There are two practical ways to keep photos out of sight on an iPhone: Apple’s built-in Hidden album, or a separate photo vault app with its own lock. Both are useful. They protect against different situations.
Option 1: Apple’s Hidden album
Hiding is built into the Photos app. Open a photo, or select several, tap the More button (…) and choose Hide. The photos disappear from your Library, albums and widgets and move into the Hidden collection. In iOS 18 you find it by scrolling down to Utilities in Photos.
Since iOS 16, the Hidden album is locked by default. It opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode. You can also turn off Show Hidden Album in the Photos settings so the collection itself is not listed. If you use iCloud Photos, a photo you hide is hidden on your other devices too.
Option 2: A separate photo vault
A photo vault such as PureVault keeps selected photos and videos in its own encrypted storage inside the app. PureVault encrypts vault content on your device with AES-GCM and opens with its own app passcode, with optional Face ID or Touch ID. Your iPhone passcode is not used as a fallback to open the vault.
Importing creates a separate vault copy. The original stays in Apple Photos until you delete it there yourself, so check the vault copy first and remember that deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for about 30 days.
Which one should you use?
The Hidden album is enough if you mainly want photos out of your everyday Library, for example when you show someone your camera roll.
A vault app makes sense if people around you know your iPhone passcode, or you want private photos with notes and albums in a place that is separate from Apple Photos and iCloud Photos.
Either way: a strong iPhone passcode and current iOS updates are the base of every other protection.
