How to make a private album on your iPhone with a free app, and keep your photos secure

While the iPhone allows you to hide photos , it doesn't provide much security, as your images can still be easily found if someone knows where to look.

In order to create a truly private album that's password-protected, you'll need to download a third-party app.

While there are several different apps that you can use to protect your iPhone images, Photo Vault is one of the more commonly used ones.

Here's how to use it.

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How to make a private album on an iPhone using Photo Vault

1. Download the Photo Vault app from the App Store. On the App Store, it's called " Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe ," and its icon is a folder with a key going inside of it.

2. Open the Photo Vault app.

3. Tap "Start."

4. Tap "Set Passcode" and type in your desired four-digit password.

5. Confirm your passcode on the following screen.

6. You can setup a pin recovery option in the event that you forget your passcode. If you click "Setup," you'll be prompted to enter your email address on the next page.

7. Once you've opted in or out of setting up pin recovery, tap "Next" on the following two screens.

8. Tap "I Agree" to complete the process, if you're okay with the app's terms and conditions. You can check them out by visiting this page .

9. You'll be brought to an "Albums" page. Tap on "Main Album" to get started.

10. Tap the "+" in the bottom-right corner of your screen.

11. You'll have the option to import from your photo library, or take a new picture with your camera. You'll likely be using the former, so tap on the icon above "Photo Library."

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12. The app will request access to your photos. Tap "OK."

13. It'll pull up all of the albums in your iPhone's Photos app. Tap on the album where you've stored the pictures that you'd like to privatize.

14. Tap on the photos you'd like to put into your private album. A checkmark in a green circle should appear in the bottom-right corner of your selected image(s).

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15. Tap "Done" once you've selected all of the photos you'd like to put into the locked album.

16. Once you've tapped "Done," you'll have the option to delete the pictures you've imported into the Photo Vault app from your iPhone's Photos app. Tap "Delete" to do this, or "Cancel" to keep them.

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17. If you do decide to delete the copies, you'll be prompted to confirm your choice. Tap "Delete" to complete the process.

18. A message will appear to confirm that the photos have been deleted. Tap "OK."

19. Now, you'll want to delete the photos that imported into Photo Vault from your Photos app's trash to ensure that they can't be found unless you're signing into Photo Vault. First, open the Photos app on your iPhone .

20. Scroll down and tap "Recently Deleted."

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21. Tap "Select" in the top-right corner and tap the photos that you imported into Photo Vault.

22. Tap "Delete."

Add an extra layer of security in Photo Vault

1. If you'd like an extra layer of security beyond the pin number that you chose, swipe left over the "Main Album" tab, and you'll see a gray box with "Edit" appear. Tap "Edit."

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2. You'll then be prompted to enter a password, which can be a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Re-enter it, and then tap "Save" once done.