About
ArkWarden is a privacy-focused vault for iPhone. It keeps your private photos, videos, documents and audio recordings encrypted on your device. There is no account, no sign-up and no ArkWarden server, and there are no ads.
Each file is encrypted individually on your iPhone with AES-256-GCM, using a random 256-bit master key created on the device. The vault's index, which holds the category names, file titles and ordering, is encrypted separately with ChaCha20-Poly1305. ArkWarden never receives the key that opens your files, and the unlocked master key is cleared from memory when you lock the app.
You open the vault by drawing a pattern on a 5x5 grid. The pattern runs through PBKDF2 with 600,000 iterations and a salt unique to your vault, then combines with a key held in your iPhone's Secure Enclave. Together they unlock the master key. Your pattern is never stored.
For more protection, add two-factor authentication after the pattern: Face ID, Touch ID, a 6-digit PIN or a YubiKey over NFC. ArkWarden passed Yubico's technical review and is listed in the Works with YubiKey catalog.
Import files from your photo library or the Files app, or take photos and record video with the built-in camera so new shots are saved directly in the vault. Create as many folders as you need in each category, and import straight into the folder you choose.
An optional second pattern opens Wing, a separate vault with its own files, folders and appearance, for times when someone else is looking through your phone. Optional Intruder Detection takes an encrypted front-camera photo after 3, 5 or 10 wrong attempts, so you can see who tried to open your vault.
Backup is optional and off by default. When you turn it on, your vault is encrypted on your iPhone before it is saved to your own iCloud or exported as a file. During setup you receive a 12 or 24 word recovery phrase, shown once and kept only by you. It restores access if you forget your pattern, and together with a backup it moves your vault to a new iPhone.
The encryption code is open source on GitHub, so anyone can check how files are encrypted, how the master key is protected and how recovery works.
ArkWarden is available on the App Store for iPhone as a lifetime purchase or an annual subscription.