Cryptaire
Cryptaire vs Apple's Hidden album
Apple's Hidden album is free, built in, and a lot better than it used to be. Since iOS 16 it locks with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. For keeping photos out of the way when you hand someone your phone, it does the job.
But hiding a photo and encrypting it are two different things. Here is where each one stands.
| Apple Hidden album | Cryptaire | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, built in | Free plan, premium from $1.99/week or $39.99 once |
| Removes photos from your main library | Yes | Yes |
| What unlocks it | Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode | A separate pattern only you know |
| Someone who knows your passcode can open it | Yes | No |
| Can people tell it exists | It sits under Utilities unless you switch it off, and it is one setting away when you do | Vaults are never listed anywhere |
| Multiple separate vaults | No, one album | Yes, every pattern opens its own |
| Encryption | Same protection as the rest of your library | Its own AES-256 key per vault, locked by your pattern |
| Cloud copies | Synced to iCloud if you use iCloud Photos | None, it stays on your phone |
| Works on Android | No | Yes |
Where the Hidden album falls short
Your passcode is the master key
The Hidden album accepts the same passcode that unlocks your iPhone. Anyone who has watched you type it, a partner, a kid, a coworker, can open the album in seconds. Cryptaire uses a separate pattern, so knowing your phone passcode gets them nowhere.
Hidden is not encrypted separately
Hidden photos live in the same library as every other photo and get the same protection. If you use iCloud Photos, they sync to your other Apple devices too. On iCloud, photos are covered by Apple's standard data protection, where Apple holds the keys, unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection. Cryptaire gives each vault its own key, and that key never leaves your phone.
One album, in plain sight
Apple lets you turn off Show Hidden Album in Settings, Apps, Photos. That removes the album from view, but the album and the setting are still there for anyone who goes looking. Cryptaire has no list of vaults at all. Each pattern opens its own, and nobody can tell how many exist.
When the Hidden album is enough
- You just want photos out of your main feed so they don't pop up when you scroll.
- Nobody around you knows your iPhone passcode.
- You are fine with those photos syncing to iCloud.
When you want Cryptaire
- Someone close to you knows your passcode.
- You want photos that never leave your phone.
- You want more than one private space, or you use Android.
Want the step-by-step on Apple's option first? Read how to hide photos on iPhone.
Hidden is not the same as encrypted.
Cryptaire locks your photos behind a pattern only you know, encrypted on your phone. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.
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