Arca vs Private Photo Vault
Private Photo Vault (Pic Safe) is one of the most downloaded photo-hider apps on iOS, marketed as “100% private.” Independent security researchers, however, found that older versions stored photos without real encryption and could be opened quickly with forensic tools.
Based on independent research (IOActive, Zdziarski) and public information. App versions change — verify the current version's behavior before relying on it.
What the table actually means
The core difference is verifiability. Private Photo Vault markets itself as “100% private,” but that promise lives in the marketing copy, not the architecture: independent researchers found that older versions stored photos without real encryption, which meant standard forensic tools could recover them from a device. A vault is only as private as its documented cryptography — a slogan can't encrypt anything.
Arca encrypts files with AES-256-GCM on your device and protects the vault keys through Argon2id. It does not host your vault library. Purchases and optional link downloads use online services, as described in the privacy policy.
Which one should you choose?
If what you want is a managed experience — vendor cloud backup, sync across devices, recovery handled by someone else — an account-based vault like Private Photo Vault offers that convenience, in exchange for trusting the vendor's infrastructure and its current implementation.
If your requirement is that nobody else can ever read your photos — not an attacker, not a subpoenaed cloud provider, and not the vendor itself — then the architecture matters more than the feature list. A local-only vault with documented per-file encryption is the stronger default, and that is the design Arca ships.
Switching to Arca
Migration is a one-time, three-step move. First, export your originals from your current vault back to the Photos app and confirm the count matches what you expect. Second, import them into Arca — they are encrypted on-device as they come in. Third, verify a few photos open correctly in Arca, then delete the originals from the old app and from Photos, including the Recently Deleted album.
Once everything is inside, create an encrypted backup — Arca writes a single .arcavault file you can keep on a computer or external drive. That backup is yours: it doesn't depend on any vendor's cloud staying online or any subscription staying active.
Where Arca stands
Arca takes the opposite approach: every file is encrypted with AES-256-GCM on your device, there is no hosted copy of your vault library, and you can verify the design rather than trust a slogan.
Questions
Is Private Photo Vault actually private? +
Security researchers (IOActive, Zdziarski) found that older versions stored photos without real encryption, meaning files could be recovered with forensic tools. Always check the current version's documented encryption before trusting any vault.
How is Arca different from Private Photo Vault? +
Arca encrypts every file with AES-256-GCM using a key derived from your PIN, requires no Arca account and does not automatically upload your vault, and lets you export your originals losslessly at any time. There is no cloud vendor in the middle.
Can I back up my photos without a cloud account? +
Yes. Arca exports your entire vault as a single encrypted .arcavault file that you can store on a computer or external drive. Backup stays under your control instead of living on a vendor's servers.
Does Arca upload my photos anywhere? +
Arca does not automatically upload your vault. Encryption and storage happen on your device. Keep your own encrypted backup; purchase validation and optional link downloads do not provide a library backup.
More comparisons
Your photos. Truly private.
Keep your photos in an encrypted vault on your iPhone, with no Arca account or automatic vault upload.
Free to download · iPhone · iOS 18+