Move a photo vault to a new iPhone

Updated 3 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

Why a vault doesn't just come along

Apple's Quick Start moves your apps and data to a new iPhone, either from iCloud or directly from the old one. You can also restore from an iCloud or computer backup. But what a vault app's private files do on that trip depends on how the app stores them. Some are left out of backups on purpose, and some keys are tied to the old phone's chip so a copy can't be opened elsewhere. So check before you rely on it, and make the vault's own backup first.

The safe order

1. On the old iPhone, open the vault app and look for a backup or export option. Make one, and save it somewhere you can reach from the new iPhone.
2. Keep the code that opens the backup, on paper.
3. Set up the new iPhone and install the vault app.
4. Restore the backup, and look through the pictures.
5. Only then erase the old iPhone, if you're selling or trading it in. Here's what to do first.

How it works in FirstHour

FirstHour leaves the Vault out of iCloud and computer backups and ties its lock to your iPhone's chip, so a new iPhone should start with an empty Vault. A backup file is made to be restored on any iPhone.

1. Old iPhone: open the Vault, tap •••, then Back up, and type your recovery phrase. Save the file somewhere the new iPhone can reach, such as iCloud Drive. Here's how to do that safely.
2. New iPhone: install FirstHour and open the Vault tab. Choose a pattern or PIN, and write down the new recovery phrase it gives you. This is a new, empty Vault.
3. In that open Vault (the main one, not a decoy), tap •••, then Restore from a backup. Choose the backup file, and type the recovery phrase the backup was made with. That's the old phrase, not the new one.
4. Wait for it to finish, and keep FirstHour open. If the file is still downloading from iCloud Drive, FirstHour says it couldn't be read, so wait and try again.

FirstHour then tells you how many items were restored. Pictures, videos, files and notes come across, with their names. Your pattern or PIN doesn't, because you chose a new one, and a decoy vault doesn't, so set one up again if you want one. You now have two recovery phrases to keep: the old one for old backup files, and the new one for this Vault.

What we haven't tested

The code is built so a backup opens on a different iPhone, because the file is protected by your phrase and not by the old phone. The app's automated checks restore a backup into a separate, new vault with a different key. But we haven't yet tried it between two real iPhones. That's why keeping the old iPhone until you've seen your pictures matters. If restoring doesn't work, you still have the original.

• A backup holds only what was in the Vault when you made it.
• Without the file or its phrase, there's nothing to restore. Nobody can open it for you.
• If you've already erased or lost the old iPhone and made no backup, the Vault can't be moved.

Questions

Sources

• Use Quick Start to transfer data to a new iPhone or iPad, Apple Support
• Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup, Apple Support