Hidden album or vault app?
The short answer
The Hidden album removes photos from your main grid and locks the album behind your device's authentication (Face ID or Touch ID on iPhone). That is a screen-level lock inside the photo library. A vault app takes the photos out of the library and encrypts them separately. If your worry is someone swiping past a photo, the album is enough. If your worry is who else can reach the library, it is not.
What the Hidden album does well
It is built in, free and fast. The lock follows your device security. Photos stay in the library, so they work with the Photos app's editing and sharing. It needs no new app and no new credential.
Where it stops
- The photos remain part of your Photos library. If you use iCloud Photos, photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too (Apple's wording), so they are still in iCloud.
- The lock is your device's own authentication, not a separate credential. Whoever can pass that check as you can open the album.
- Apple says hidden photos do not appear in the Library or other albums. It does not say how Search or Memories treat them, so check Apple's current documentation before relying on either.
- The album is a single place with a known name: it signals that something is there.
- It has no separate credential, no decoy and no guess limit of its own.
Side by side
| Hidden album | StrongRoom | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the photo lives | Photos library | Inside the app, encrypted |
| Separate credential | No, the device's own authentication | Yes: pattern or passphrase per Vault |
| Syncs to other devices | Yes if iCloud Photos is on | Never |
| Encrypted separately | No separate encryption | AES-256-GCM, key per item |
| Empty Vault (free); Decoy Vault (Pro) | No | Yes |
| Guess limit | Device's own | App's own Throttle plus the device's |
| Backup | With iCloud Photos | None; Export Package |
| Cost | Free | Free for one Vault of up to 10 items, then Pro |
| Documents and PDFs | Photos only | Any file |
When the Hidden album is enough
You want quick privacy from casual glances, you already trust everyone who could pass your device's authentication, and you want your photos in iCloud. Use it.
When a vault app is worth it
Someone else can unlock your phone, you want files outside the library and outside iCloud, you keep documents as well as photos, or you want a separate credential that can open different content.
What StrongRoom adds, and what it costs
It adds a separate credential, encryption, no sync and no library trace. It costs convenience: no cloud backup, no second device, and you must keep your Recovery Phrase and an Export Package. See the limits page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Hidden album secure?
Apple locks it by default and asks for authentication to open it, so it is as strong as your device's authentication and who can pass it. It is not a separate encrypted store.
Do hidden photos sync to iCloud?
If iCloud Photos is on, yes: Apple says photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too.
Can someone who unlocks my phone open it?
If they can pass your device's authentication, yes. The album has no separate credential.
Is a vault app better?
For separation from the library, a separate credential and no sync, yes. For convenience and backup, not.
Can I use both?
Yes. Many people use the album for casual privacy and a vault for sensitive documents.
Sources
- Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Vision Pro with the Hidden album (Apple Support), checked on 2026-10-30.