Auto-lock: locked the moment you leave
Switch apps, glance at Control Center or put your phone down, and VaultShield locks. Your vault key is wiped from memory, so nothing is left open behind your back.
How it works
What happens when you leave
- 1
You leave the app
Go to the Home Screen, switch apps, open the app switcher or pull down Control Center.
- 2
VaultShield locks straight away
There's no countdown. The vault locks as soon as it stops being the app in front of you.
- 3
The key is wiped from memory
Your vault key is cleared, the encrypted index is closed, and open locked folders lock again.
- 4
Your pattern brings you back
Come back and you start at the lock screen. Draw your pattern, with Face ID on top if you use it.
What you get
No window left open
No delay
There's no grace period to forget about. The vault locks the instant you leave it.
Even the app switcher
Opening the app switcher, Control Center or Notification Center locks it too, not just leaving for another app.
The key leaves memory
Locking wipes the vault key and closes the encrypted index, so there's nothing open left to read.
Locked folders lock too
Any locked folder you had open is shut again, along with the rest of the vault.
Smart about VaultShield's own prompts
Picking photos, granting camera access or confirming with Face ID inside VaultShield won't lock you out mid-step.
Back to the lock screen
You always come back to the lock screen, never to the photo you were looking at.
Good to know
What it doesn’t do
We’d rather you know the limits now than find them later.
No grace period, by design
You'll draw your pattern every time you come back, even after a few seconds away. There's no setting to delay it.
It can't stop screenshots
While your vault is open, iOS screenshots and screen recording work as normal. Auto-lock protects you when you leave, not while you're looking.
Shared copies are on their own
A photo you share or save out of VaultShield is no longer in the vault. Locking can't protect that copy.
FAQ
Common questions
No. It always locks the moment you leave. A delay would leave your vault open on a phone you've put down, which is exactly when it's most at risk.
Yes. So does pulling down Control Center or Notification Center. Any moment VaultShield isn't the app in front of you, it locks.
No. VaultShield's own prompts, like the photo picker, camera access and Face ID, don't trigger auto-lock. Actually leaving the app still does.
It locks again along with the vault. Next time, you'll unlock the vault and then the folder.
No. iOS screenshots work while the vault is open. Auto-lock is about what happens when you leave.