Premium features
Duress mode
Mark an ordinary-looking vault as your duress vault. If you're ever forced to unlock Sealby, open that vault: it opens normally, and your other vaults are erased from the device.
Premium feature
What to know
- A duress vault is an ordinary vault you mark in its settings. Its own PIN is your duress PIN.
- Opening it with its PIN erases your other vaults from that device and stops iCloud sync there, so your iCloud copy isn't touched.
- With Encrypted Backup on, you can get your other vaults back later with their recovery phrases. Without it, the erase is permanent.
- Duress fires once, then switches itself off. Set it up again after you've restored.
What duress mode does
Duress mode is for the moment someone forces you to unlock Sealby. You choose one vault, fill it with ordinary content and mark it as your duress vault. When you open it with its PIN, it opens like any other vault, and as it opens, Sealby erases every other vault from the device. Afterwards, any other PIN opens an empty vault, just as an unused PIN always does.
Set it up
Turn on Encrypted Backup first
In App Settings, turn on Encrypted Backup and let it finish. This is what makes the erase recoverable: your vaults stay in your iCloud, encrypted.
Create an ordinary-looking vault
Make a separate vault with its own PIN and fill it with believable, everyday content. Pick a PIN you won't type by accident.
Mark it as your duress vault
Open that vault, go to its Settings and tap Set up duress mode. Read the summary, then tap Enable duress.
What happens when duress fires
When you open the duress vault with its PIN, Sealby:
- opens it normally, so it looks like an ordinary unlock;
- erases every other vault from this device, along with anything shared into Sealby that hasn't been imported into a vault yet;
- stops iCloud sync on this device, so the erase doesn't reach your iCloud copy;
- switches duress off. The duress vault becomes an ordinary vault.
Get your vaults back
When you're safe:
Start from a fresh install
Use another device, or delete Sealby from this one and install it again. On the device where duress fired, iCloud sync stays off until you do. Anything you added there after duress fired isn't in your iCloud backup.
Turn on Encrypted Backup
Use the same Apple ID. Your Premium should come back with it; if it doesn't, open Sealby Premium in App Settings and tap Restore Purchases. Turning on Encrypted Backup brings your encrypted vaults down from iCloud.
Recover each vault
Lock Sealby, tap Recover a vault and enter the vault's recovery phrase. Do this once for each vault. After that, it opens normally.
Set duress up again
Duress switches itself off after it fires. To use it again:
Restore first
Get your vaults back on a fresh install, as above, and let Encrypted Backup finish.
Mark a duress vault again
Open the vault you want as your duress vault and tap Set up duress mode. If it's your old duress vault and its Settings already show duress mode as on, it is still set up.
What's protected, and what isn't
Duress mode vs. Destroy all data
Destroy all data is the reset you choose openly: it erases every vault on this device and returns Sealby to first run, and while Encrypted Backup is on it deletes your iCloud backup too. Duress mode is quiet: it looks like a normal unlock, and it leaves your iCloud copy alone.
Common questions
Is my data gone after duress fires?
Your other vaults are gone from that device. With Encrypted Backup on, they stay in your iCloud, and you can get them back on a fresh install with their recovery phrases. Without it, the erase is permanent, though a backup file you exported earlier can still bring back what was in them.
Why didn't duress erase anything?
With Encrypted Backup on, duress fires only when Sealby has backed up everything on the device to iCloud. If something was still waiting to sync, the vault just opened and duress stayed set up.
Can I set duress up again on the same device?
Yes, but iCloud sync stays off there until you reinstall Sealby, so the app warns that the erase would be permanent. For a recoverable setup, restore on a fresh install first, then set it up again.
Can someone tell I have a duress vault?
That's the design goal: the duress mark is stored encrypted inside the vault, and opening the duress vault looks like any other unlock. It isn't a guarantee: the unlock can take longer, the vault's own Settings show duress mode while it's set up, and a close examination of the device may find signs that duress ran.
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