What happens to my pictures if I delete a photo vault app?
Why they go with the app
A vault app usually copies your pictures into its own private space on your iPhone and then asks to remove the originals from Photos. The copies belong to the app. When you delete the app, its data goes too.
There's one way a copy might survive. If an app keeps its own copy somewhere else, such as an account with the company or iCloud, deleting the app on your iPhone may not delete that copy. Whether a vault app does that is up to the app, and many don't.
Don't delete the app to "see if the pictures come back". That's the one test you can't undo.
Before you delete: check first
- Open the app and look at how many pictures and videos are in it.
- Save them out. Look for a way to save to Photos or Files, or an export or backup option. If you can't find one, assume the app has no way out.
- Check the result. Open Photos or Files and make sure the pictures are really there and open. Do this before you delete anything.
- Keep the lock details. If the app has a backup file, you'll also need its code or phrase to open it. Don't throw those away.
If you already deleted it
- Recently Deleted may still have the originals. If the app asked iPhone to remove the pictures from Photos when you added them, they sit in Photos' Recently Deleted collection for 30 days, then are removed. To look: Photos, Collections, Recently Deleted, then unlock it. With iCloud Photos on, that applies to all your devices.
- Reinstalling doesn't bring the pictures back by itself. Apple says you can redownload an app you got before if it's still available: open the App Store, tap your picture, then Apps & Purchase History, then Your Apps, then Not on this iPhone. The pictures only come back if the app kept them somewhere else, such as an account of its own or iCloud.
- An older backup might hold them. Apple says iCloud Backup includes app data for apps you've downloaded. But Apple says restoring an iCloud backup on an iPhone that's already set up means erasing it first, so save what's on it now, ask for help before trying it, and know that it may not work. Here's what a backup contains.
- Contact the app's maker if you had an account with them. They may have a copy, depending on how the app was built.
How FirstHour works
FirstHour's Vault lives inside the app, so deleting FirstHour deletes what's in it. We don't have a copy, and the Vault is left out of iCloud and computer backups, so those can't bring it back either. Pictures you already saved to Photos are ordinary pictures again and aren't touched.
The way out is a backup file: in the open Vault, tap the ••• menu, then Back up. It needs your recovery phrase, and you choose where the file goes. If you reinstall FirstHour, it starts a new, empty Vault. You set a new pattern or PIN and write down a new recovery phrase, then tap ••• and Restore from a backup, and type the phrase the backup was made with. Here's how to back up safely.
FirstHour can't recover a Vault you deleted without a backup, and it can't do anything for a backup file you've lost or a phrase you've forgotten. Read this before you delete it.
Questions
Does removing an app from the Home Screen delete it?
No. Apple says an app you remove from the Home Screen moves to App Library and isn't deleted. Deleting the app is what removes it and its related data.
Will deleting a vault app delete my pictures in Photos?
Not the ones still in Photos. Deleting the app removes what's inside the app. But if the app moved your pictures out of Photos, the only copies now are inside the app.
Sources
- How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad, Apple Support
- Organize the Home Screen and App Library on your iPhone, Apple Support
- Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad, Apple Support
- Redownload apps from Apple, Apple Support
- What does iCloud back up?, Apple Support
- Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup, Apple Support