Hiding and encrypting are not the same
Hiding a file means the app does not show it to you. The file is still there, unchanged, and anything that reaches the storage another way — a backup extraction, a forensic tool, a stolen device that happens to be unlocked — is not affected by the app's decision to hide it.
Encrypting means the bytes themselves are unreadable without a key. Hide it Pro's listing describes hiding photos and videos and backing them up to cloud storage, but does not name a cipher, so there is nothing published to compare against on this point.
Vaultine encrypts every file with AES-256-GCM before storing it, and splits and randomises the stored data so nothing on disk resembles the original. The key comes from your pattern or PIN and is never stored anywhere.
What its own reviewers report
The most common complaint in recent negative reviews is losing files. That is a pattern worth noticing, because it points at the cloud-and-restore path rather than the hiding feature.
Vaultine's backup is optional, goes to a Dropbox account you own, and is encrypted before it leaves your device. There is no company cloud in the middle that can fail, change terms, or lose a restore. Your 12-word recovery phrase gets your files back if you forget your code.
Getting back in costs $4.99
One item in Hide it Pro's in-app purchase list is worth pausing on: Password Reset, $4.99. Recovering access to your own files is a paid feature.
That is a design choice rather than a trick — resetting a password on a locked app takes support effort, and charging for it is not unheard of. It does tell you where the recovery path runs, though: through the company, on their terms.
Vaultine gives you a 12-word recovery phrase when you set up your vault. It regenerates your encryption key on the device, it costs nothing, and it does not involve us at all — which it could not, because we hold no keys and could not unlock your vault even if you paid us to.
When you are made to unlock it
Hiding works while nobody is looking. It offers nothing when someone is standing over you asking you to open the app.
Vaultine's Decoy Vault opens on a second code and shows a vault you stocked with harmless files, so you decide what someone sees. The Duress Vault opens on a third code, shows an empty vault, and wipes your real vaults as it does. Both are Pro features, and both are prepared by you in advance.
One vault, four platforms
Hide it Pro is a phone app. Vaultine runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, which matters if the files you actually want protected are on your laptop.
