Private vault for iPhone
Your files, encrypted on your iPhone and nowhere else.
Hedgehog Bits keeps notes, photos, videos and documents in an encrypted vault on your device. There are no servers, no accounts and no sync, so your data stays in your hands. To anyone else, it looks like a small collection of brain games.
For iPhone, iOS 26 or later. Works fully offline. See how it works, step by step.
How it works
One question at the door
The app opens with a hedgehog and a single question: “Who is playing?” Your answer decides what happens next.
Type your vault password and the vault opens. The key is derived from your password on the device, then used to decrypt your files in memory.
Type anything else and the app greets you by that name and offers ten short games. Nothing hints that a vault exists.
Leave the app and the vault locks immediately. The app switcher shows only the hedgehog.
Ownership
You hold the only key
We designed Hedgehog Bits so that we never have access to your data. Not because of a policy we promise to follow, but because there is nothing on our side to access.
Stays on your device
Everything is stored on your iPhone. The vault is excluded from iCloud and computer backups and from phone-to-phone transfer.
No servers, no accounts
No sign-up, no email address, no sync service and no analytics. The app does not need a network connection to work.
Your password, your key
The encryption key comes from your password. There is no recovery option and no back door, for you or for anyone else.
Backups you control
Export the vault as one encrypted file and keep it wherever you choose: a Mac, a USB drive or a folder of your own.
Inside the vault
Room for what matters
Organise items in folders, move them with drag and drop, and open them without leaving the app.
| Notes | Write and edit private notes, encrypted on every save. |
|---|---|
| Photos and videos | Import from your library or capture straight into the vault with the camera. |
| Files | PDFs, text and other documents from the Files app. |
| Playback | Video and audio are decrypted in small pieces as they play, never written out in full. |
| Folders | Nested folders, moving and drag and drop that never leaves the app. |
Security
Standard, well-studied cryptography
We use established algorithms with conservative settings and document how they fit together.
Argon2id
Your password is turned into a key with Argon2id, using 256 MiB of memory and 3 passes, which makes guessing slow and costly.
AES-256-GCM
Content is encrypted in authenticated 1 MiB chunks. Tampering, reordering and truncation are detected.
Separate keys
Each file, thumbnail and the folder index gets its own derived key, under a random 256-bit master key.
No plaintext at rest
Files are decrypted in memory only. Rare temporary copies are deleted on close and on lock.
The cover
Ten calm brain games
The games are real and complete, with personal bests like any casual game. They are designed to look ordinary, with a plain, grown-up style that does not invite a closer look.
The cover helps against a passing glance. It is not what protects your data: the encryption does. We explain the difference in this post.
| Gaps | Tap to rise through gaps between walls. |
|---|---|
| Tap Rush | Tap targets before they fade. 30 seconds. |
| Rule Swipe | Swipe cards that fit a rule that keeps changing. |
| Pairs | A 12-card memory game, scored by time. |
| Stop Line | Stop the marker in the zone, 15 rounds, each faster. |
| Six Letters | Make words from six tiles in 60 seconds. |
| Quick Sums | Pick the right answer from three. 60 seconds. |
| Echo | Repeat a growing sequence on four pads. |
| In Order | Tap 1 to 25 on a shuffled grid, as fast as you can. |
| Reflex | Tap the moment the panel changes. Five rounds. |
What Hedgehog Bits does not do
Sometimes the most useful list is the short one.
- No accounts
- No cloud storage
- No sync
- No analytics or tracking
- No advertising
- No third-party keyboards
- No password recovery
- No back doors
From the blog
Notes on privacy and design
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What a disguise can and cannot do
Hedgehog Bits looks like a set of brain games. An honest look at what that cover protects against, where it stops, and what actually keeps your data safe.
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Moving your vault to a new iPhone
Hedgehog Bits stays out of iCloud and phone-to-phone transfer on purpose. Here is how to move your vault yourself with an encrypted backup file.
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How Hedgehog Bits encrypts your files
A walk through the vault's encryption: Argon2id key derivation, a wrapped master key, per-item HKDF keys and chunked AES-256-GCM, and why each choice was made.