**Features — App-Vault, the iPhone photo vault with on-device AES-256, calculator launcher, and decoy mode** > The full feature list for App-Vault on iPhone: AES-256-GCM encryption, 5×5 pattern lock, BIP-39 recovery phrase, Calculator Launcher disguise with three alternate icons, Decoy Vault, Intruder Selfie, File Shredder, vault excluded from iCloud Backup, no account, and no ads. Source: https://appvau.lt/features/ FILE F1 / FEATURES # Eleven features. One sealed container. Zero servers. App-Vault is a small iPhone app with a deep feature stack. Every line below is shipping in version one. None of them require an account, send data to a server, or open the door for an ad SDK. UPDATED · 2026-05-16 · REVIEWED BY APP-VAULT DEFINITION **App-Vault** is an iPhone and iPad photo vault that stores photos, videos, and documents in an AES-256-GCM encrypted container on the device itself. There is no account and vault contents stay on the device, explicitly excluded from iCloud Backup and iTunes/Finder backups. The encryption key is derived from a 5×5 pattern you draw via PBKDF2 and is protected by the iOS Keychain with ThisDeviceOnly access, so the vault is mathematically inaccessible without the exact pattern — even to App-Vault itself. - Platform — iPhone and iPad, iOS / iPadOS 17 or later - Cipher — AES-256 in GCM mode (FIPS 197) - Key derivation — PBKDF2-SHA256 · iOS Keychain ThisDeviceOnly - Recovery — BIP-39 12-word recovery phrase - Account required — No - Cloud upload of vault — Never — vault excluded from iCloud Backup - Publisher — Vastflow - FEATURE / 01 ## Photo & File Vault A separate encrypted container for photos, videos, and documents. Files inside do not appear in the Photos app, Spotlight, iMessage attachments, or AirDrop. They are visible only after you unlock with the correct 5×5 pattern. SPEC · AES-256-GCM per file · unique 96-bit nonce [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/photo-vault/) - FEATURE / 02 ## AES-256-GCM Encryption Every file is sealed with AES-256 in Galois/Counter Mode, the same primitive the NSA approves for TOP SECRET classified material and the cipher used by TLS 1.3, Signal, and WireGuard. SPEC · FIPS 197 · NSA Suite B approved [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/encryption/) - FEATURE / 03 ## Pattern Lock A 5×5 grid pattern replaces the password. The pattern derives the encryption key directly — there is no password stored anywhere, on the device or off it. A BIP-39 12-word recovery phrase is shown once during onboarding and is the only off-device survival mechanism. SPEC · PBKDF2-SHA256 · ThisDeviceOnly Keychain [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/pattern-lock/) - FEATURE / 04 ## Calculator Launcher Disguise App-Vault can present on the home screen as a fully functional calculator with one of three alternate app icons (Orange, Green, or Teal). Long-press the equals key, draw your pattern, the vault opens. The calculator actually calculates. Premium feature. SPEC · 3 alternate icons · real arithmetic engine [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/calculator-vault/) - FEATURE / 05 ## Decoy Vault A second 5×5 pattern opens a separate encrypted album with its own catalog. From inside one vault you cannot prove the other exists. From outside, neither vault is visible. SPEC · Independent catalog · independent key [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/decoy-vault/) - FEATURE / 06 ## Intruder Log After three consecutive failed unlock attempts, the front camera silently captures a photo. The image, timestamp, and approximate location are written to a local log inside the vault. SPEC · Threshold configurable · all-local [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/intruder-selfie/) - FEATURE / 07 ## Excluded From iCloud Backup The vault directory is marked NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey and the master keys are pinned to ThisDeviceOnly in the iOS Keychain. Vault contents never enter iCloud Backup, iCloud Keychain, or iTunes/Finder backups. SPEC · Off every Apple backup pipeline [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/encrypted-icloud/) - FEATURE / 08 ## No Account, No Server No account, no email, no login. We operate no server that holds vault contents. Anonymous, content-free funnel events go through Firebase Analytics and crash diagnostics through Crashlytics — full disclosure on the Privacy page. SPEC · No user-content server · full third-party disclosure [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/zero-knowledge/) - FEATURE / 09 ## File Shredder Permanent delete overwrites the encrypted blob three times with random bytes before unlinking. Once shredded, even physical access to the device cannot recover the file. Premium feature. SPEC · DoD 5220.22-M style overwrite [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/file-shredder/) - FEATURE / 10 ## BIP-39 Recovery Phrase During onboarding App-Vault generates a BIP-39 12-word recovery phrase from the standard English wordlist. The phrase is shown once. Write it down on paper. It is the only off-device way back into the vault if you ever forget the pattern. SPEC · Standard BIP-39 English wordlist with checksum [Read the deep dive](https://appvau.lt/encrypted-notes/) - FEATURE / 11 ## No Ads. No ATT Prompt. No banner ads, no interstitials, no ad mediation SDKs. The IDFA is never read, which means the App Tracking Transparency prompt is not invoked. No cross-app or cross-website tracking of any kind. SPEC · No ads · ATT prompt not invoked WHAT WE DELIBERATELY LEFT OUT ## No social vault sharing in version one. Vaultaire ships a vault-sharing feature where you grant a contact temporary read access to a vault. We are deferring it to version 1.1. Done right, vault sharing requires a public-key handshake and a server that brokers ciphertext-only handoff — we are building it but not at the cost of cutting corners on the cryptography. ## No web client. App-Vault is an iPhone and iPad app. We will not ship a web version. A browser cannot use the iPhone Secure Enclave, cannot guarantee a clean memory environment, and cannot match the threat model we sell. ## No automatic backup of the vault anywhere. We do not run servers that hold vault contents. We also do not back up the vault to your iCloud — the vault directory is explicitly excluded from iCloud Backup, iCloud Keychain, and iTunes/Finder backups. Survival across device loss is handled by the BIP-39 12-word recovery phrase you write down during onboarding. GET STARTED ## Seal the vault. Free to download. The free tier holds one file. Premium removes the limit — Weekly from $3.99 or Yearly from $29.99 with a 7-day free trial. [Open App-Vault on iPhone](https://appvau.lt/download/) --- HTML version: https://appvau.lt/features/ Structured data for this site: https://appvau.lt/api/v1/openapi.json · https://appvau.lt/llms.txt Free to quote and reuse with a link back to the source URL above (CC BY 4.0).