Encrypted vault · iOS & Android

Zero-knowledge.
Never zero-recovery.

Kistvault is a recoverable, zero-knowledge vault for your photos, videos and documents. Encrypted on your device, with no backend to trust. We never see what's inside — and a forgotten password never locks you out for good.

Join the waitlist See how recovery works
Zero-knowledge The operator never sees your content.
Full recovery You never lose access to your data.

One vault, two platforms. A pattern on iOS, a password on Android — both stretched by Argon2id, both opening the same encrypted files, byte-for-byte.

The trade-off nobody should have to make

With most end-to-end tools, the day you forget your password is the day your files are gone.

True end-to-end encryption means the provider holds no key to your data. That's the point — and it's also the catch. Lose the one secret that opens the vault, and there is no reset link, no support line, nothing. Your own encryption becomes the lock you can't pick.

The usual escape is to hand a copy of your key to a cloud you're told to trust. Kistvault doesn't ask you to choose between privacy and getting your data back. You get both.

Recoverability is a first-class guarantee

The key is yours. On paper. We never hold a copy.

When you create a vault, Kistvault generates a printed Recovery Kit — a 256-bit secret rendered as a short, grouped code you keep offline. If you forget your password and your pattern, the Kit opens your vault on a clean device. It's generated on your device, shown once, and never stored by the app or sent anywhere.

  • A built-in checksum catches a mistyped group before any decryption attempt — so you're told "group 3 is off", not "wrong key".
  • Kistvault can't email it to you, because Kistvault never had it. That's the guarantee working as intended.
  • No hostage data: there's no subscription that can lock you out, because there's no server in the loop.
Forgot your password? Here's what's actually possible
Kistvault · Recovery Kit KEEP OFFLINE

If you forget your password and pattern, this code opens your vault on a new device. Store it somewhere safe. Anyone who has it can open this vault.

K7P29XQR4M3TWY6K Z2BN8R5Q3HJKP9T4 M6XW2QR75KZBN83H Y4PTQX9
Vault IDa1f3-77c0-9e2b
Formatv1
Created2026-11-07

Base32 (Crockford) · trailing checksum · example only — yours is unique

What you get

Built so you never have to choose

On-device, no backend

Your vault lives entirely on your phone. Kistvault runs no server, no sync service, no billing. There's nothing of yours on anyone's cloud to breach or subpoena.

Unlock by password or pattern

Open your vault with a password, or trace a pattern on a 4×4 grid. Both are stretched by the same Argon2id key derivation — a pattern isn't a weaker shortcut, it's the same path.

A printed Recovery Kit

A one-time code you keep offline, generated on your device and never stored by the app. It opens your vault on a clean device if your password and pattern are both gone.

Cross-platform, byte-exact

A vault created on Android opens on iOS and the reverse — the same crypto core on both, pinned to shared test vectors. Your choice of phone never traps your data.

Device-to-device pairing

Add a second device by pairing it directly with one you already hold — a short, fixed handshake, not a cloud sync. Keys move between your devices, and nowhere else.

Export your own container

Back up the encrypted container yourself — opaque blobs that still need your credential to open. Kistvault never uploads it. Your backup lives wherever you decide, on your terms.

Explore every feature in depth, with the threat it solves

How it works

Three steps, start to safe

  1. Create your vault

    Set a password or trace a pattern on a 4×4 grid — both stretched by the same Argon2id key derivation on your device. Kistvault hands you a printed Recovery Kit and keeps no copy. Nothing leaves your phone.

  2. Import & encrypt

    Bring in photos, videos and documents. Each is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it ever touches storage — no cloud, not even an encrypted one. Once it's in the vault, the originals can go.

  3. Recover anywhere

    New phone, forgotten password, or switching sides? Your printed Recovery Kit opens the vault on a clean device — iOS or Android, byte-for-byte. Pair a second device directly, with no server in the loop. You're never locked out.

Under the hood, in plain words

Strong, boring, auditable cryptography

No invented ciphers and no marketing math. Kistvault is built on the primitives cryptographers already trust, used the way they're meant to be used — and it's honest about what they do and don't protect.

A vault is only as strong as the weakest credential you enrol on it: a simple pattern and a strong password share one lock. Argon2id raises the cost of every guess, but it can't make a short secret long. Choose like it matters.

What "zero-knowledge" really means — and how it can still be recoverable
AES-256-GCM
Authenticated encryption for every file and its metadata. 96-bit nonce, 128-bit tag.
Argon2id
Memory-hard key derivation that turns your password or pattern into a key and makes brute-forcing expensive.
HKDF-SHA256
Derives the separate keys Kistvault needs — including the one your Recovery Kit unlocks — from a single root.
No shared keys
No third party ever holds your plaintext or a key that works on its own. Not the developer, not Apple, not Google.

We don't ask you to trust a server. There isn't one to trust — only math you can look up.

Not just hiding photos

Made for the things you can't afford to lose

Documents & IDs

Passport scans, contracts, tax records, recovery codes. The stuff that's painful to lose and dangerous to leak — encrypted on your device, openable only by you.

Switching phones, iOS ↔ Android

Moving from an iPhone to a Pixel, or back? Your vault isn't trapped by the badge on the box. The same encrypted container opens on either platform, byte for byte.

Your own off-device backup

Export the encrypted container and keep a copy where you like — an external drive, your own cloud. It's opaque without your credential, and Kistvault never touches it.

What we won't pretend

Honest about the edges

A privacy product that oversells itself isn't private, it's just dishonest. Here's the fine print we'd rather say out loud.

  • Your weakest credential sets the strength. A short pattern and a strong password share one lock. Argon2id makes each guess costly, but it can't turn a simple secret into a strong one.
  • Lose the Kit and forget everything, and it's gone. That's the same math that keeps everyone else out working against you. There's no backdoor we could use even if we wanted to.
  • Local-only means backups are your job. There's no cloud quietly keeping a copy. Export your container and store it safely — that's the trade for having nothing on our servers.
  • Some paths are designed, not yet delivered. Multi-device pairing is specified and being built on real hardware. We'll say what ships when it ships — not before.

Native on both. Fluent in seven languages.

Kistvault is a real native app on each platform — SwiftUI on iOS, Jetpack Compose on Android — not a web wrapper. The interface speaks English, Bulgarian, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese.

iOS Android

Questions, answered plainly

Frequently asked

What happens if I forget my password and my pattern?

Your printed Recovery Kit opens the vault on a clean device — that's exactly what it's for. If you've also lost the Kit and have no paired device, the vault can't be opened by anyone, including us. There's no backdoor, by design.

Do I need an account or an email to use Kistvault?

No. There's no sign-up, no account, no email required. Kistvault runs no server to hold an account on. You create a vault on your device and you're in.

Is there a cloud? Where are my files stored?

Everything stays on your device. There's no Kistvault cloud and no sync service — not even an encrypted one. If you want an off-device backup, you export the encrypted container yourself and keep it wherever you choose.

Does a vault really work across iOS and Android?

Yes. The crypto core is shared and pinned to the same test vectors on both platforms, so a vault created on Android opens on iOS and vice-versa — byte for byte. You're not locked to one ecosystem.

What data does Kistvault collect about me?

Essentially nothing. With no backend and no account, there's no server collecting your activity. Your content never leaves your device unencrypted, and your keys never leave your hands.

Why Argon2id instead of a PIN screen or PBKDF2?

Argon2id is memory-hard: it deliberately costs a lot of memory and time per guess, which blunts the GPU and ASIC rigs used to brute-force weaker key-derivation functions. Both your password and your pattern run through it.

Pick your path

Start where you are

If you're afraid of being locked out Forgot your password? What's actually possible — and the Recovery Kit. If you're switching phones iOS ↔ Android One byte-exact vault, either platform. If you want the detail Every feature, in depth Definition, the threat it solves, the crypto. If you care about the crypto Security model AES-256-GCM, Argon2id, HKDF — plainly. If you're weighing alternatives Kistvault vs the rest A fair, factual comparison. If you just have questions Read the FAQ Accounts, cloud, data, recovery.

Be first to keep something that keeps you.

Kistvault isn't in the app stores yet. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment it ships — no sooner, no spam.

This opens a message in your own mail app — nothing is stored on a server, because Kistvault doesn't run one.