How to Move a Photo Vault to a New iPhone Without Losing Photos

Why vault apps lose photos on a new phone

Losing photos after a phone upgrade is the most common complaint in photo vault app reviews. It rarely happens because the photos were deleted. More often, they arrive on the new phone and can’t be opened, or they never left the old one. The usual reasons:

• The app keeps its files out of backups. Then neither iCloud Backup nor a computer backup carries them over.
• The key stays behind. Vault apps often keep their encryption key in the iPhone’s Keychain. Some Keychain items are set never to leave the device they were made on. If the key doesn’t arrive, the files that do arrive can’t be decrypted.
• The computer backup wasn’t encrypted. Apple says only encrypted backups can include saved passwords and similar data.
• iCloud Keychain was off, so nothing synced the keys to the new phone.
• The PIN, pattern or account password was forgotten. With nothing to unlock them, the files are as good as gone.

Before you switch

Do these on your old iPhone, while it still works.

1. Find out how your vault backs up. Open its settings and look for a backup section. Is backup on? When did it last finish? Does it use its own account, or iCloud?
2. Write down how to get back in. That’s your PIN or pattern, plus any recovery phrase, recovery email or account password. Keep it somewhere that isn’t the phone itself.
3. Turn on iCloud Keychain. Go to Settings → your name → iCloud → Passwords, and turn on syncing for this iPhone. Many vault apps keep their keys in the Keychain.
4. Make a fresh backup.
   • iCloud: iCloud Backup includes app data. Check that your vault app hasn’t been switched off in your iCloud backup settings, and that you have enough iCloud storage.
   • Computer: turn on Encrypt local backup in Finder or the Apple Devices app. Remember that backup password. Apple can’t recover it.

Transfer to the new iPhone

The simplest way is Quick Start. Turn on the new iPhone, put it next to the old one, and follow the prompts. You can transfer directly from the old phone, or download from iCloud. Keep both phones close and plugged in until it finishes.

You can also set up the new phone from your iCloud backup or your encrypted computer backup.

Check before you erase anything

1. Open the vault on the new iPhone and unlock it.
2. Open a few photos and a video at full size, not just the thumbnails. A thumbnail can appear before the full file has arrived.
3. Check the count against what you remember, or a screenshot of the old phone’s vault.
4. Only then erase the old iPhone. If you can, keep it a week before you sell or trade it in.

If photos are missing

• Don’t delete the app on the new phone, and don’t erase the old phone.
• Give it time. On a new phone, iCloud Keychain and downloads can take a while. Stay on Wi-Fi and open the app again later.
• Try the app’s own restore with your recovery phrase or account, if it has one.
• Restore again from the old phone’s backup, using an encrypted computer backup if the iCloud one didn’t work.
• Contact the app’s support with your app version and what you see. Do this before you try anything that might reset the vault.

How Hidlet handles a new iPhone

Hidlet is built around this problem.

• Each vault backs up on its own to your own iCloud, on by default. Everything is encrypted on your iPhone first, so Apple stores only scrambled data.
• The vault shows its status: “Backed up”, or “Waiting for Wi-Fi”, so you can see it’s done before you switch.
• On the new iPhone, install Hidlet and draw your pattern. With iCloud Keychain on, the vault comes back. It opens in seconds, and photos download in the background.
• If iCloud Keychain is off, your recovery phrase brings the vault back instead, and you set a new pattern. That’s why Hidlet shows you a 9-word phrase when you create a vault.

Hidlet is coming soon to the App Store.

For what Apple can and can’t see in an iCloud backup, read Can Apple See Your Hidden Photos?