Encrypted vault

Question 1

How do I hide files, and how secure is the vault?

Accepted Answer

Move files into the vault and they are encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 using a key generated on your device that never leaves it. They disappear from your library, from search and from the Files app, and no decrypted copy is ever written to disk — the vault has its own passcode, separate from the app lock.

Question 2

What happens if I forget the vault passcode or lose the recovery code?

Accepted Answer

The recovery code is the only other way in: with it you can open the vault on any device and set a new passcode. If the passcode is forgotten and the code is lost, the files cannot be decrypted — there is no account, no master key and no reset on our side. Store the code somewhere other than the phone.

Question 3

Can I hide the vault itself, or open a fake one if somebody makes me unlock it?

Accepted Answer

Both are built in. Camouflage gives the vault a name and icon you choose with no lock badge, and tapping it opens a harmless set of files straight away — the real vault is behind a gesture you pick. A second passcode, the decoy PIN, opens that same harmless set from the passcode screen.

Question 4

Does the vault survive a new phone or a restore from backup?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if it is in your backup — which it is by default. The encrypted files and the key file travel with an iCloud or computer backup; the passcode does not, because it is stored in a way that never leaves the device. On the new phone you open once with the old passcode or the recovery code, then set a new one.

Question 5

Can I play videos and music straight from the vault?

Accepted Answer

Yes, without taking them out and without a decrypted copy landing on disk. Files are encrypted in chunks, so the player decrypts only the piece it is reading, in memory, and seeking still works normally. On the lock screen and in the Now Playing controls, a vault item shows a generic title.

Question 6

How do I move photos into the vault, and are they deleted from Photos?

Accepted Answer

Pick them from the photo picker inside the vault. Each one is copied in and verified first, and only then are you asked whether to delete the originals — through the system’s own confirmation. Nothing is deleted before the copy is confirmed, so an interrupted import cannot lose a photo.

Question 7

Can I download a file straight into the vault?

Accepted Answer

Yes — choose the vault as the destination when you start the download. It runs on the normal engine, so it continues in the background and resumes after an interruption, and the queue shows a masked row. The file is encrypted into the vault the first time you unlock it after the transfer finishes.

Question 8

How many files can I keep in the vault without Pro?

Accepted Answer

Fifteen, counted live — taking one out makes room for another. Beyond that, adding needs FoxDL Pro. Everything already inside stays viewable, playable and exportable whatever your subscription state, and this is the one feature with no rewarded-video route.

Question 9

How do I get files back out of the vault?

Accepted Answer

Move individual items out to any folder you pick, or use Export everything in the vault settings to put all of it back into ordinary folders in one action. The folder structure inside the vault is recreated on the way out, and favourites and playlist memberships survive the round trip.

Question 10

Does anything from the vault show up elsewhere in the app?

Accepted Answer

Only as a masked row in playlists and recently played, and that can be switched off entirely. Library search, Spotlight, Wi-Fi Transfer, device-to-device sending and the share inbox never see the vault, and nothing we send in analytics carries a file name or a path.