Vault Max privacy features: break-in photos, decoy vaults and quick locks
Explore Vault Max's break-in photos, calculator disguise, decoy vaults, private camera, panic lock and encrypted backups, with app screens and footage.
Actual Vault Max screens with sample content.
Vault Max combines an encrypted photo, video, file and note library with practical controls for how you open and protect it. Alongside a separate vault credential, it offers optional break-in camera capture, calculator disguise, decoy vaults, private camera, panic lock and encrypted backup exports.
Here is what those features do and where to configure them. The images and loops below show the real app on an iPhone simulator with sample content. They illustrate the controls and library; they do not claim that an actual intruder was photographed during this walkthrough.
Sample Vault Max library. Select a screen for a closer look.
Break-in alerts can capture a front-camera photo
Want to see an attempted snoop? Open Settings → Break-in alerts. Enable the feature, grant camera access, and choose the threshold from one to five wrong attempts. After the configured number of wrong vault-code attempts, Vault Max attempts a front-camera capture and stores an encrypted attempt record for the main vault to read after unlock.
Return to the same Break-in alerts screen to review the attempts. A record can include the date, failed-attempt count and a photo. Open a record for its details, or use Clear log when you want to remove the saved records.
Camera access must already be granted. If the front camera is unavailable, interrupted or unable to deliver a frame, the record can have no photo. This is an optional wrong-code feature in Vault Max; it is not a remote camera feed or a camera that monitors every use of your phone.
Sample Vault Max library. Select a screen for a closer look.
Wrong codes also trigger increasing delays, making repeated guessing slower. Camera capture and the attempt log do not recover a forgotten passcode. See the recovery guide if you are the person locked out.
Follow the break-in photos walkthrough for the setup, threshold, record-review and camera-permission checks.
Calculator disguise gives you another way to enter
In Settings → Disguise & app icon, choose the calculator disguise if you want the app's locked screen to look like a working calculator. Enter your vault PIN and press equals to open the matching vault. The calculator screen is a discreet entry interface; the vault credential still controls access.
Vault Max with sample content. Use the controls to pause or replay.
Press and hold equals to reveal the regular lock screen, including when you use a password or pattern. You can choose from alternate app icons in the same area of Settings; the Home Screen label remains Vault Max. Choose an appearance you will recognize when you need it.
The calculator-vault guide covers PIN entry, the long-press fallback, icon choices and what the disguise changes.
Decoy vaults open separate libraries
Settings → Decoy & duress vaults lets you create and manage additional vaults. Each has its own credential. Entering a decoy's credential opens that library, so you can keep different collections separate rather than mixing everything behind one code.
Vault Max with sample content. Use the controls to pause or replay.
The free plan includes one extra vault. Optional paid access supports up to eight total vaults per device. Capacity does not change the need to remember the separate credentials and include the right vaults in your backup plan.
Use the decoy-vault setup guide to create a separate collection, check which credential opens it and include it in your recovery plan.
Treat a duress vault's erase option deliberately
A duress vault can be configured to open only, or to erase every other vault when its credential is used. The erase option permanently destroys the other vaults on that installation, without an undo or an on-screen warning at unlock. Read the setting carefully and keep an independent backup before enabling it. Ordinary decoy vaults do not require enabling this erase action.
Sample Vault Max library. Select a screen for a closer look.
Private Camera starts new media inside the vault
Tap + → Private Camera in the library to take photos or record videos directly for the vault. This avoids a separate import step for that new capture. Grant camera access when requested; video audio also requires microphone access.
Wait for the save to finish, then open the result in Library. Photos and videos captured this way still need an encrypted backup if you want a recovery copy after device loss. You can also import existing media through Photos, Files or the share extension.
Sample Vault Max library. Select a screen for a closer look.
The import walkthrough covers the other ways to add content and what happens to Photos originals. Notes have their own editor, and albums, favorites and search help you organize the private collection.
Watch saved videos inside your private library
Your private video library is for everyday viewing as well as storage. Open a saved video here to check its picture and sound, then return to Library to choose another item.
Vault Max with sample content. Use the controls to pause or replay.
Panic lock and auto-lock help you close the library
In Settings → Unlocking, choose the auto-lock delay and your panic-lock gesture. Available panic-lock choices include shaking the phone or placing it face down. Choose a gesture you can use reliably and check it on your own device before relying on it.
The lock button in the app gives you an explicit way to close the vault. Vault Max also covers its content when inactive so the app switcher does not show the open library. An optional Shield from screenshots & recording setting appears in the privacy controls; check its behavior on the devices and workflows you use.
Sample Vault Max library. Select a screen for a closer look.
Encrypted exports give you a recovery file
Settings → Encrypted backup creates a password-protected .vaultmax archive you can save through Files.
You choose where the file lives. Vault Max has no account or server library to recover for you if the
phone and your only copies disappear.
Vault Max with sample content. Use the controls to pause or replay.
Keep the backup password and make fresh exports after important changes. Follow the backup walkthrough and new-iPhone checklist before replacing a device.
Every security feature described here is included in the free plan. Optional subscriptions and Lifetime Unlock add capacity: unlimited items and up to eight total vaults per device. Start by importing a few items, checking the copies and making a backup, then configure the additional controls you want.
More guides
- How to set up break-in photos in Vault MaxSet up Vault Max break-in photos, choose a wrong-code threshold, review saved attempt records, and understand camera permissions and missing-photo results.
- Use Vault Max as a calculator photo vault on iPhoneSet up Vault Max's calculator disguise, unlock with a PIN and equals, find the password or pattern fallback, and understand what the icon changes reveal.
- Set up a decoy photo vault in Vault MaxCreate a Vault Max decoy with its code, add a separate collection, check which library opens, and understand backup, capacity and duress-vault differences.
- How to import photos, videos and files into Vault MaxFollow Photos, Files and share-sheet import routes in Vault Max, verify your saved items, handle originals carefully, and organize a private media library.
- Forgot your Vault Max passcode? Check these recovery paths firstCheck biometric access, credential type and encrypted backups before changing anything. Understand which Vault Max recovery paths can preserve your files.
- Back up Vault Max before changing your iPhoneCreate a password-protected Vault Max backup, choose where to save it, and understand restore and recovery before moving or erasing your iPhone.
- Hidden album vs photo vault on iPhone: which do you need?Compare the iPhone Hidden collection with a separate photo vault: access, copies, backup and recovery, explained with real Vault Max screens and short demos.
- How to hide photos on iPhone, with or without a separate vaultHide photos with Apple's Hidden album or import them into Vault Max. Learn what happens to originals, how to check your copies, and when to make a backup.
- Moving your photo vault to a new iPhone: a Vault Max checklistPlan a new-iPhone move with a Vault Max backup, a careful restore, checks for media and child vaults, and a final checklist before handing off the old phone.
- Using a photo vault without an account or cloud librarySee how a local iPhone photo vault works without an app account, what Apple purchases use, and how backup destinations change your cloud choices.