Name: ArkWarden
Price: varies USD
Author: ArkWarden

ArkWarden is a privacy-focused vault for iPhone. It stores your private photos, videos, documents and audio recordings. Every file you add to the vault is encrypted on your iPhone. There is no account to create and no ArkWarden server, so your files stay on your device and only you can open them.

Encryption that runs on your iPhone

Each file is encrypted individually with AES-256-GCM using a random 256-bit master key that is created on your iPhone. The vault's index is encrypted separately with ChaCha20-Poly1305. ArkWarden never receives the key that opens your files, which makes the design zero-knowledge.

A vault with its own unlock

You open ArkWarden by drawing a pattern on a 5x5 grid. The pattern is strengthened with PBKDF2 and combined with a key held in the iPhone's Secure Enclave, the security chip built into every supported iPhone. Your pattern is never stored, and the vault is separate from your iPhone passcode, so unlocking the phone does not open it.

Two-factor authentication

For more protection, add a second factor after the pattern: Face ID, Touch ID, a 6-digit PIN or a YubiKey over NFC. ArkWarden passed Yubico's technical review and is listed in the Works with YubiKey catalog.

Made for daily use

Take photos and record video inside the app, so new shots go directly into the vault instead of your camera roll. Import files from your photo library or the Files app, and organize them in as many folders as you need. An optional second pattern opens Wing, a separate vault with its own files, for times when someone else is looking through your phone. Intruder Detection can take an encrypted front-camera photo after 3, 5 or 10 wrong attempts, so you can see who tried.

Backup and recovery

Backup is optional and off by default. If you turn it on, your vault is encrypted on your iPhone before it is saved to your own iCloud or exported as a file. During setup you receive a 12 or 24 word recovery phrase that only you keep. It restores access if you forget your pattern, and together with a backup it moves your vault to a new iPhone.