AlterVaultvs
Private Photo VaultPrivate Photo Vault alternatives
One of the most installed vault apps on iOS, and one of the most thoroughly taken apart. Here is what researchers found, and what to move to.
AlterVault vs Private Photo Vault
AlterVaultPrivate Photo VaultStorage as reported in Jonathan Zdziarski's teardown. The Firebase leak was a different app, Photo Vault by Brain Craft.
What the research found
Jonathan Zdziarski, an iOS forensics researcher, published a teardown titled Private Photo Vault: Not So Private. Photos were stored as ordinary files rather than encrypted ones, with the PIN gating the interface. IOActive reported the same pattern across several iOS vaults.
The widely reported Firebase leak was a different app, Photo Vault by Brain Craft, not Private Photo Vault.
Why an unencrypted vault still feels safe
Nothing about using one feels different. Every visible signal says it worked.
The difference shows when something reaches past the interface. An encrypted vault yields unreadable blobs. An unencrypted one yields your photos.
What AlterVault changes
- The storage layer that was missing
- Every file sealed with XChaCha20-Poly1305 in 32 KiB chunks, thumbnails included, with the chunk index bound into the authentication so chunks cannot be reordered.
- A shake instead of a second password
- Typing a decoy password in front of someone is an act they can watch and repeat. A shake fires from a phone you are already holding.
- $19.99 once
- Instead of about $20 a year. Free up to 10 items so you can test the migration before paying.
Welcome back!
Enter your PIN
Migrating without losing photos
Lost photos during export is this category's most common complaint.
- 01Export in batchesBack to the camera roll, not all at once. Count what arrives.
- 02Check the resolutionOpen several. Silent compression on import is where quality loss hides.
- 03Import and verifyCount again before deleting anything from the old app.
- 04Strip location dataPhotos that sat in a vault still carry EXIF GPS. Remove it during the move.