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Do you have photos on your phone or tablet that you don’t want others to see? KeepSafe Vault promises to help keep them safe from prying eyes, in case anyone should borrow, steal or find your device. When you move videos or photos into KeepSafe, they disappear from your device’s Gallery, so the only way to access them is by launching KeepSafe and entering your PIN.
There are several ways of making your KeepSafe content more secure. For example, you can add a password to each KeepSafe album. You can also disguise KeepSafe as an app that scans your system and reports any problems. This means that even if someone is snooping around your device, they won’t immediately suspect KeepSafe contains private photos and videos. Similarly, you can create a decoy version of KeepSafe that you launch by entering a fake PIN.
KeepSafe doesn’t require root access and is free to download from Google Play. Buying a subscription unlocks some extra features.
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Create your PIN
When you first launch KeepSafe, you’re asked to create a PIN. Enter a four-digit code, tap OK and then re-enter your PIN. If you forget your PIN, you can recover your account via email, so enter your address and tap Enable. KeepSafe will then send a verification email to this address.
Hide your photos
Enter the code from your verification email into KeepSafe and tap Submit. KeepSafe already contains a default album, but you can create more by tapping the ‘+’ symbol. To add photos to an album, open that album and tap the Import Photos icon. Select your photos and then tap Hide.
Un-hide your photos
To move photos out of KeepSafe so they reappear in your device’s Gallery, find the photo in question and give it a tap so it appears fullscreen. Then, tap the Unhide icon and confirm that you want to move this image out of KeepSafe, by tapping OK.
Share photos securely
You can also use KeepSafe to share photos in a way that means the recipient can view the image for 20 seconds only. Make sure the photo is stored in KeepSafe, then tap the photo so it appears fullscreen. Tap on Share and choose a channel with which to send your image.
Settings menu
On KeepSafe’s main screen, tap the icon at the top left, then Settings. Here, you can perform admin tasks such as changing the email address associated with your account, and your PIN. You can also access some extra KeepSafe options, which are covered in the next few steps.
Auto-lock KeepSafe
If you need to quickly lock KeepSafe, you can enable Face-down Lock so the app locks automatically when you flip your device upside down. KeepSafe’s Settings also contain Pro features, which you can access via a free 14-day trial – to start it, tap any of the Pro features.
PIN Timeout
One Pro feature you can access on a free trial basis is PIN Timeout. This keeps KeepSafe unlocked for 30 seconds after you leave the app, so it’s perfect if you’re fed up of having to re-enter your PIN every time your device goes to sleep or you accidentally exit KeepSafe.
Break-in Alerts
Break-in Alerts is another Pro feature. When enabled, KeepSafe automatically takes a photo when an invalid PIN is entered. After three failed attempts, the PIN pad will be disabled for a while. To activate this feature, tap Break-in Alerts, followed by Enable Break-In Alerts.
KeepSafe in disguise
You can disguise KeepSafe as a system-scanning app, by enabling Secret Door. Now, launching KeepSafe will simply display a message informing you that the system scan is complete. To launch the real KeepSafe app from this screen, you need to long-press on the KeepSafe logo.
