Encrypt photos. and videos. on your phone
Photos and videos encrypted on your iPhone that open only with a sign you draw. No account, no server: nobody has the key, not even us.
Try it: draw a sign
- 256 bitEncrypted on
your phone - 0 accountsNo email, no
phone number
They hide. We encrypt
iPhone and Google Photos hide your photos behind the phone's own lock. sigil. encrypts them with a key that only your sign unlocks, and that stays with you. Nobody else has it, not even us.
Diagram. iPhone's Hidden album and Google Photos' Locked Folder open with the phone's own lock: the passcode, or the face or fingerprint that unlocks the phone, opens every hidden photo at once. In sigil. every sign opens a different vault and there is no list: your sign opens your vault, the decoy pattern opens a harmless decoy vault and erases nothing, a wrong sign opens nothing. Whoever forces you sees only what you choose.
They hide
One code opens everything
iPhone Hidden · Google Photos Locked Folder
Whoever has the code sees everything.
Face ID and Touch ID open the same door. sigil. doesn't use them: a face can be used without your consent, a sign can't.
We encrypt
Each sign, its own vault
sigil. · a key only you have
Free: 1 vault + 1 decoy · Pro: up to 7 vaults
Your sign protects access to the app; it isn't legal protection. Simplified diagram, based on Apple and Google documentation, October 2026. iPhone, Face ID® and Touch ID® are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Photos is a trademark of Google LLC.
Draw it. It opens
Try it: draw any sign. Connect 4 or more dots.
- sign.capturewaiting for a signWait
- argon2id.deriveno key yetWait
- vault.openvault lockedWait
Simulation · key derived in this tab
Waiting for a sign…
This is a browser simulation: the key only exists in this tab, reload and it's gone. In the app, your sign goes through Argon2id and is tied to your phone's secure chip. Another sign opens another vault, and nobody can tell how many there are. Whoever goes looking only finds noise.
- Simulation
- In your browser
- Nothing is sent
Five moves. Nothing to find
Everything sigil. does, from the first sign to the last line of defence.
01/05. Your sign is the key
No passcode, no face. The sign you draw becomes the key that decrypts your photos, on the phone. Nobody else has it.
02/05. One sign. One vault
Free: one vault, plus a decoy vault for the decoy pattern. Pro: up to 7 vaults, each with its own sign, and no list anywhere.
Free · 1 + 1 decoyPro · 7
03/05. Forced to open it?. Draw the other pattern
Your decoy pattern opens a harmless decoy vault. Nothing is erased: your real vault simply stays hidden, because there's no list to give it away.
04/05. Too many wrong signs?. It erases itself
Keep guessing (say 50 wrong signs in 24 hours, you choose) and the vault is gone. No warning, no countdown.
05/05. It looks like nothing
On your Home Screen, sigil. can wear a neutral icon instead of its own. Only the picture changes: the name under it stays sigil..
- The in-app camera never touches the Camera Roll
- Location data stripped
- A warning before any unencrypted export
- 12-word recovery phrase
We know nothing about you
- No account. No server. Your photos never leave your iPhone. There's nowhere for them to go.
- Nobody has the key. Not even us. It's born from your sign, on the phone, and it's gone the moment you lock.
A terminal asks sigil. what it knows about you. Name, email, phone, photos, sign, recovery phrase and vaults all return NULL: 0 records, because there is no server to ask. Whether you have ever used sigil. is unknowable.
The app sends no usage statistics: not your photos, not your sign, not how many vaults you have.
This website has no cookies and no analytics, either.
Fair questions
Comparing apps? See how sigil. comparesWhat if I forget my sign?
Use your 12-word recovery phrase. Without the sign or the phrase, nobody can open the vault, not even us. There's no reset email, because there's no email.
Can Apple or you see my photos?
No. Your photos are encrypted on your iPhone with a key derived from your sign, and they're never uploaded. We don't have a server to send them to.
Is it better than the Hidden album?
The Hidden album opens with the same passcode as your whole phone, and everyone knows where it is. sigil. needs its own sign, encrypts every vault with a 256-bit key that only your sign unlocks, and never says how many vaults exist.
Is the iPhone Hidden album secure?What happens when I use the decoy pattern?
The decoy vault opens with the photos you put in it. Nothing is erased: your other vaults stay where they are, hidden, because the app never lists them. Use it if someone forces you to unlock.
Is there an iCloud backup?
Not yet. sigil. is local-first: your vaults live only on your iPhone, so if you lose the phone, they go with it. Keep your recovery phrase somewhere safe for the day you forget the sign.
What can't I use sigil. for?
Anything illegal, and anything that harms other people. sigil. is built to protect your own data from theft and from people who force you to open your phone. Child sexual abuse material is never tolerated, and we discourage keeping explicit content of any kind.
Read the acceptable-use rulesEncrypt photos and videos. on your phone
They open only with your sign · no account · no server of ours