Does a photo vault app work with VoiceOver, large text and your language?

Why the lock screen is the hard part

Most apps can add labels to their buttons and call it done. A vault has a harder problem: the lock screen. A pattern lock asks you to draw a shape across dots. With a screen reader, that is hard, because the screen reader takes over the touch gestures.

Some apps give up at that point. Vaultaire, which opens with a pattern only, shows this text when VoiceOver is on: “VoiceOver is active. Use your recovery phrase to unlock.” So a VoiceOver user types the recovery phrase each time.

York Vault takes a different path. Every lock type works with a screen reader, on iPhone, iPad and Android. You never need the recovery key only because a screen reader is on.

Screen readers

Apple describes VoiceOver as “a gesture-based screen reader”. Google calls TalkBack “the Google screen reader included on Android devices”. York Vault works with both:

• Labels on every control. Each button, album and item has a name that the screen reader speaks.
• Pattern. Each dot has a label. A hold-to-connect mode lets you link dots without a free-hand drag.
• PIN. The keys are real buttons, so the screen reader reads each one.
• Passcode. The field works with braille input.

Pick the lock type that suits you in lock options. For tips on a code that you can remember and others cannot guess, read choosing a code.

Text size, motion and contrast

• Large text. Text in York Vault follows the size you set on the phone. On iPhone, Apple puts this under Settings, then Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, then Larger Text. York Vault goes up to the largest accessibility size.
• Reduce motion. When you turn on reduce motion, York Vault cuts its animations.
• High contrast. York Vault has high contrast colors for when you ask for more contrast.
• Touch targets. Buttons and keys are at least 44 points, so you can hit them without precision.

Your language

York Vault speaks English and the main languages of its markets. Arabic and Hebrew use a right-to-left layout, so the whole screen reads from right to left.

You can also run York Vault in a language that differs from your phone:

Phone	How
iPhone and iPad	iOS lets you set a language for one app, apart from the system language. The setting is on the page of the app in Settings.
Android 14 and later	Settings, then System, then Languages, then App Languages. Pick York Vault, then a language.

Google notes that some of these steps work only on Android 14 and up, and that phone makers can differ.

Light, dark and system

Pick light, dark, or follow the system. You can also pick an accent color. All of this is free.

App	Dark mode	Where we read it
York Vault	Light, dark and system, free
Private Photo Vault	“Dark Mode is a Premium feature. Try previewing it for 30 seconds.”	App text
Keepsafe	Dark and light themes and an accent color, paid	App text
Vaultaire	“Dark mode”, free	App Store listing

Languages in other apps

The Vaultaire App Store listing shows “English and 30 more” languages. LockMyPix shows “English and 22 more”. We checked both listings on 2026-10-02. We read the app text in each package in September 2026.

To compare whole apps, read the best photo vault apps. For how albums and order work for everyone, see albums and organizing.