sigil. vs the iPhone Hidden album

Short answer: stay with the Hidden album if you just want photos out of your main grid and you are the only person who ever unlocks your phone. Choose sigil. if someone else may know your passcode or have your unlocked phone in hand — a partner, a repair shop, a border officer — because sigil. needs a separate secret that your phone's unlock does not give away.

Our one-line version: your hidden album isn't hidden from anyone who can unlock your phone.

sigil.

Apple Photos Hidden album

Price

Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yrFree, built into iOS, iPadOS and macOS

Lifetime option

€39.99 once, no subscription—

Free tier

100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vaultHidden album, locked by default since iOS 16, at no cost

Account required

No account at all—

Encryption

256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your sign (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip)iCloud Photos: encrypted in transit and on server; end-to-end only with optional Advanced Data Protection

Zero-knowledge

Yes — no server, we never see anythingOnly with optional Advanced Data Protection

Multiple vaults

Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one sign each; the app never lists themOne Hidden album

Decoy vault

Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothing—

Disguised icon

Neutral utility icons that don't say vault.—

Private camera

Photos never touch the Camera Roll—

EXIF / location removal

Location/EXIF stripped on import and export—

Cloud sync

No — local-first, no cloud backup yetWith iCloud Photos, hidden items stay hidden on all your devices

Unlock

Only the sign you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by designFace ID, Touch ID or the device passcode on iPhone and iPad

Break-in alerts

No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong signsNone

Platforms

iPhone onlyiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro

sigil. compared with Apple Photos Hidden album

Feature	sigil.	Apple Photos Hidden album
Price	Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yr	Free, built into iOS, iPadOS and macOS
Lifetime option	€39.99 once, no subscription	—
Free tier	100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vault	Hidden album, locked by default since iOS 16, at no cost
Account required	No account at all	—
Encryption	256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your sign (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip)	iCloud Photos: encrypted in transit and on server; end-to-end only with optional Advanced Data Protection
Zero-knowledge	Yes — no server, we never see anything	Only with optional Advanced Data Protection
Multiple vaults	Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one sign each; the app never lists them	One Hidden album
Decoy vault	Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothing	—
Disguised icon	Neutral utility icons that don't say vault.	—
Private camera	Photos never touch the Camera Roll	—
EXIF / location removal	Location/EXIF stripped on import and export	—
Cloud sync	No — local-first, no cloud backup yet	With iCloud Photos, hidden items stay hidden on all your devices
Unlock	Only the sign you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by design	Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode on iPhone and iPad
Break-in alerts	No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong signs	None
Platforms	iPhone only	iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro

Security model

Apple's Hidden album is locked by default on recent systems. Apple's own description of how it unlocks: Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode on iPhone and iPad. In other words, the key to the Hidden album is the key to your phone.

That is fine against a stranger with a locked phone. It is weak against the people most likely to look: someone who knows your passcode, or someone you hand an unlocked phone to. The full analysis is in is the iPhone Hidden album secure?

sigil. adds a second, independent secret. You draw a sign on a dot grid; that sign, hardened with Argon2id and bound to the phone's secure chip, unlocks the 256-bit key that decrypts the vault (pattern encryption). Knowing the phone passcode does not open anything.

Privacy: iCloud and Apple

The Hidden album syncs with iCloud Photos: With iCloud Photos, hidden items stay hidden on all your devices. How those photos are protected in iCloud depends on your settings: iCloud Photos: encrypted in transit and on server; end-to-end only with optional Advanced Data Protection. With Advanced Data Protection turned on, Apple does not hold the keys. Without it, it does.

sigil. has no account and no server. Vault contents never leave the phone unless you export them. If you want to keep certain photos off iCloud entirely, see how to hide photos from iCloud.

Features

One album vs many vaults. The Hidden album is a single album. In sigil., each sign opens a separate vault, and there is no visible list (multiple hidden vaults).

Visibility. The Hidden album can be shown or hidden in the Photos sidebar, but anyone familiar with iPhone knows where to look (how to find hidden photos on iPhone). sigil. can sit on your Home Screen behind a neutral utility icon that doesn't say vault (disguised icon).

Under pressure. If someone forces you to open sigil., the decoy pattern opens a decoy vault while your real vaults stay hidden. Photos has no equivalent.

Camera. Photos you take with the Camera app land in your library first, then you hide them. sigil.'s private camera writes straight into the encrypted vault, so nothing touches the Camera Roll.

Metadata. Hidden photos keep their EXIF and location data. sigil. strips them on import and export. Check any photo with the photo metadata viewer.

Price

The Hidden album: Free, built into iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

sigil. is free with every feature included (decoy vault, self-destruct, disguised icon): 100 photos and documents plus 10 videos per vault, one vault plus the decoy vault. Pro lifts the photo and video limits and gives you up to 7 vaults, each opened by its own pattern: €39.99 once, lifetime, no subscription, or €19.99 per year. No free trial and no monthly plan. Over the free limit nothing is locked; you just can't add more. See pricing.

Where the Hidden album is better

• It is already there. No install, no new secret to remember.
• Sync. Hidden items follow you across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro. sigil. is iPhone-only and has no cloud backup yet.
• Backup. If iCloud Photos is on, your hidden photos are backed up. sigil. vaults are lost with the phone unless you keep your own backup (how to securely back up private photos).
• Integration. Editing, sharing and search all work as normal in Photos.

How to move hidden photos into sigil.

1. Open Photos, go to Hidden, and unlock it.
2. Install sigil., draw your sign, and write down the 12-word recovery phrase.
3. In sigil., import the photos from your library. Location and EXIF data are stripped on import.
4. Check the items open in sigil.
5. Back in Photos, delete the originals from Hidden, then empty Recently Deleted (guide). If iCloud Photos is on, this also removes them from iCloud.

How we checked

Every fact about the Hidden album on this page comes from Apple's own support documentation, checked on October 30, 2026, and is shown with its source in the table. Where the vendor does not say something — for example, how files are encrypted — we leave the cell empty instead of guessing. Prices differ between regions and change often, so confirm the current price on the purchase screen before you pay. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

Verdict

The Hidden album is a curtain, not a safe. It is good at keeping photos out of the main grid and out of Memories, and it is free and synced. It does not protect against someone who can unlock your phone. If that is your situation — lending your phone, a phone repair shop, a shared family iPad — sigil. adds the separate secret the Hidden album lacks.