Hidden album or encrypted vault?
Short answer: the Hidden album is a sensible everyday screen. A separate encrypted vault is for when you want a different lock from your phone’s.
Last reviewed 10 November 2026.
What the Hidden album does
On iPhones running iOS 16 or later, Apple locks the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums by default and opens them with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode (Apple’s iPhone User Guide). Hidden photos are removed from the main grid, so a casual look at your library will not show them.
That is real protection against a casual glance. It is tied to your device authentication: whoever can unlock your phone, or whom you let hold it unlocked, can generally open the album.
What a separate encrypted vault adds
- A different credential. A pattern or passphrase that is not your phone passcode, so a family member who knows the passcode does not automatically get in.
- Its own keys. Files are encrypted by the app with keys that belong to the vault, rather than relying only on the phone’s general protection.
- Separation from your library. Items live outside Photos, so they are not caught up in shared albums, memories or library-wide backups.
- More than one lock. Separate vaults for separate purposes.
What neither does
- Neither protects against someone watching you enter your code or credential.
- Neither helps if the phone is already unlocked and handed over.
- Neither makes deleted files unrecoverable from flash storage.
Which should you use?
If your concern is a friend scrolling through your photos, the Hidden album may be enough. If your concern is someone who knows your passcode, or you want sensitive documents and videos kept apart with their own lock, an encrypted vault app is the better fit. Some people use both.
Cipher is built for the second case. It is pre-release and has not been independently audited, so read how it protects files and its limits before deciding.