Guide
“Best” depends on the job: cloud storage, passwords, notes — or files that are nobody's business at all. Here's the field, including where we're not the right pick.
For most private files on an iPhone or iPad, pick a local-first vault with on-device AES-256 encryption and no account — Sealby, which adds deniable hidden vaults no one can prove exist. Pick Proton Drive for encrypted cloud storage at scale, 1Password for credentials, and Standard Notes for cross-platform encrypted notes.
Best for private files whose existence itself is private
A local-first vault for photos, videos, documents and real rich-text notes. AES-256-GCM on-device, keys in the Secure Enclave, no account and no servers. Its signature: deniable multi-vault design — different PINs open different vaults, and the number of vaults is forensically undetectable. Free on one device; Premium adds encrypted iCloud backup, sync and vault sharing.
iPhone & iPad (iOS 17+); not a general cloud drive.
Best for zero-setup tidiness
Free, already on your phone, and since iOS 16 the Hidden album locks behind Face ID or the device passcode. Fine for keeping casual photos out of the main grid or locking a note body.
Tied to your device passcode, visibly exists, easy to unhide, and split across two apps with no shared vault, search, or independent recovery.
Best for encrypted cloud storage at scale
End-to-end-encrypted cloud drive from Proton with cross-platform apps, sharing links, and generous paid storage tiers. A strong choice when the job is “my files, encrypted, everywhere”.
Requires a Proton account; your encrypted data lives on their servers; no deniable vaults or duress features.
Best for passwords first, documents second
The benchmark for credential management, with document storage attached to a mature cross-platform ecosystem and team features.
Account plus subscription required; server-hosted encrypted vaults; not designed for media libraries or deniability.
Best for encrypted notes across every platform
A long-standing, open-source encrypted notes app with excellent cross-platform sync and a plain, dependable design.
Notes-centric — files and media are secondary; account-based sync; no deniable vaults.
Best avoided for anything genuinely sensitive
Hundreds of free “photo vault” and fake-calculator apps fill the store. A few encrypt properly; many just hide files, fund themselves with ads and analytics, or park copies on their servers. If you use one, read its App Store privacy label first and check that it explains its encryption.
Hiding is not encryption, a famous disguise is not deniability, and ad SDKs are strange company for private photos.
Four things to check: encryption happens on-device before storage or sync (not just “encrypted in transit”); keys stay with you (hardware-backed, never server-held); the recovery path has no backdoor; and the failure mode is honest — a good vault tells you what it can’t protect against.
If no one ever pressures you to unlock your phone, maybe not. But deniability also covers everyday life: a borrowed phone, a shared passcode, a nosy glance. With a deniable vault like Sealby, there is nothing to find and nothing to explain — which is a quieter kind of privacy.
Free is fine when the business model is visible — Sealby’s free tier is the full local vault, and Premium (backup, sync, sharing) funds it. Be wary of free vaults with ads or analytics SDKs: an app that phones home is a strange place for secrets.
Deep dives: vs Apple's built-ins · vs typical photo vaults · vs Proton Drive · all comparisons · the Sealby security model
Download Sealby and lock down what matters — in under a minute, with no account to create.
iPhone & iPad · iOS 17+ · Free