How do the cover code and the erase code work?

The cover code

A cover code is a second code that opens a separate library, the cover library. The cover library is a complete York Vault library: albums, camera, add, backup and settings. It has its own key and its own backup, and nothing links it to your main library.

Inside the cover library, settings show no cover code, erase code or other library options. To a person who has only the cover code, York Vault looks like an app with one library. York Vault also never shows a picture from your main library while the cover library is open. That holds even for a split second when the app starts or when you leave.

Some practical points:

• Put real, ordinary items in the cover library. An empty library looks odd. When you set the cover code, York Vault offers to fill the cover library from Photos with ordinary pictures that keep their real dates.
• Face ID opens your main library only. The cover library always needs its code.
• The attempts banner and attempt photos never appear in the cover library.

Set a cover code

1. Open your main library with your main code.
2. Go to Settings and find Cover code. The description reads: “A second code that opens a separate library. Nothing in the cover library shows that other libraries exist.”
3. Tap Set cover code.
4. Enter the new code and confirm it.

You can set a cover code only from inside your main library.

The erase code

An erase code is for a moment when someone forces you to open York Vault. When you type it:

1. York Vault opens your cover library, the same as the cover code.
2. In the background, York Vault erases this phone’s keys to every other library, in under 1 second. Without the keys, nobody can read the items on this phone.
3. York Vault deletes the backups of those libraries in your iCloud or Google Drive, unless you turned on Keep backups.
4. York Vault records no attempt. Apart from the backup delete, it sends nothing that a normal cover library open would not send.

After you set it, York Vault confirms: “Erase code set”, with what the code opens and what happens to your backups.

Safety rules for the erase code

• It must be at least 6 digits, 6 dots or 8 characters.
• It must differ from every other code in at least 2 places, so a typo of your main code cannot trigger it.
• You type a confirmation when you set it.
• A test mode shows what the erase code would erase, without erasing anything.
• By default the erase code deletes your backups too, and then nothing can bring the items back. Turn on Keep backups if you want your recovery key to restore them.

Get your library back after an erase

This works only if you turned on Keep backups when you set the code. Then your backups stay in your iCloud or Google Drive, and your recovery key opens them. Enter the key in York Vault on this phone or on another one, and the library restores from the backup. A restore check then confirms that every item is back. The steps are the same as in Move to a new iPhone.

Items that were only on this phone, and not yet backed up, cannot come back. Check the backup status row before you rely on the erase code. See How backup works.

The erase-all code

The erase code keeps the cover library. The erase-all code goes further: it erases the keys to every library, including the cover library, and York Vault shows its first-run welcome screen. It follows the same safety rules and has the same test mode. It deletes your backups too, unless you turned on Keep backups. The erase-all code is free on every plan.

Extra libraries (Plus and Pro)

The Free plan has your main library and one cover library. Plus and Pro add more libraries, up to 8 in total, each with its own code, key and backup. No list of libraries exists anywhere in the app, and a person who inspects the phone cannot count them.

What these codes do not do

• They do not hide the York Vault app itself. Someone who sees the app can still ask about it. For that, see the neutral icons and the calculator front in hide the app.