What SPV is
SPV is listed as SPV - Secret Photo Vault, published by Maple Labs Company Limited, on the App Store since January 2019. It has a 4.6 rating from about 70,000 ratings, a 156 MB download and a 17+ age rating. The description leads with PIN protection for photos, videos, passwords, contacts and a private browser.
How it protects your photos
A PIN opens the app. That is the whole protection story in the listing. There is no mention of encryption, a decoy PIN, break-in alerts, facedown lock or a self-destruct. The App Store subtitle mentions a hidden calculator, but the description does not describe how it works.
Where your photos go
Nowhere, by the developer's own statement: the listing says the app does not keep your photos or data on any server and uses only the device's storage. The same paragraph warns that deleting the app deletes everything in it, and there is no backup feature described.
What it costs
The description says subscriptions start at $2.99 with weekly, monthly and yearly options, and the yearly plan has a seven-day trial. The in-app purchase list shows Premium at $4.99, $6.99, $12.99, $29.99, $35.99 and $39.99, plus a $19.99 lifetime purchase.
What the privacy label says
Identifiers, Usage Data and Diagnostics are listed under Data Used to Track You. The same three appear under Data Not Linked to You, with Usage Data including Advertising Data.
What the listing does not mention
The sources do not mention encryption, a decoy vault, a self-destruct passcode, intruder alerts, facedown lock, a private camera, face blur, downloading from a link, transfer from a computer, any backup, a recovery key, burner email, or sub-albums. See Kryptis vs SPV.
Who SPV suits
It suits someone who wants photos, passwords and contacts behind one PIN and likes that nothing leaves the phone. The tracking in the privacy label sits oddly with a privacy app, and the absence of encryption details in the reviewed listing leaves the storage design unverified.
Kryptis instead
Kryptis is an upcoming option from Tuvo Labs, the publisher of this review. Every photo, video and file is encrypted with AES-256-GCM on the device before it is stored, along with its metadata. The local vault does not require an account. Optional network features have separate data flows described in our privacy policy. A second passcode opens a decoy vault with its own albums, a third erases everything, and failed unlocks are recorded. Backup goes to your own iCloud, already encrypted, and the only way back in after a lost passcode is the BIP39 recovery phrase you were given at setup.
