AtticAlbum vs Ephemeral Trace

AtticAlbum is a private photo and video vault built for people who take their privacy seriously. STRONG ENCRYPTION, SIMPLE EXPERIENCE Every photo and video in your vault is encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the same standard that protects your Apple Pay transactions. Your encryption key is stored in the device Keychain, where only AtticAlbum can reach it. With iCloud Device Backup on (the default), iOS backs it up through iCloud Keychain so you can restore on a new device. Apple's end-to-end encryption keeps it unreadable to Apple and to us. Turn iCloud Device Backup off and the key stops syncing: it is removed from iCloud Keychain and kept on this device only. BUILT-IN PRIVATE CAMERA Capture photos and videos directly into your encrypted vault, bypassing your Camera Roll and iCloud Photos entirely. Or save normally, or to the Hidden album. You decide before every capture. Supports flash, zoom, grid overlay, self-timer, and front and back camera. MULTI-LAYER SECURITY - One lock over all your albums, with Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode - Individual album passcodes for compartmentalized security - Configurable auto-lock (immediately, 1, 5, or 15 minutes) - Brute-force protection with exponential lockout - Screenshot and screen recording protection - Privacy shield hides content in the app switcher ORGANIZE YOUR WAY - Unlimited albums with custom names (Pro) - Sort albums by name, date, item count, or custom drag-and-drop order - Filter and sort media by type, date, or size - Search by caption, date, or media type - Bulk operations: move, export, caption, delete - Archive albums to declutter without deleting - 30-day trash with full recovery PORTABLE ENCRYPTED BACKUPS Create password-protected backup archives (.hsbk) and store them anywhere: on iCloud Drive, an external drive, a USB stick, or any storage you trust. Restore your vault from a backup. Restore is always free, no purchase required. Creating backups is unlimited for everyone. Backup reminders are free for everyone. No cloud account needed. Your backup, your rules. ZERO EXTERNAL DEPENDENCIES AtticAlbum is built entirely with Apple frameworks. No third-party SDKs, analytics libraries, or ad networks. We run no servers of our own. Your photos and videos never reach us. PRIVACY BY DESIGN - No servers of ours - No account creation - No data collection - iCloud Device Backup is on by default, with a one-tap opt-out - No ads, ever ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE - VoiceOver support - Dynamic Type for adjustable text sizes - Respects Reduce Motion preferences - Minimum 44pt touch targets FREE VS. PRO AtticAlbum is free to download with full encryption, camera, and security features. The free tier includes 3 albums at a time. Creating backups is unlimited for everyone, and restoring from backup is always free. Upgrade once to AtticAlbum Pro (one-time purchase) for unlimited albums, custom sorting, and location tagging. No subscriptions. No recurring charges. Pay once, own it forever. WHO IS ATTICALBUM FOR? - Privacy-conscious individuals who want their photos encrypted, not just locked - Parents who want photos of their children encrypted, and out of the Camera Roll and iCloud Photos - Professionals managing confidential client photos - Anyone who values privacy as a standard, not an afterthought AtticAlbum is designed for adults managing their own privacy. For supervising a child's photo activity, Apple's Screen Time and Family Sharing are the right tools for that purpose. YOUR PHOTOS. YOUR DEVICE. YOUR PRIVACY.

Photos and videos that delete themselves. Ephemeral Trace is a private camera for media that only needs to exist for a while. Choose a timer before you shoot or import. Each item counts down, then deletes itself when time runs out. No account. No analytics. No tracking. FOR PHOTOS THAT HAD ONE JOB A parking spot. A whiteboard after the meeting. A guest Wi-Fi card. A locker number. A document you are sending once. Capture it. Use it. Let it go. CAPTURE OR IMPORT Shoot in the app, pick specific photos and videos with Apple's system picker, or send them from another app with the Share sheet. Ephemeral Trace cannot browse your photo library. If you pick an item stored only in iCloud, Apple may download that item first. SET THE TIMER FIRST Choose 30 seconds, 5 minutes, 1 hour, or 24 hours. Every item shows a live countdown and a decay ring. Local notifications can warn you before time runs out. USE WHAT IT SAYS Copy the text in any photo. Point the camera at a QR code, or open a photo that has one, and a button joins the Wi-Fi network, saves the contact, adds the event to Calendar, or opens the link. Show Code puts a ticket's code on screen, flat and bright, for the scanner. When a ticket or coupon shows its end time, the app can offer that moment as the photo's expiry. One tap applies it. FIND WHAT IS STILL HERE Search your notes and folder names, or by date, like “yesterday” or “September”, then filter by type, expiry, folder, or whether an item has a note. With Pro, Text in Photos reads the words in your photos on your iPhone, so you can find a receipt, label, or whiteboard without uploading anything. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No accounts • No analytics or tracking • No advertising identifiers • No crash reporting • No app-operated cloud storage or servers Media stays in the app's private storage, protected by iOS Data Protection. When expiry completes, the file and its encryption key are removed together. Media is excluded from iCloud and iTunes backups, so a capture doesn't outlive its timer inside a backup. There is no trash, Recently Deleted collection, or undo path. A LIBRARY THAT EMPTIES ITSELF See what is still alive at a glance. Extend an expiry, move an item, add a note, share it, save it to Photos, or delete it early. Statistics show how much you have already let go. FOLDERS WITHOUT THE PILE-UP Organize media into folders, choose a default folder, and capture straight into it. The free version includes up to two folders. ONE-TIME PRO Pro unlocks: • Keep Forever • Custom timers up to one year • Unlimited folders • A Face ID or Touch ID gallery lock, plus individually locked folders • Text in Photos: search the words in your photos • Folder rules that file new photos by their text • Redact the numbers, codes, faces, and lines of text it finds, or draw a box over anything else, before you share or save a photo • Straighten a receipt, ticket, or page • A custom accent color One purchase. No subscription. No ads. Free includes unlimited capture, the four standard timers, automatic deletion, expiry warnings, import, notes, search, filters, statistics, text and QR code actions, widgets, the Open Camera control, up to two folders, and export to Photos. Your privacy is not a feature. It is the foundation.