Glimpsing Get the app

The Vault

A locked safe inside Glimpsing for the photos and videos you want kept private. Everything in it is encrypted on your phone, with a key only your phones have. We store it for you, but we can't see it.

What you can keep in it

  • Any photo or video from your camera roll, up to 30 at a time.
  • Your Glimpses and Memories, moved in from the app.
  • Hide them from your camera roll: after you move photos and videos in, the app offers to delete the copies left in Photos (your gallery on Android).

How it's encrypted

Every photo and video is encrypted on your phone before it's uploaded, each with its own key, using AES-256-GCM. Those keys are locked with your Vault key, which stays on your phones. Our servers only ever hold the scrambled files, so nobody at Glimpsing can open them, and neither can anyone who got into our storage.

The Vault's screens are left out of screenshots and screen recordings, and the app switcher shows a blank card instead of what's inside.

Opening it

  • Face ID (or your fingerprint or face on Android) first.
  • Then your combination: turn three numbers on a dial like a real safe, or type them as six digits on a keypad. Same combination either way.
  • Wrong tries make you wait before trying again, and the wait grows.

A new phone, and your recovery phrase

When you set up the Vault you get a 12-word recovery phrase. It's the only way to open your Vault on a new phone, or if you forget your combination. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.

We never see your phrase and can't send it to you. If you lose both your phone and your phrase, nobody can open your Vault again, us included. That's what keeps it private.

Duress mode (Premium)

If someone makes you open your Vault, dial your second combination instead of your real one. You choose in advance what it does:

  • Open a decoy Vault with photos and videos you picked. Your real Vault stays hidden and untouched.
  • Or empty the real Vault, so it opens with nothing inside. This can't be undone.

Either way it looks just like a normal unlock. Duress mode comes with Premium. If your Premium ends, it keeps working for 30 days and we remind you before it turns off.

Getting started

  1. Get Glimpsing for iPhone or Android.
  2. Go to Profile → The Vault and pick a dial or a keypad.
  3. Set your combination, then save your recovery phrase.
  4. Tap + to move photos and videos in.

Questions: [email protected]. See also our Privacy Policy.