Your pattern, always. Face ID on top.
VaultShield opens with a pattern only you know. Face ID can be added as an extra step, but it never replaces the pattern, so a glance at your phone is never enough on its own.
How it works
Set your lock
- 1
Draw your pattern
When you set up the vault, draw a pattern on a 5 × 5 grid: at least 6 dots, each used once, with at least one change of direction.
- 2
Save your recovery phrase
VaultShield shows a 24-word recovery phrase once. It's how you get back in if you ever forget your pattern.
- 3
Add Face ID if you like
Face ID is off unless you turn it on. With it on, opening the vault takes Face ID and your pattern.
- 4
Change it any time
Change your pattern, or turn Face ID on or off, in Settings. Both ask for your current pattern first.
What you get
Built so a glance isn't enough
Separate from your passcode
Your pattern isn't your iPhone passcode, so someone who knows the passcode still can't open the vault.
Face ID never replaces it
With Face ID on, you need both. Failing Face ID, or turning it off, never skips the pattern.
Checked by your iPhone's hardware
Face ID is enforced by the Secure Enclave chip when your vault key is used, not by app code that could be skipped.
Your pattern makes the key
Your pattern is turned into a key with Argon2id, and that key is tied to this iPhone's Secure Enclave. It can't be copied off the device.
Weak shapes refused
Straight lines, traces around the edge and simple runs in order are turned down when you set your pattern.
Wrong guesses slow down
After wrong patterns, you wait longer before you can try again.
Good to know
What it doesn’t do
We’d rather you know the limits now than find them later.
Your recovery phrase is a way in
The 24-word phrase opens the vault without your pattern or Face ID. That's what makes it a backup, so keep it somewhere as safe as the vault.
A pattern can be watched
Like any PIN or pattern, someone could see you draw it. Draw it out of sight, and pick a longer shape with several changes of direction.
Lose both, lose the vault
If you forget your pattern and lose your recovery phrase, nobody can open the vault, including us. There is no reset by email.
FAQ
Common questions
No. Your pattern is always required. Face ID is an optional extra step on top of it, never a replacement.
No. It's a separate lock that only opens VaultShield. That's why someone who knows your iPhone passcode still can't get into your vault.
At least 6 of the 25 dots, each used once, with at least one change of direction. Straight lines, traces around the edge and simple runs in order are turned down.
Use the 24-word recovery phrase you were shown at setup to get back in, then choose a new pattern. If you've lost the phrase too, the vault can't be opened by anyone, including us.
Yes, in Settings. VaultShield asks for your current pattern before it changes the setting.