault back if the phone never turns up.
- You’re selling or trading in your iPhone A buyer or a trade-in desk gets your old iPhone next. Decide what happens to your vault, what to export, and what to erase, before the phone leaves your hand.
- Your iPhone broke and won’t turn on A dead or smashed iPhone, and private photos you can’t reach. Try Apple’s restart first, then what comes back from a backup and what stays on the dead phone.
- Your iPhone is going in for repair A cracked screen or a tired battery, and an appointment tomorrow. What a technician can reach, what to do at the counter, and what to check when it’s back.
- Your iPhone was stolen What to do in the minutes and days after an iPhone is stolen, including the case where the thief saw your passcode, and what a vault with its own key changes.
Private photos
- Unreleased work: sketches, mockups and demos on your phone Artists, designers and musicians carry drafts on their phones. How to keep unfinished work out of shared libraries and slideshows, and how to send a preview.
- Weekly progress photos, without the awkward memory Monday mirror selfies for a training plan are useful to you and nobody else. How to take ones you can compare, keep them off the camera roll, and share with a coach.