72 apps move photos out of the camera roll and behind a PIN, from 66 developers, two in the $250k+ band and four more at $50–250k. Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe has held the top since February 2011 and adds 5,441 ratings a month on top of 1,011,883. One app launched in the last 18 months and sits at 558 ratings in the $5–10k band. The one star reviews come from buyers who lost an old purchase: "years ago" runs 8 times across five leaders.
Appaloma readings · Photos hidden from the camera roll · 2026-09-01
- OpeningEstablishedOpen when a quarter or more of the niche launched in the last 18 months
- Demand99Revealed by rating velocity across the niche, 0–100
- Crowding100How much of the niche the top apps already hold, 0–100
- Apps729 researched over $20k a month
- New1launched in the last 18 months, holding 0% of the niche's review pace
- Floor$1.1M+a month, adding the band floors of 72 researched apps
What the niche is
Photos and videos leave the camera roll for an app that opens on a PIN, a gesture or Face ID, and the vault holds notes, passwords and contacts. The buyer hands an unlocked phone to other people, and 9 of the 72 apps clear $20k a month on that worry.
It sits in Photo vaults and privacy lockers under Privacy vaults. Twelve of the 14 leaders rank on "photo vault hidden" and nine on "hidden photos calculator", so the search that brings the install asks for a disguise.
195 phone cleaner apps empty the same camera roll instead of hiding it, and 41 of them clear $20k a month with five in the $250k+ band. 117 screen time blocker apps lock the apps rather than the photos and six of them clear $20k a month.
Who leads
| App | Since | Ratings | Stars | Prices | Band | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Private Photo Vault - Pic SafeLegendary Software Labs LLC | Feb 2011 | 1,011,883 | 4.8 | $6.99–$39.99 | $250k+ |
| 2 |  Secret Photo Vault: KeepsafeKeepSafe Software, Inc | Apr 2012 | 380,028 | 4.7 | $4.99–$35.99 | $250k+ |
| 3 |  SPV - Secret Photo VaultMaple Labs Co., Ltd | Jan 2019 | 69,571 | 4.6 | $4.99–$39.99 | $50–250k |
| 4 |  SV - Private Photo Vault PROLegendary Software Labs LLC | Mar 2011 | 26,198 | 4.9 | $6.99–$119.99 | $50–250k |
| 5 |  Safe Lock - Hidden Photo VaultKaterina Akhlebinina | Mar 2017 | 24,628 | 4.8 | $4.99–$29.99 | $50–250k |
| 6 |  Locker - Hidden Photo VaultRelentless Consulting, Inc | Jul 2017 | 23,503 | 4.4 | $0.99–$19.99 | $50–250k |
| 7 |  Secret Photo Album · 1LockerTouchberry | May 2019 | 13,690 | 4.7 | $2.99–$49.99 | $20–50k |
| 8 |  Photo Vault - Darkbox璐 江 | Jul 2017 | 7,030 | 4.8 | $13.49–$124.99 | $20–50k |
| 9 |  Keeply - Hide photos & notesMatic Oblak | Dec 2013 | 65 | 4.3 | $0.99–$9.99 | $20–50k |
| 10 |  Secret Photo Album ++Sunny Studio | Aug 2019 | 13,883 | 4.7 | $1.99–$7.99 | $10–20k |
| 11 |  Vault - Hide photos & videosNQ Mobile Inc. | Jul 2012 | 8,686 | 4.2 | $0.99–$19.99 | $10–20k |
| 12 |  Private Browser - Photo Vault秀平 罗 | Sep 2018 | 1,415 | 4.7 | $1.99–$7.99 | $10–20k |
Band: our researched estimate of peak monthly revenue, published only for apps we have researched one by one. Every app in the catalog sits above the $5k a month floor.
Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, from Legendary Software Labs LLC, launched in February 2011 and holds 1,011,883 ratings at 5,441 a month in the $250k+ band, more than twice the pace of any rival. It sells five plans from $6.99 to $39.99 without saying how long any of them runs.
Secret Photo Vault: Keepsafe, from KeepSafe Software, Inc, launched in April 2012 and holds 380,028 ratings at 2,209 a month in the $250k+ band at 0.8x its own earlier pace, the only app from its developer. It sells eight plans from $4.99 to $35.99, two of them a $9.99 month and a $23.99 year, and tops the price list with a $35.99 Cloud Hider tier.
SPV - Secret Photo Vault, from Maple Labs Co., Ltd, launched in January 2019 and holds 69,571 ratings at 769 a month at $50–250k while rising at 3.6x, the fastest of the 14, from a developer with 17 apps. Safe Lock - Hidden Photo Vault from Katerina Akhlebinina rises second fastest at 2.7x and holds 24,628 ratings since March 2017.
The same developer runs SV - Private Photo Vault PRO, which launched in March 2011 and carries 4.9 stars on 26,198 ratings at $50–250k with an Ultimate plan at $119.99. Locker - Hidden Photo Vault from Relentless Consulting, Inc holds the same band on 23,503 ratings since July 2017 and prices four plans from $0.99 to $19.99.
Secret Photo Album · 1Locker and Photo Vault - Darkbox hold $20–50k on 13,690 and 7,030 ratings, and Darkbox sells a 100GB cloud plan up to $124.99.
Five leaders come from developers with one app, and four have not shipped an update in over two years while keeping their band: Secret Photo Album ++ stopped in February 2020 at $10–20k on 13,883 ratings, Keeply - Hide photos & notes in July 2021 at $20–50k on 65 ratings, LockOn- Secret Folder in May 2023, its launch month, and Private Browser - Photo Vault in February 2024. Eighteen of the 72 sit dormant.
How they make money
Six of the 14 leaders charge by the month, from $0.99 at Keeply and $1.99 at Secret Photo Album ++ and Private Browser - Photo Vault to $2.99 at Vault - Hide photos & videos and $9.99 at Keepsafe and Secret Photo Vault: Safe Files. Four sell a yearly plan, $9.99 at Keeply, $19.99 at Locker and Vault - Hide photos & videos and $23.99 at Keepsafe. One sells a weekly plan, LockOn- Secret Folder at $9.99 beside three months at $34.99.
Five sell the vault outright from $7.99 to $24.99: Locker calls it a Lifetime Pass, SPV Premium_Lifetime, Private Browser - Photo Vault Pro Edition For Permanent, Secret Photo Album ++ and 1Locker Entire Life. Vault - Hide photos & videos sells ten purchases, five plans and five one-off unlocks from $0.99 to $1.99.
Four leaders never say how long their plans run: Pic Safe lists Premium up to $39.99, SV Ultimate at $119.99, Safe Lock Premium Account at $4.99 to $29.99 and Darkbox VIP, SVIP and SSVIP at $13.49, $28.49 and $124.99, the highest price in the top 14.
The angles that get installs
- a second login that opens a decoy vault18 apps
- the calculator that's a vault5 apps
- a vault for the passwords you forget4 apps
- sells cloud storage plans up to 100GB3 apps
- no account, nothing leaves the phone2 apps
- hides photos and frees up phone storage2 apps
Eighteen of the 72 apps sell a second login: one PIN opens the real vault and another opens a decoy of harmless photos. Five run the calculator disguise, where the owner types the PIN into a working calculator, against nine of the 14 leaders ranking on "hidden photos calculator". Four hold passwords, three keep a second address book behind the PIN, three lock voice memos, three photograph whoever gets the PIN wrong and three close the vault when the phone goes face down, which one Pic Safe five star reviewer gives as the reason.
Three apps sell cloud plans up to 100GB while two promise no account and nothing leaving the phone. Two hide photos and free up phone storage, the only angle about space instead of secrecy.
What the one star reviews keep saying
“8/10/26 I have had this app since around 2012 and have used it for YEARS to store and protect my personal photos. I was literally adding photos this morning when, all of a sudden, the app told me that my Premium subscrip”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-08-10
“every time” recurs in 6 of the top 12 apps“Photos and videos lose their quality, and once you import videos into the app, you can’t export them back—even though there’s an export button. Unfortunately, I lost all my videos💔”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-08-02
“photos videos” recurs in 5 of the top 12 apps“Years ago I bought the lifetime premium access. I don’t recall how much it was at the time, only that it included features like ad free and multiple folders. Today I opened the app to ads and a warning that my subscripti”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-08-18
“years ago” recurs in 5 of the top 12 apps“Loved the app had it from phone to phone for years, got a new phone recently transferred everything downloaded when I opened app on new phone everything was gone. I lost 2000 photos and videos that are unrecoverable. App”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-07-17
“new phone” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“8/10/26 I have had this app since around 2012 and have used it for YEARS to store and protect my personal photos. I was literally adding photos this morning when, all of a sudden, the app told me that my Premium subscrip”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-08-10
“won't let” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“I bought this app years ago and now it wants me to buy a subscription and I can’t use the app anymore. It just pops up a subscription add I can’t click out of and says error loading subscription deals. Please fix or I’ll”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-08-10
“ago now” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps“Just went to log in and they changed the password to be on 4 digits. I’m not able to access any of my photos because l don’t know the password”Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe, 2026-07-27
“don't know” recurs in 4 of the top 12 apps
Phrases that recur in one and two star reviews across 8 of the niche's top 12 apps.
Eight leaders with pooled reviews share three complaints.
The old unlock became a subscription. "Years ago" runs 8 times in five apps, "every time" 10 times in six, "can't access" 7 times in three and "ago now" 4 times in four. In August 2026 a Pic Safe reviewer who bought lifetime premium years ago opened the app to ads and an expired subscription notice, and the app cut another off mid-upload after storing photos there since 2012.
The photos do not come back out. "Photos videos" runs 15 times in five apps, "new phone" 15 times in four and "waste money" 7 times in three, behind a reviewer who lost 2,000 files moving to a new phone and another who found the export button returns nothing.
The import fails. "Doesn't work" runs 13 times in three apps, "customer service" 7 times in three and "phone can't" 4 times in four, from a Keepsafe reviewer who spent two days on one transfer. "Don't know" runs 4 times in four apps from people the app locked out after it changed the password rule to four digits.
What works, from the five star side
Five star reviewers count years. "Great great" runs 33 times in seven apps, "best ever" 30 times in six, "great love" 25 times in five and "highly recommend" 11 times in five. One reviewer has kept the same vault for 8 to 10 years and another has used it since launch, rating the second lock code they share with a partner. "Love love" runs 12 times in five apps, and the SV reviewer behind it wants a decoy that opens on a stock exchange screen.
New in the last 18 months
- Secure Folder : Private VaultMar 2025 · 558 ratings · $5–10k
One app launched in the last 18 months: Secure Folder : Private Vault from Lakkad Dharmesh arrived in March 2025 and holds 558 ratings at $5–10k with 0% of the review pace. The newest of the 14 leaders, LockOn- Secret Folder, dates to May 2023, and the top two spots have belonged to Pic Safe since February 2011 and Keepsafe since April 2012.
What to copy and what to avoid
Copy: the decoy vault that 18 of the 72 apps run and an SV five star reviewer asks for by name.
Copy: telling the buyer how long every plan runs, which only LockOn- Secret Folder does on both of its plans, against four leaders that never say it and 8 one star mentions from buyers who thought they had paid once.
Avoid: turning an old paid unlock into a subscription, which draws "years ago" 8 times in five leaders, "every time" 10 times in six and "can't access" 7 times in three.
Avoid: an export that does not return the original file, with "photos videos" 15 times in five leaders and "new phone" 15 times in four.
Our read: both $250k+ apps launched before 2013 and updated in July 2026, while the one 18-month entrant holds $5–10k on 558 ratings. The photos inside the app are what people pay to keep, and losing them drives 30 mentions of "new phone" and "photos videos".
Our read: nine of the 14 leaders rank on "hidden photos calculator" while five of the 72 apps ship the calculator and 18 run a decoy: the leaders rank on a disguise five apps build.
FAQ
Is the photo vault app market saturated?
No. 72 apps from 66 developers, 9 clearing $20k a month as of September 2026, and one launch in the last 18 months that holds $5–10k on 558 ratings. Eighteen of the 72 are dormant and four of those sit in the top 14.
Which photo vault apps make the most money?
Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe and Secret Photo Vault: Keepsafe hold the $250k+ band as of September 2026, on 1,011,883 and 380,028 ratings. Four more sit at $50–250k: SPV - Secret Photo Vault, SV - Private Photo Vault PRO, Safe Lock - Hidden Photo Vault and Locker - Hidden Photo Vault.
How do photo vault apps make money?
Six of the 14 leaders charge $0.99 to $9.99 a month, four charge $9.99 to $23.99 a year and five sell a lifetime unlock at $7.99 to $24.99. One sells a weekly plan at $9.99, and four never say how long a plan runs while charging up to $124.99.
Are photo vault apps safe to keep photos in?
The one star reviews put the risk in the app: "new phone" runs 15 times in four leaders and "photos videos" 15 times in five, with 2,000 files lost in one transfer. The same apps hold five star reviewers for 8 to 10 years.
What should a new photo vault app do differently?
Say how long every plan runs, since four of the 14 leaders never do and "years ago" draws 8 one star mentions in five apps. Make export return the original file, against 15 mentions of "photos videos" in five leaders and 15 of "new phone" in four.