Comparison
Bunker vs Apple's Hidden album
If you only want to keep a few photos out of your camera roll when you hand your phone to someone, Apple’s Hidden album is free, built in, and enough. Bunker is for when a passcode isn’t the right key: it encrypts photos, videos and documents under a Pattern only you know, keeps separate vaults with no list of them anywhere, and lets your family reach a vault later if you can’t.
The short verdict
- Use the Hidden album for casual privacy: it’s already on your iPhone, it’s locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and it syncs with iCloud Photos.
- Use Bunker when the people who might look also know your passcode, when you want more than one private space, or when you keep documents you’d want your family to find.
Side by side
| Bunker | Apple Photos Hidden album | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption model | Each item encrypted on your device with keys from your Pattern | Protected by your iPhone’s own encryption; in iCloud, end-to-end only with Advanced Data Protection |
| Account required | No account, no email | Uses your Apple Account for iCloud Photos |
| Unlock method | Pattern on a 5 × 5 dial, optional Passphrase | Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode |
| Backup | Encrypted Backup to your own iCloud, free | iCloud Photos, if you use it |
| Multiple vaults / decoy | Unlimited Hidden Vaults, each with its own Pattern | One Hidden album |
| Duress | Duress Vault (Bunker Pro) | None |
| Family access / legacy | Legacy Vaults (Bunker Pro) | Apple’s Legacy Contact covers your Apple Account after death |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad and Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro |
| Price model | Free with per-vault limits; Bunker Pro to remove them | Free, built in |
Apple details come from Apple Support’s pages on the Hidden album, hiding photos on iPhone, iCloud data security and Legacy Contact, checked Oct 24, 2026.
How the Hidden album works
When you hide a photo, it moves to the Hidden album and stops appearing in your Library, other albums and the Photos widget. Since iOS 16, the album is locked by default and opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. On iOS 18 and later you can check both settings in Settings → Apps → Photos: Use Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode) keeps the album locked, and turning off Show Hidden Album removes it from view entirely.
If you use iCloud Photos, a photo you hide on one device is hidden on your others too. With Apple’s standard data protection, Photos is encrypted in transit and on Apple’s servers, but Apple holds the keys. With Advanced Data Protection turned on, Photos becomes end-to-end encrypted.
Where Bunker is different
A separate key. The Hidden album opens with the same passcode that opens your phone. Partners, children and anyone you’ve ever unlocked your phone in front of may know it. Bunker’s vaults open only with a Pattern you draw, and that Pattern is the encryption key. A wrong Pattern simply opens nothing.
More than one private space. Bunker lets you make as many Hidden Vaults as you like, each with its own Pattern and no list of them anywhere. Someone who opens one sees only that one. With Bunker Pro, a Duress Vault opens normally and clears your other vaults from this device; your iCloud backup still keeps them (if backup was on), and each comes back with its Recovery Phrase.
Out of Photos altogether. Items you import into Bunker live only in Bunker. After an import, Bunker offers to delete the originals from Photos, and reminds you that Photos keeps them in Recently Deleted for 30 days, so you can clear them there too. The Secure Camera saves straight into a vault and never to your camera roll.
Documents and notes, too. Scan & Search reads text from scans on your device, so you can search a passport or insurance letter by the words in it.
A plan for your family. Apple’s Legacy Contact lets someone request your Apple Account data after your death, with an access key and a death certificate. Legacy Vaults are narrower: they give the trusted contacts you choose a read-only copy of one vault, with no paperwork, once enough of them combine their Legacy Cards. In v1, enough of them together can open it at any time, including while you’re alive. Many people set up both; see Apple Legacy Contact explained.
Choose the Hidden album if…
- You want nothing to install or pay for. It’s free and already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- You want Face ID. The Hidden album opens with a glance. Bunker always asks for your Pattern or Passphrase.
- You want hidden photos to stay in your normal library, synced by iCloud Photos and editable in Photos.
- The only people who might look don’t know your passcode. Then a locked album is enough, and a vault app adds steps you don’t need.
- You also use Apple Vision Pro. The Hidden album is there; Bunker has no Vision Pro app.
If you go this way, turn on Advanced Data Protection for end-to-end encryption in iCloud, and make sure the Hidden album’s lock is on.
Choose Bunker if…
- Someone who might look knows your iPhone passcode.
- You want photos out of Photos and iCloud Photos entirely, not just out of sight.
- You want separate spaces, or a vault you can open safely if you’re pressured.
- You want the people you trust to reach certain things if something happens to you.
Limits of both
Neither protects a phone that’s already compromised. With Bunker, someone who holds your unlocked phone and knows your Pattern sees that vault, and if you forget a Pattern and lose its Recovery Phrase, nobody can open it, including us. Bunker blocks screenshots and recordings of vault screens by default, but that can’t work on every surface, and nothing stops someone photographing the screen.
Related
- Encrypted Backup and Bunker vs Apple Notes locked notes
- What happens to your photos when you die
- Free photo metadata remover
- Guides: how to hide photos on iPhone, keep private photos out of iCloud and stop photos showing in Memories and widgets
Questions
Is the Hidden album on iPhone private?
It keeps photos out of your Library, albums and widgets, and since iOS 16 it's locked by default with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open it, and hidden photos sync to your other devices through iCloud Photos.
How do I hide the Hidden album itself?
On iOS 18 and later, open Settings → Apps → Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album. Your hidden photos then don't appear anywhere in Photos until you turn it back on.
Are hidden photos end-to-end encrypted in iCloud?
Only if you turn on Advanced Data Protection. With Apple's standard data protection, Photos is encrypted in transit and on Apple's servers with keys Apple holds.
When is the Hidden album enough?
When you only want certain photos out of sight while you hand your phone to someone, and you're comfortable that anyone with your passcode could open them. If you need a separate key, more than one private space, or a plan for your family, use a vault app.