What Is Mavaul and What Does It Do?

Updated

Mavaul is a private vault app for photos and videos on your phone. It encrypts files on the device with AES-256, unlocks with Face ID or a passcode, and requires no account. It is free to download, and its default mode keeps media out of the cloud. If you want a separate, locked space for private photos and videos without signing up for a service, Mavaul is built for exactly that.

What Mavaul does

Mavaul's core job is to keep selected photos and videos apart from your normal camera roll and behind an encryption layer. According to the site, every photo and video is locked with AES-256 on your phone, and there is no account and no cloud by default. The stated goal is that not even the developers can view your media.

The main capabilities listed on the site are:

  • On-device encryption — AES-256 locks each photo and video locally.
  • Face ID & passcode — you unlock the vault with biometrics or a passcode.
  • Photo viewer — browse the protected media inside the app.
  • Wi-Fi Share — a sharing feature over Wi-Fi.
  • Encrypted backup — a backup option that keeps encryption in place.

How it differs from a normal hidden album

Most phones let you hide photos, but hidden albums are usually just visually concealed — the files still sit in the regular photo library and can reappear in other apps or backups. Mavaul instead treats privacy as an encryption problem: the media is locked with AES-256 on the device, and access requires Face ID or a passcode.

The no-account design matters too. You do not create a login, so there is no server-side profile tied to your media by default. That reduces the number of places your photos could be exposed, but it also means the vault is tied to your device and its unlock method rather than to a recoverable online account.

Who it is for

Mavaul fits situations like:

  • You want private photos and videos separated from the everyday camera roll.
  • You prefer local encryption over uploading personal media to a cloud service.
  • You do not want to register an account just to lock files.
  • You want biometric unlocking instead of typing a long password each time.

It is less suited if your main need is syncing a large library across many devices through a web account, since the default design is on-device and account-free.

What to check before relying on it

  • Pricing: the site links to a pricing page, so confirm current terms there rather than assuming every feature is free. The download itself is described as free.
  • Backup behavior: "encrypted backup" is listed, but check where backups go and how keys are handled before depending on it for irreplaceable media.
  • Recovery: with no account, losing your passcode or device access is a real risk. Understand the recovery path before moving important files in.
  • Platform availability: verify the app is offered for your phone's operating system.

In short, Mavaul is a local, encrypted vault for photos and videos that unlocks with Face ID or a passcode and needs no account. It is a good fit for keeping private media off your main gallery and out of the cloud by default — provided you confirm the pricing, backup, and recovery details on the official site first.