Privacy is one of those things that lots of people appreciate, for a whole lot of different reasons. In the digital age, true privacy is harder than ever. Despite that extra difficulty, we still expect some measure of it. Most people concerned about their privacy don’t even have anything to hide… they just don’t like the idea of other people spying on them. We can’t blame them. The idea of internet advertisers and corporations keeping track of your browsing habits is kind of scary.
In the old days, you just had to be concerned about your PC’s privacy. Now that’s not enough. Modern smartphones are the equivalent of small PCs, and they come with their own set of privacy worries. While there might be plenty of options for safeguarding a PC’s hard drive, there is not as much for protecting files on a phone. Except, of course for SuperVault. SuperVault can hide just about anything on Android, no questions asked. Here’s how.
Looks Normal
The creators of SuperVault did well in creating a rather innocuous app. SuperVault is labeled “Pictures Gallery” within the phone. If you start the app, it actually is a decent image gallery app. The app automatically picks up all photos and video stored on the SD card and brings them together in one place.
The normal app is decent. It includes options to share your legitimate pictures via Bluetooth, Google Drive, email, Facebook, Picasa, and SMS text. Scrolling through images is easy and presented in a very user-friendly manner. All in all, SuperVault seems perfectly ordinary.
The Real App
The surface level of SuperVault is only the beginning, though. Things really start to get interesting when you long-press the ugly looking icon in the upper left corner of the screen. This will take you to the hidden vault, which is password protected.
Assuming that you are the owner and know the password, the vault opens up and reveals the real features of SuperVault. If any of this gets confusing, see the tutorial page within the vault.
The first time you go into the vault, an easy-to-follow wizard helps you create your hidden files. Pick the most hidden, obscure directory on your SD card (we chose the browser’s cache folder) and create a folder with a name that sounds legitimate. We named our folder “Not_hidden_pics.” No one would look there, right?
The system operates by changing the file extension of your hidden stuff. Even if somebody else somehow steals your phone and looks at the files with a separate file explorer app, they can’t actually see the file. SuperVault claims to use military-grade encryption. It certainly seems to work. We spent a good deal of time looking for our hidden files but to no avail.
However, we at TechNorms will take this opportunity to remind our readers that no digital encryption is absolutely secure. The only true way to be sure that something is un-findable is to not store it digitally.
Features
Importing files into the secrecy of the vault is super (no pun intended) easy. Long-press a picture to bring up the checkmarks and select the photos you would like to hide. Anything selected undergoes encryption.
The app is aimed at pictures, but it can also hide videos, contacts, any file on the SD card, messages, and notes. It can also lock apps. We locked our Google Play Music app to prevent other people from finding out just how many Tegan & Sara albums we own. The password worked perfectly.
For testing, we tried locking a picture of some clever Doctor Who graffiti and a spare HTML file for the V6_SuperCharger. SuperVault encrypted them quickly and hid them with no trouble. It works.
Final Thoughts
SuperVault is a useful app for anyone concerned with their privacy. Pictures, video, or anything really that you would prefer others not to see can be hidden away in the vault. We cannot speak as to the technical security of the app (we’re journalists, not hackers), but SuperVault is certainly impervious to casual scrutiny.
Download SuperVault Android App
Download SuperVault
