The best free photo vault apps without ads for Android

Most lists of the best photo vault apps mix in apps that show ads and don’t say how they picked. This one uses six criteria you can check yourself on any Android phone in a few minutes. Disclosure up front: we make Calculator Locker, one of the apps below, so we’ve held it to the same criteria and listed its limits next to everyone else’s.

Four of the six options are built into Android or come free from Google or Samsung. Store labels were checked on 30 October 2026, and they change with app updates, so look again before you install anything.

How we judged each photo vault app

An option makes the list only if it passes all six. Each one is something you can verify without taking our word for it.

1. No “Contains ads” label. On Google Play the label sits just under the app name. Developers must declare ads, including ones served by third-party ad SDKs (Play Console Help).
2. Free, with no paywall on your own files. Paid extras are fine. Paying to view, export or keep your own photos is not.
3. No account, or an optional cloud that’s encrypted before upload. An account means a server, and servers holding vault data have leaked before.
4. Encrypts rather than hides. Files should be encrypted on the phone, not just moved into a hidden folder or renamed. In a 2022 study, only 5 of 20 popular Android vault apps even attempted encryption (WPES 2022).
5. An export path. You can get your photos back out, one at a time or as a backup.
6. Maintained. Updated within the last year, going by the “Updated on” date on the listing.

Open source is a bonus, not a requirement. Install counts and star ratings aren’t criteria at all: they measure popularity, not privacy.

Built-in options: free, no ads, already on your phone

Before installing anything, check what your phone already does. All four of these are free and show no ads. The question that separates them is who else can open them, especially someone who knows your phone PIN; our comparison of Locked Folder vs Secure Folder vs Private Space goes deeper.

Google Photos Locked Folder

What it is: a locked space inside Google Photos on Android 6 and later. Locked items are kept out of the photo grid, search, memories and albums, and other apps can’t see them. Google says it’s protected by Google Photos’ standard encryption practices, without going into detail (Google Photos Help).

Who it suits: anyone already using Google Photos who mainly wants a few pictures out of the main grid before handing the phone over.

Set up: Photos › Collections › Locked › Set up Locked Folder, then select photos › Add to › Move to Locked Folder.

Limits: on Android it opens with your phone’s screen lock and you can’t set a separate PIN, so anyone who knows your phone PIN can open it. Items you haven’t backed up are deleted if you uninstall Photos, clear its data or reset the phone. Backup (Photos settings › Backup › Back up Locked Folder) is optional, and Google doesn’t describe it as end-to-end encrypted.

Samsung Secure Folder

What it is: an encrypted space on Galaxy phones, protected by Samsung Knox, with its own PIN, pattern or password and its own copies of apps such as Gallery (Samsung).

Who it suits: Galaxy owners who want a lock that’s different from the phone PIN, built by the company that made the phone.

Set up: Settings › Security and privacy › More security settings › Secure Folder, then in Gallery select photos › More › Move to Secure Folder.

Limits: it bends criterion 3. Samsung’s guide says setup needs a Samsung account, and that account can reset a forgotten Secure Folder PIN. Nothing in the folder is uploaded, though: Samsung has withdrawn Secure Folder data backup, and moving to a new Galaxy goes through Smart Switch (Samsung support). Galaxy phones only; our guide to hiding photos on a Samsung phone covers the other Galaxy options.

Android Private Space

What it is: on Android 15 and later, a separate space with its own lock, where the apps you install (a gallery, a camera, a file manager) disappear from the launcher, recent apps, notifications and settings while it’s locked (Android Help).

Who it suits: people who want to hide whole apps, not just photos, on a Pixel or another phone that offers it.

Set up: Settings › Security & privacy › Private space › Set up, then choose a lock. Signing in to a Google account inside it is optional.

Limits: you can’t move existing apps in; they’re fresh installs with no data. Private space isn’t included in device backups, and a forgotten private space lock can’t be recovered. Phone makers can leave it out, and Samsung offers Secure Folder instead.

Files by Google Safe folder

What it is: a PIN- or pattern-locked folder inside the Files by Google app, on Android 8 and later, which Google says uses Android storage with encryption (Files by Google Help). The app comes preinstalled on many Android phones and is free on Google Play with no ads label.

Who it suits: documents and a handful of photos, when you want a PIN of their own without installing a vault app.

Set up: Files › Collections › Safe folder › PIN or Pattern. To add something, touch and hold it, then More › Move to Safe folder.

Limits: forget the PIN or pattern and the files are gone; resetting the folder deletes them. Files inside can’t be shared or backed up to Google Drive. To get one out, use Move out of Safe folder, which puts it back where it came from.

Photo vault apps that pass: Photok and Calculator Locker

Of the third-party apps we checked, two passed all six criteria. Both keep files on the phone and neither needs an account.

Photok

What it is: an open-source photo vault app by independent developer Leon Latsch, under the Apache 2.0 licence. It says it encrypts photos and videos with AES-256 on the device and only decrypts them in memory while you use the app. It can export files at any time, create and restore encrypted backups, unlock with a fingerprint and hide its own icon (GitHub).

Ads and payments: no “Contains ads” label. The Play listing does show “In-app purchases”: that’s Photok Pro, an optional add-on in the Play version that unlocks extra features. The F-Droid build has no Pro and no payments.

Who it suits: people who want code they, or someone they trust, can read, and who don’t need a disguise.

Set up: install it from F-Droid or Google Play, set a password, then import photos.

Limits: no calculator disguise; it’s an app called Photok, though you can hide the icon. The Play build sends usage analytics by default (you can switch them off in settings), and its Data safety section lists app activity and performance data; the F-Droid build keeps analytics off unless you opt in. It’s a small project, with 10,000+ installs on Google Play.

Calculator Locker (ours)

What it is: our app. It looks and works like a calculator; type a 4–8 digit code and press = to open a vault for photos, videos, files and notes, plus a private browser. Files are encrypted with AES-256 on the phone, with the key tied to the phone’s secure hardware so the code can’t be guessed on another device. No ads, no in-app purchases, no account, no cloud, and its Data safety section says no data is collected or shared.

Who it suits: people who want a code separate from the phone PIN, a disguise that actually calculates, a decoy code that opens a second vault, and, once you allow camera access, a photo of whoever types wrong codes.

Set up: install Calculator Locker from Google Play, choose a code, then type it and press =.

Limits: Android only for now; the iPhone app (iOS 17 and later) is coming soon. There’s no cloud, so if you uninstall or lose the phone without an exported backup, the vault is gone. Break-in photos cover wrong vault codes, not your phone’s lock screen. And it’s new, with far fewer installs and reviews than the established names. The specifics are in Calculator Locker’s security details.

Popular photo vault apps that show ads

These are some of the most-installed vault apps on Google Play. As of 30 October 2026, all six show both the “Contains ads” and “In-app purchases” labels, so they miss our first criterion. That’s a business model, not a verdict on their security, and several do things the options above don’t, such as backing up to the developer’s own cloud.

These may still suit you if:

• You want photos backed up off the phone. Keepsafe, Private Photo Vault, Vaulty and Hide It Pro all offer a cloud. Before you switch it on, find out whether files are encrypted on the phone before upload, with a key the company can’t use. If the listing doesn’t say, ask the developer.
• You’d pay anyway. Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault list ad removal among their Premium features, so on a paid plan the ads label matters less.
• You need a feature the free options lack, such as a separate PIN for each album or syncing between devices.

Whichever you pick, run the reset, airplane-mode and export tests from our vault app safety checklist with a throwaway photo first.

Which photo vault app should you pick?

The quickest way to choose is the question most lists skip: who can open it if they know your phone PIN?

• Keeping photos out of the gallery when you hand the phone over: Locked Folder.
• A Galaxy phone and a separate lock: Secure Folder.
• Whole apps hidden on Android 15 or later: Private Space.
• Documents with their own PIN, nothing to install: Safe folder.
• Open source above all: Photok, ideally the F-Droid build.
• A disguise, a decoy code and break-in photos, with no ads: Calculator Locker.

None of the local-only options follow you to a new phone by themselves. Before you switch, read how to move hidden photos to a new phone.

How we checked

We opened each app’s Google Play listing (US store, English) on 30 October 2026 and noted the labels under the app name, the Data safety summary, the install band and the “Updated on” date. Features and claims come from each developer’s own listing, help pages or code repository; we didn’t test each app’s encryption ourselves. Keepsafe’s prices are from its US App Store listing on the same day. Labels, prices and features change with updates, so check the listing before you install, and if something here has gone out of date, tell us at hello@calculatorlockerapp.com.