Calculator vault apps: what they hide and what they don't
Updated · By THEORIST LLC, the company that makes Hushtrove
A calculator vault is a photo vault whose icon and first screen look like a calculator; typing a code into the calculator opens the hidden part. It hides the vault from a quick look at your Home Screen. It doesn't hide that the app is installed: it still appears in your App Store purchase history and in Settings › General › iPhone Storage with how much space it uses S1 S2. And the disguise says nothing about how well the photos inside are protected.
Calculator vaults are popular with people who share a phone screen often: showing photos to friends, handing the phone over to make a call, or using it at work. Here is what the disguise does and doesn't do on iPhone, and what to check before trusting one with IDs, financial documents or intimate photos.
What a calculator disguise hides
- The icon. At a glance, the app looks like a utility. Some apps are a calculator by default; others, including Hushtrove, let you switch to a calculator-style icon in settings. iOS lets apps offer alternate icons that the person chooses S3.
- The first screen. In a true calculator vault, the app opens to a working calculator and only a code reveals the vault. Calculator#, for example, describes itself as looking "like a Calculator" while it "secretly hides" photos, videos and documents S4.
What it doesn't hide
| Where | What shows |
|---|---|
| App Store purchase history | Every app you've downloaded, under its real name. S1 |
| Settings › General › iPhone Storage | A list of apps with their storage use. A "calculator" holding several gigabytes stands out. S2 |
| The App Store page | The disguise is advertised publicly, so anyone who knows the app can recognise it. |
| The name under the icon | Alternate icons change the picture an app shows S3; the name under it is the app's own. In Hushtrove, the name stays "Hushtrove". |
| Copies elsewhere | Photos you imported may still be in Photos, in Recently Deleted for 30 days, or in iCloud. S5 |
The disguise isn't the protection
What matters is what happens behind the calculator. Questions worth answering from the app's own pages:
- Is the vault encrypted, and how? Calculator#'s App Store page lists many features but doesn't state an encryption method S4. Some vault developers name an algorithm; some don't.
- What does the App Privacy label say? Calculator#'s label lists Contact Info as data used to track you, and Contact Info and User Content as data not linked to you S4.
- Does it need an email? Calculator# offers lost-password recovery "through your registered email" S4.
- Where do backups go? Calculator# backs up to iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive S4. Ask whether backups are encrypted before they leave the phone.
- Ads? Calculator# is "free with ads and limitations" S4.
A built-in alternative: hide the app itself
On iPhone, you can hide almost any app you downloaded, whatever its icon. Touch and hold the app, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID. The app leaves the Home Screen and search results and moves to a Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library, which opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode S6. That works with any vault app and doesn't depend on a convincing disguise. The limits: anyone with your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden folder, and the hidden status doesn't sync to your other devices S6.
How Hushtrove approaches it
Hushtrove, our app, opens to a passcode screen rather than a fake calculator. With Pro, you can swap its icon for a calculator, weather or utilities icon, and flip the iPhone face down to lock the vault instantly. The protection itself is the same with or without the disguise: every photo, video and file is encrypted with its own AES-256 key, the passcode is combined with a secret in the iPhone's Secure Enclave, and the app's screens come out black in screenshots and screen recordings. If you want it out of sight entirely, use iOS's own Hide feature as well.