Backroom vs the Apple Hidden album

The Hidden album is free and syncs across your devices. Backroom adds a pattern separate from your passcode and encrypts each file inside its own app.

The Hidden album comes with your iPhone, costs nothing and follows you across devices with iCloud Photos. It opens with the same Face ID or passcode as your phone. Backroom, coming soon to the App Store, opens with a separate pattern and keeps files encrypted inside its own app on one iPhone.

Side by side

BackroomHidden album

AvailabilityComing soon to the App Store. iPhone.Built into iPhone, iPad and Mac.

What opens itA pattern of at least 6 dots on a 5 by 5 grid.Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode.

EncryptionAES-256-GCM on each file, with a random key for each vault.iCloud data is encrypted, with Apple holding the keys by default. Advanced Data Protection makes iCloud Photos end-to-end encrypted.

Where files liveOn your iPhone, and in your device backups in encrypted form if you make them. No cloud sync.In your Photos library, and in iCloud with iCloud Photos on.

AccountNone.Your Apple Account, for iCloud.

Forgotten codeA 12-word recovery phrase for each vault. Lose the pattern and the phrase, and nobody can open that vault.Your device passcode and Apple Account recovery.

If someone pressures youA different pattern opens a different vault, and the app shows no list of vaults. No duress mode.One Hidden album, which opens with your passcode.

DisguisePaid plan: alternate icons and a working calculator screen. The name under the icon stays Backroom.None needed for the app. You can turn off Show Hidden Album in settings.

Ads and dataNo ads and no analytics.Covered by Apple's own privacy terms.

Code and reviewSource code is unpublished. No outside review has been completed.Apple publishes its security design in the Platform Security guide.

PriceFree: 50 photos and files, 5 videos and 10 notes in each vault. Paid: $1.99 a week, $19.99 a year or $39.99 once.Free. iCloud storage plans are separate.

Hidden album facts checked October 31, 2026 against its own listing or site, US prices. See Sources below. Apps change, so check before you buy.

Where the Hidden album wins

It is already on your phone and costs nothing. It syncs through iCloud Photos, so a photo hidden on your iPhone stays hidden on your iPad and Mac. If you turn on Advanced Data Protection, iCloud Photos become end-to-end encrypted. Apple also has a long record and a published security guide, while Backroom has not yet finished an outside review.

The passcode question

Everyone who knows your passcode can open the album. That covers a partner who has watched you type it, a kid who picked it up and a thief who saw it before taking the phone. Each device signed in to your account is also a way in, so a family iPad with a simple code reaches the same photos.

Backroom asks for a pattern that has nothing to do with your passcode, so knowing the code gets someone to the pattern screen and no further.

What you give up with Backroom

Backroom has no sync, so your vault lives on one iPhone and in your device backups if you make them. You also have to remember a pattern, or keep a 12-word recovery phrase on paper. Lose both and that vault stays closed for good. There is no Face ID shortcut. For many people, that is more effort than the job calls for.

Which one fits

Choose the Hidden album if your concern is someone scrolling past a photo and you trust everyone who knows your passcode. Backroom suits the case where someone close to you may know that code. Our page on a partner who knows your passcode covers that situation in more depth.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Hidden album enough?

If you only want a photo out of your main grid, often yes. It falls short when the person you worry about knows your passcode, because the same code opens the album.

Does Backroom sync to my iPad like the Hidden album?

No. Backroom runs on iPhone and has no cloud sync. The Hidden album is the better choice if you need the same photos on several devices.

Can I use both?

Yes. They do different jobs. Many people could keep everyday hidden photos in Apple's album and a smaller private set in a vault.