sigil. vs Safe Lock

Short answer: choose Safe Lock if you want an on-device vault with many unlock options (including Face ID and Touch ID), photos of anyone who tries to break in, and iPad support. Choose sigil. if you want a vault whose key is unlocked only by a sign you draw, with a decoy vault opened by its own pattern and nobody able to reset anything.

On the big question the two are close: both say your content stays on the phone. The differences are in how you unlock, what happens under pressure, and what the listing tells you about encryption.

sigil.

Safe Lock

Price

Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yrUS App Store 'Premium Account' items: $4.99, $19.99, $29.99

Lifetime option

€39.99 once, no subscription—

Free tier

100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vaultFree download; Premium unlocks all features

Account required

No account at all—

Encryption

256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your pattern (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip)—

Zero-knowledge

Yes — no server, we never see anything"We do not have access to your secrets"; saved only on device (vendor-stated)

Multiple vaults

Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one pattern each; the app never lists them—

Decoy vault

Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothingFake password opens a fake gallery

Disguised icon

Neutral utility icons that don't say vault.Customizable app icon

Private camera

Photos never touch the Camera RollHidden in-app camera

EXIF / location removal

Location/EXIF stripped on import and export—

Cloud sync

No — local-first, no cloud backup yetManual import/export to Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Box; no sync listed

Unlock

Only the pattern you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by designPIN, pattern (DotLock), passwords, Touch ID, Face ID

Break-in alerts

No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong patternsBreak-in reports with photos

Platforms

iPhone onlyiPhone, iPad

sigil. compared with Safe Lock

Feature	sigil.	Safe Lock
Price	Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yr	US App Store 'Premium Account' items: $4.99, $19.99, $29.99
Lifetime option	€39.99 once, no subscription	—
Free tier	100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vault	Free download; Premium unlocks all features
Account required	No account at all	—
Encryption	256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your pattern (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip)	—
Zero-knowledge	Yes — no server, we never see anything	"We do not have access to your secrets"; saved only on device (vendor-stated)
Multiple vaults	Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one pattern each; the app never lists them	—
Decoy vault	Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothing	Fake password opens a fake gallery
Disguised icon	Neutral utility icons that don't say vault.	Customizable app icon
Private camera	Photos never touch the Camera Roll	Hidden in-app camera
EXIF / location removal	Location/EXIF stripped on import and export	—
Cloud sync	No — local-first, no cloud backup yet	Manual import/export to Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Box; no sync listed
Unlock	Only the pattern you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by design	PIN, pattern (DotLock), passwords, Touch ID, Face ID
Break-in alerts	No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong patterns	Break-in reports with photos
Platforms	iPhone only	iPhone, iPad

Security model

Safe Lock's App Store page states: "We do not have access to your secrets"; saved only on device (vendor-stated). That is a clear on-device stance. The listing doesn't describe the encryption itself — no key length, no word on how the passcode turns into a key — so we can't compare that part directly. Unlock options, per the listing: PIN, pattern (DotLock), passwords, Touch ID, Face ID.

Several of those options, Face ID and Touch ID in particular, are convenient but can be forced: someone can hold the phone to your face. sigil. has no biometric unlock by design. You draw a sign on a 5×5 dot grid; the sign goes through Argon2id, is bound to the phone's secure chip, and unlocks the 256-bit key that decrypts the vault. A wrong sign doesn't fail a check; it simply unlocks nothing. Safe Lock also offers a dot pattern, so if you like drawing your code, read pattern lock vs PIN vs password and pattern encryption for what changes when the pattern is the key rather than a gate.

Privacy

Safe Lock's privacy label: App Store privacy label: Data Not Collected. The listing doesn't mention an account. On both counts, Safe Lock looks good.

sigil. has no account, no email and no server. The app sends no usage statistics. We don't know who you are or how many vaults you have. Nobody has the key, not even us.

Features

Decoy vault. Safe Lock: Fake password opens a fake gallery. sigil. has a decoy vault too, opened by its own decoy pattern, while your other vaults stay hidden. It is free.

Multiple vaults. In sigil. each sign opens its own vault, and the app never lists them (multiple hidden vaults). The Safe Lock listing doesn't describe separate vaults behind separate codes.

Break-in alerts. Safe Lock: Break-in reports with photos. sigil. takes no intruder photos. Its optional self-destruct (free, off by default) erases the vaults after too many wrong signs, with no warning or counter shown.

Disguised icon. Safe Lock: Customizable app icon. sigil. can show a neutral icon that doesn't say vault (disguised icon).

Camera. Safe Lock: Hidden in-app camera. sigil.'s private camera writes straight into the encrypted vault, never to the Camera Roll.

Metadata. sigil. strips EXIF and location on import and export. Check a file with the photo metadata viewer.

Price

Safe Lock's paid items on the US App Store: US App Store 'Premium Account' items: $4.99, $19.99, $29.99. The listing doesn't say which is monthly, yearly or one-time, so check the purchase screen before paying. Free version: Free download; Premium unlocks all features.

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 Safe Lock is better

• Intruder photos. If you want to know who tried to open the app, Safe Lock does that and sigil. doesn't.
• Unlock choice. PIN, pattern, password or biometrics; sigil. offers only the sign.
• iPad. Safe Lock runs on iPhone, iPad. sigil. is iPhone-only today.
• Getting files out. Manual import/export to Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, Box; no sync listed. sigil. has no cloud backup yet; see how to securely back up private photos.
• Track record. 25K ratings on the US App Store. sigil. is new.

How to switch from Safe Lock to sigil.

1. In Safe Lock, select the items you want to move and export them to the Photos library.
2. Install sigil., draw your sign and write the recovery phrase on paper. It is the only way back if you forget the sign.
3. Import the items into your vault. Location and EXIF data are stripped on import.
4. Open a few items in sigil. to confirm they are there.
5. Delete the exported copies from Photos and empty Recently Deleted (how to delete Recently Deleted photos).
6. When you're sure, delete the items from Safe Lock and any copies you exported to cloud storage.

Verdict

Safe Lock is a solid on-device vault with a clean privacy label, plenty of unlock options and break-in photos. sigil. is narrower on purpose: one way in, the sign, which is also what unlocks the encryption key; a decoy vault for when you're forced to open it; vaults the app never lists. If you worry about being made to open the phone, sigil. fits better. If you value Face ID convenience and intruder photos, Safe Lock is the more comfortable choice.

For more options, see the best private photo vault apps for iPhone.