---
title: "Private Photo Vault for iPhone, Encrypted on Your Phone"
description: "PicWay’s Private Vault encrypts photos and videos on your iPhone before saving them. Recover it with 12 words. It won’t open while recording, and it locks itself."
url: "https://picway.app/private-photo-vault/"
lang: "en"
type: "feature"
updated: "2026-11-01"
published: "2026-11-01"
---

# Private Photo Vault for iPhone, Encrypted on Your Phone

URL: https://picway.app/private-photo-vault/
Markdown: https://picway.app/private-photo-vault/index.md
Last updated: 2026-11-01

PicWay’s Private Vault is a private photo vault for iPhone. What you put in is encrypted on your phone before it’s saved. You can recover it with 12 words. It won’t open while your screen is being recorded, and it locks itself after a while. With iCloud sync on, it’s stored encrypted in your own iCloud.

## A private photo vault, locked on your iPhone. {#top}

What you put in is encrypted on your phone first, then saved.

## How does the vault keep photos private? {#protect}

- **Encrypted on your iPhone**: Photos and videos are encrypted on your phone before they’re saved.
- **Won’t open while recording**: If your screen is being recorded, the vault won’t open.
- **Auto-Lock**: Leave it alone for a while and it locks. Playing a video doesn’t count.

## How do I recover my photo vault? {#words}

With 12 words. You write them down when you set up the vault. PicWay doesn’t keep them and can’t recover them for you, so put them on paper, not in a screenshot.

## Where is my vault stored? {#icloud}

With iCloud sync on (it’s on by default), the vault is encrypted on your phone and stored in your own iCloud, where only you can open it. Get a new phone or reinstall, and you can get it back.

## How do I put photos in the vault? {#start}

- **Hide from your library**: In PicWay’s library, touch and hold a photo and choose Hide. It goes into the vault, not the Hidden album in Photos.
- **Open it**: Touch and hold the search button in the tab bar.

## PicWay Private Vault at a glance {#specs}