Compare
Velum vs LockMyPix: Which Encrypted Photo Vault Fits Your Android?
By the llcloud team 6 min read
The short answer
Velum is the vault to pick. Both encrypt with AES, but Velum also encrypts file names and thumbnails, stretches your pattern with Argon2id, checks every import before anything is deleted, and has no ads. LockMyPix's free version contains ads, and its fake vault and disguise are Premium.
Choose Velum. It encrypts every photo, video, thumbnail and file name with AES-256-GCM, using a key derived from your pattern with Argon2id, and shows you the stored file as random noise. It has no ads and no account, and a 9 word recovery phrase opens your vault if you forget your pattern. LockMyPix encrypts with AES CTR 256, and its free version contains ads.
LockMyPix has been around since 2013, has over 10 million downloads on Google Play, and is one of the vault apps that encrypts rather than just hides. Velum encrypts too, and goes further on the details: what gets encrypted, how your pattern becomes a key, and how your originals are protected while you move them in. This comparison is as of October 2026 and takes its LockMyPix facts from its Google Play listing, website and documentation.
Velum vs LockMyPix at a glance
| Velum | LockMyPix | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption named | ✓ AES-256-GCM | ✓ AES CTR 256 |
| Key stretching named | ✓ Argon2id | Not stated |
| File names and thumbnails encrypted | ✓ | Not stated |
| Stored file shown as noise in the app | ✓ "What others see" | Not stated |
| Imports checked before originals are removed | ✓ | Not stated |
| Needs an account | ✗ | Not stated |
| Ads in the free version | ✗ | ✓ |
| Backup file on your phone or memory card | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cloud backup to your Google Drive | ✓ (Pro) | ✓ |
| iPhone app | ✗ | ✓ |
| Decoy vault | ✓ (Pro) | ✓ (Premium, Fake Vault) |
| Duress pattern | ✓ (Pro) | Not stated |
| Disguised app icon | ✓ (Pro) | ✓ (Premium) |
| Intruder photos | ✗ | ✓ (Premium) |
| Recovery if you forget your code | ✓ 9 word phrase | Email or alternative password, if set up |
How does each app encrypt your photos?
LockMyPix is clear that it encrypts. Its Play listing says it uses "TRUE AES Encryption" and AES CTR, and its documentation says every photo, video or document you import is encrypted with AES CTR 256. Its website adds that it does not send your files to any servers. What the listing and documentation do not say is how your password becomes a key, or whether file names and thumbnails are encrypted along with the files.
Velum answers both. Every photo, video, thumbnail and file name is encrypted on your phone with AES-256-GCM through Google's Tink library. The key comes from the pattern you draw, stretched with Argon2id so each guess is slow. And you do not have to take our word for it: "What others see" shows any photo next to the same file as stored on your phone, which is random noise with no name and no type. Read how Velum encrypts a photo for the full path from gallery to vault.
There is one more step that matters when you first fill a vault. Velum decrypts every import back and checks it against the original before it offers to remove the original from your gallery, and your phone asks once to confirm. A copy that failed never costs you the photo. Our guide on how to hide photos on Android explains why that order of steps matters.
How do fake vaults and disguises compare?
LockMyPix Premium has a Fake Vault: you set a different password, and it opens a decoy vault where you can keep other pictures and videos. Premium also lets you disguise the app as another one, such as a calculator or a radio, and take an Intruder Selfie of someone trying to open the vault.
Velum Pro lets you add more vaults, each with its own pattern and its own recovery phrase, and no list of vaults exists anywhere in the app. On top of that sits the duress pattern: a pattern that opens one vault and quietly removes the keys to every other vault on the phone. You set it up yourself, and it cannot be undone. The disguise shows a Calculator, Notes or Weather icon instead of Velum's, and the calculator really calculates. Type your code and press = to reach the pattern screen.
LockMyPix's documentation says it locks as soon as you leave the vault or turn off the screen. Velum locks when you leave too. Velum also locks when you lay the phone face down, blocks screenshots, and has a private camera that saves photos and videos straight into the vault, never to your gallery.
How do backups and new phones work?
LockMyPix offers two routes in its documentation. Its cloud backup uses your own Google Drive on Android, encrypted with AES CTR 256 and sent over TLS. It can also create a backup file in a "LockMyPix backups" folder on your phone or memory card, which you move to a new phone and import with the same password.
Velum covers the same ground. Free, it backs up an encrypted copy to a folder you choose: your phone, a memory card or a USB drive. With Pro, it backs up on its own to your Google Drive, in a hidden app space only Velum can read. On a new phone you restore with your pattern or your 9 word recovery phrase. Our guides on backing up private photos and moving private photos to a new phone walk through both.
What if you forget your code?
LockMyPix's documentation says password recovery works if you activated recovery by email or set an alternative access password beforehand. Without one of those, it may tell you the email cannot be found.
Velum has no email and no account. When you create a vault, it shows a 9 word recovery phrase, and that phrase opens the vault if you forget your pattern. It also restores a backup on a new phone. Each extra vault has its own phrase. Write it on paper. For any other long code you need to remember, our passphrase generator builds one in your browser without sending it anywhere.
What does each cost?
LockMyPix is free to download, and Google Play marks it as containing ads and in-app purchases. Its listing names Face Unlock, Fake Vault, SD card storage, hiding the app and Intruder Selfie as Premium features, and its website says it is also available with Google Play Pass.
Velum's free version has no ads and holds up to 100 photos or files and 10 videos in a vault, with the private camera, folder backup, export and everything that keeps your files safe. Opening, exporting, sharing and the trash stay free even above the limit. Pro comes by month or year with a 7-day free trial, or once for life, and removes the limit and adds more vaults, the duress pattern, the disguise, encrypted notes, slideshows and Google Drive backup.
Weighing more than two apps? Our guide on how to choose a photo vault app lists what to check in any of them.
Why choose Velum over LockMyPix?
- More of each file encrypted. Photos, videos, thumbnails and file names, all with AES-256-GCM.
- A slow-to-guess key. Your pattern is stretched with Argon2id before it becomes a key.
- Proof you can see. "What others see" shows the stored file as random noise.
- Your originals are safe during import. Every file is checked against the original before Velum offers to remove it.
- No ads, free or Pro, and no account.
- A recovery phrase you control. Nine words on paper, no email needed.
- A duress pattern alongside decoy vaults and a working calculator disguise in Pro.
- Pay once if you like. Pro by month or year with a 7-day free trial, or once for life.
Looking at other vaults too? See Velum vs Keepsafe and Velum vs Google Photos Locked Folder.
Sources
Questions
Does LockMyPix really encrypt photos?
Yes, by its own description. Its Play listing and documentation say every imported photo, video and document is encrypted with AES CTR 256. They do not say how the key is made from your password or whether file names are encrypted. Velum encrypts photos, videos, thumbnails and file names with AES-256-GCM, with a key derived from your pattern using Argon2id.
Is LockMyPix free?
LockMyPix is free to download, and Google Play marks it as containing ads and in-app purchases. Its listing names Fake Vault, Face Unlock, SD card storage, hiding the app and Intruder Selfie as Premium features, and its website says it is available with Google Play Pass. Velum's free version has no ads and holds up to 100 photos or files and 10 videos in a vault.
How does the LockMyPix Fake Vault compare with Velum's decoy vaults?
LockMyPix Premium lets you set a second password that opens a Fake Vault. Velum Pro lets you add more vaults, each with its own pattern and recovery phrase, and no list of vaults exists anywhere in the app. Velum Pro also has a duress pattern that opens one vault and quietly removes the keys to every other vault on the phone.
What if I forget my password?
LockMyPix's documentation says recovery works only if you turned on recovery by email or set an alternative password beforehand. Velum needs no email. It shows a 9 word recovery phrase when you create a vault, and that phrase opens the vault and restores a backup on a new phone. Write it on paper and keep it somewhere safe.
Can Velum back up to Google Drive like LockMyPix?
Yes, with Pro. Velum backs up on its own to your Google Drive, in a hidden app space only Velum can read, and the copy is encrypted before it leaves the phone. The free version backs up an encrypted copy to a folder you choose, such as your phone, a memory card or a USB drive. You restore with your pattern or recovery phrase.
