Hidlet vs Privault: Which Photo Vault Is More Private?

Hidlet is an iPhone app

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Privault has been on the App Store since 2017 and has more than 76,000 ratings in the US. It keeps photos and videos behind a keypad, and it has a few tricks for the moment someone asks to see inside. If you’re choosing between it and Hidlet, the question that matters is what actually protects your photos once someone has your phone.

This comparison puts the two side by side, using only what Privault’s own App Store listing, privacy policy and terms say. The developer has no website that we could find. Where we couldn’t confirm something, we say so.

Checked on 25 October 2026, against Privault 10.2 on the US App Store.

The short version

How each one protects your photos

Privault’s listing says its “encrypted storage” opens only “when you enter your particular digit-passcode”. That’s the only thing the developer says about encryption. The listing doesn’t name a method, say how the key is made or kept, or say whether anything is stored off the phone. The privacy policy doesn’t mention encrypting photos at all.

That doesn’t mean the photos aren’t well protected. It means you can’t check, and a keypad on its own only stops someone from using the app.

Hidlet is built so the answer is written down:

• Each vault has its own random key.
• Every photo and video is encrypted with AES-256 before it’s saved.
• Your pattern unlocks the vault’s key on the phone and is never stored anywhere.
• Guessing patterns is slowed down on purpose, and after three wrong guesses each one adds a growing wait.

More on that on the pattern lock page, and on what AES-256 really protects in Is the iPhone Hidden Album Encrypted?

When someone makes you unlock it

Both apps plan for this, and Privault plans for it well.

Privault has a secondary passcode that opens a secondary folder. The listing is plain about why: if you’re threatened into giving up a passcode, give this one. It also has an Erase-all Passcode for when you decide to delete every secret file.

In Hidlet, every pattern opens its own vault, and the app never shows a list of them. You can keep a vault of ordinary photos and open that one when pressed. Nothing on screen hints that another vault exists. That’s the decoy vault, and it’s in the free plan.

Hidlet has no erase code. Pro adds a duress pattern that deletes your other vaults from this phone instead. Your encrypted backup stays in your iCloud, so the photos aren’t lost for good. Which you prefer depends on whether you’d rather the files be gone or only out of reach.

Backup, new phones and forgotten codes

Privault’s listing doesn’t mention any cloud backup: not iCloud, not Google, not a cloud of its own. You move files in and out through the camera roll or an embedded Wi-Fi server. The developer doesn’t say how to move to a new phone beyond that, or what happens if you forget your passcode.

Hidlet keeps the key with you:

• Backup: each vault is encrypted on the phone, then saved to your own iCloud. Neither Apple nor we can open it. It’s free.
• New phone: install Hidlet and draw your pattern. This works when iCloud Keychain is on; if it’s off, your recovery phrase restores the vault instead. See how to move a photo vault to a new iPhone.
• Forgot your pattern: enter the 9-word recovery phrase and set a new pattern, free.

The trade-off is real: lose both the pattern and the phrase, and the vault can’t be opened by anyone, including us.

Ads and your data

Privault is free with ads. It sells a “Remove ADs” purchase for $2.99, and its privacy policy names AdMob and Umeng as third-party services. The App Store listing doesn’t show a “Contains: Advertising” note.

Its App Store privacy label lists usage data as “Data Used to Track You”, and usage and advertising data as linked to you, for third-party advertising. It also lists user content as collected, not linked to you, for uses that include analytics and product personalization. The privacy policy says crash logs may include your IP address and the advertising identifier (IDFA).

Hidlet has no accounts, no email and no ads, and it includes no analytics or tracking code.

Where Privault is better

Privault does some things Hidlet doesn’t:

• An erase-all passcode, if you’d rather wipe the files than hide them.
• More than a vault: a 3D photo browser, a media player for many formats, and a voice recorder.
• More devices: it runs on iPad, on Macs with Apple silicon and on Apple Vision.
• A long track record: since 2017, with more than 76,000 ratings.

Hidlet’s limits are worth knowing too. It runs on iPhone and iPad (sync between them needs Pro), it has no Face ID unlock, and the free plan holds 3 vaults with up to 100 photos and 10 videos in each.

The bottom line

Privault is a well-used vault with a sensible decoy passcode and an erase code for emergencies. But it shows ads, and its listing doesn’t tell you how your photos are encrypted, how they’re backed up or what happens if you forget the passcode. If you want photos encrypted with a key only you hold, a free encrypted backup and no ads or tracking, Hidlet is built for exactly that.

Hidlet is available on the App Store.