ArkWarden has no account to create, no server to sign in to, and no server that stores your vault. Your pattern is known only to you, your files stay encrypted on your device, and your encryption key is generated only when you draw the pattern that produces it.
If you choose to enable backup, your encrypted vault can be stored in your own iCloud account or exported as a file, encrypted on your device beforehand.
Accounts to create.
No email. No sign-in.
Servers we operate.
Nothing to maintain.
Access to your
encryption key.
On-device privacy is not a setting in ArkWarden. It is how ArkWarden is designed. Everything runs on your iPhone, with no server involved.
When you first open ArkWarden, the entire setup runs locally. You draw a pattern, ArkWarden generates a random salt for your vault, derives an encryption key, generates a master key, and seals the master key under your pattern-derived key. ArkWarden also generates your BIP-39 recovery phrase from the iPhone's secure random source and shows it on screen.
None of this uses the network. There is no account creation step. There is no email verification. There is no "creating your secure cloud vault" progress bar, because no cloud vault is being created. The vault is created on your iPhone, by your iPhone, using your iPhone's hardware.
When you import a photo, video, document, or audio file into your vault, ArkWarden encrypts it on the iPhone before writing it to its private storage area. The original file in your Photos library or Files app is your decision to keep or delete. ArkWarden does not silently copy your originals anywhere.
The encrypted file is stored in ArkWarden's own sandboxed directory, where only ArkWarden can read it. iOS enforces this boundary at the operating-system level. The file does not appear in your Photos library, does not appear in your Files app outside the ArkWarden share sheet, and is not visible to other apps.
Every unlock runs locally. You draw your pattern. ArkWarden runs the key derivation function. The candidate key tries to decrypt your master key. The decryption either succeeds or it does not. The full sequence completes without a network request.
The same is true for second-factor verification. Face ID and Touch ID run inside the Secure Enclave on your iPhone. The PIN, if you set one, is checked against the copy stored on your device. The YubiKey, if you registered one, communicates directly with your iPhone over NFC. None of these factors are sent to a server.
When you lock ArkWarden or close the app, the master key is released from memory. It is not cached on disk, not given to iOS background storage, and not stored for the next unlock. The next time you open the app, you draw the pattern again, the derivation runs again, and the master key is reconstructed from the beginning.
There is no "you are still signed in" state that survives across sessions. There is no auto-login, because there is no login.
Many products use privacy language. These phrases can describe very different architectures. The one ArkWarden uses is the simplest and the strictest: no server is involved. ArkWarden has no servers. Your keys and your pattern never leave the device.
| Cloud vault with "zero-knowledge" claims | App with account and server-side encryption | Apple's Hidden Album | ArkWarden | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account required | Yes | Yes | Tied to your Apple ID | No |
| Server holds your encrypted files | Yes | Yes | Yes (iCloud) | No |
| Server holds your key or a recovery path | Sometimes | Often yes | Apple has key escrow paths | No. The key only exists when you draw your pattern. |
| Can a court order produce your data? | Yes, encrypted files at minimum | Yes | Yes | No. ArkWarden does not have your vault data. |
| What happens if the provider is breached | Encrypted files expose | Often credentials and data are both exposed | Affects your Apple account broadly | Nothing. There is no provider database to breach. |
| Works fully offline | Sometimes, with cached data | Often no | Yes | Yes. Fully, always. |
A server holding your encrypted data can still be breached, subpoenaed, mismanaged, sold, or repurposed. Even when the provider does not hold the keys today, the database might still expose metadata that is sensitive on its own: file sizes, timestamps, access patterns, account email addresses, billing identifiers. ArkWarden removes the question entirely by removing the server. There is no database to breach, no metadata record to subpoena, no billing record tied to your vault. Read how ArkWarden's encryption works at the technical level.
Most apps that protect your data still link it to an identity: an email, a phone number, an Apple ID. That identity creates a permanent link back to you, and it becomes the data point affected by any future incident. ArkWarden has no sign-up, no login, no recovery email, no user record. The app on your iPhone does not know who is using it, and neither do we. Access is controlled entirely by your pattern and your recovery phrase.
Because nothing about ArkWarden depends on the network, nothing about ArkWarden changes when the network changes. Poor signal, airplane mode, or no connection at all does not affect your ability to unlock the vault and use it. The same is not true for products that depend on a server confirming what your phone says.
The clearest way to understand on-device privacy in ArkWarden is to look at every meaningful piece of data and ask: where is it stored, and where can it go. See the full security overview.
| Item | Where | Who can read it |
|---|---|---|
| Your encrypted files | ArkWarden's private sandbox, encrypted with AES-256-GCM | Only ArkWarden, only on this device, only with the right derived key |
| Your vault metadata (category names, file titles, ordering) | Same private sandbox, encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 | Same. No key, no readable index. |
| Your encrypted master keys (pattern path and phrase path) | iOS Keychain, encrypted at rest by your device's Secure Enclave, the same standard protection every Keychain item gets | Only ArkWarden, only on this device, only while the device is unlocked |
| Your per-vault salt | iOS Keychain | Same |
| Your YubiKey registration, if you set one | Stored on device | Only ArkWarden. The signing key never leaves the YubiKey itself. |
| Your Wing pattern, key, and identity, if enabled | Stored on device, separately from the main vault | Same as above |
What is never stored anywhere, ever:
The iPhone has security hardware that makes this practical, not just a design choice. Two pieces matter most for ArkWarden:
The Secure Enclave. A dedicated security chip, separate from the main processor, present in every iPhone supported by ArkWarden. It is what encrypts the iOS Keychain at rest. Every item in the Keychain gets this protection, including your encrypted master keys.
Device-locked accessibility. ArkWarden stores its key material with the iOS accessibility class that makes Keychain data unavailable while the device is locked and prevents migration to a different device via iCloud restore. Your encrypted keys are local in a strict, enforceable sense, not just a policy preference.
ArkWarden does not invent custom cryptographic primitives or bypass Apple's frameworks. All cryptographic work runs through Apple's CryptoKit and the underlying hardware. We use the platform the way it was meant to be used.
ArkWarden does not sync your vault between devices. Your vault is stored on your device.
Optionally, your encrypted vault can be backed up using iCloud or exported as a file. Encryption happens on your device before any data leaves it, and your encryption key never leaves your device.
This separation is deliberate. Cloud services may store encrypted backup data, but they never receive the keys needed to decrypt it.
The tradeoff is clear: if you disable backups and lose your device, your files cannot be recovered by anyone. Your recovery phrase restores access to your vault and keys, but it cannot restore files that were never backed up.
Your vault exists only on your iPhone. ArkWarden does not require an account, store your data on a server, keep copies of your keys, or automatically sync your files. Your device holds your data. The encryption protects it. You stay in control.
