HypaVault vs PV Secret Photo AlbumAd-Free Privacy or an Ad-Supported Vault?

For privacy, yes. PV Secret Photo Album is ad-supported, names only “AES” with no detail, and its fake password hides albums without erasing anything. HypaVault encrypts every file, name and thumbnail with AES-256-GCM, carries no advertising, works without an account and has a duress passcode that erases your real vaults.

PV says so: its Google Play listing claims “military-grade AES,” and its iOS listing mentions “data encryption.” It gives no key length, mode or key-handling detail, we found no independent analysis, and some reviewers report that backups sent to third-party clouds weren’t encrypted. HypaVault encrypts every file on the phone with AES-256-GCM, each with its own random 256-bit key.

Not for basic use, as far as PV describes it. Its FAQ asks you to set a recovery email, its paid cloud backup is restored by logging in to your account, and its privacy policy says it collects your email when you create one. HypaVault never asks for an email: setup is a 6-digit passcode and a 12-word recovery phrase.

Yes. The App Store lists “Contains: Advertising,” Google Play lists “Contains ads,” and PV’s privacy policy names AdMob as its ad SDK; a paid upgrade removes the ads. HypaVault carries no advertising, and nothing in it reports what you do.

No. PV has a fake password that shows a second album space and hides the real one, and an Emergency Switch that jumps to another app, but nothing that erases data. HypaVault’s duress passcode looks like a normal unlock, opens an empty vault and erases every other vault in one silent step. Your backups bring them back later.

PV is free with ads. Apple lists PV Pro at $3.99 a month or $17.99 a year, Super Member cloud plans at $29.99 or $79.99 a year, auto cloud backup at $12.99 or $49.99 a year, and a $41.99 Permanent Membership. HypaVault is $24.99 a year after a 3-day free trial, or $39.99 once, and it carries no advertising.

Yes. Save the photos and videos from PV to your photo library or Files, then import them into HypaVault, which encrypts the photos, videos and documents you choose. Once they’re safely in HypaVault, delete the originals from PV and your photo library if you want them kept only there.

PV’s own FAQ says tapping “Forget passcode” emails your password to the recovery email you set, so your passcode ends up in that inbox. HypaVault uses a 12-word recovery phrase instead, which resets a forgotten passcode. It’s shown once and never stored, so nobody, including Cyberdunes, can recover it for you; keep it written down somewhere safe.