Hidy VaultSending your iPhone for repair with private photos on it
Apple asks you to back up before a service appointment, and says your device might come back erased. For private photos, that's two risks: someone seeing them during the repair, and losing them if the phone is wiped.
Practical answer
- Back up the iPhone as Apple describes, and make a Hidy backup of every vault with its recovery phrase.
- Move private photos out of Photos into a vault before you hand the phone over.
- If the iPhone comes back erased, restore each vault from iCloud or a backup file with its phrase.
Before the appointment
- Back up the iPhone and check iCloud finished syncing, as Apple describes.
- Back up each Hidy vault. In each vault's Settings, make sure iCloud backup is on, or export a backup file to a computer.
- Check you have every recovery phrase. Without them, a backup can't be opened.
- Move private photos out of Photos into a vault, then empty Recently Deleted.
- Follow Apple's Find My steps for your iOS version, such as Ready for Repair.
When you get it back
- If it was erased, restore the iPhone from your backup or set it up as new.
- Install Hidy Vault if needed, then choose Restore from iCloud or Restore from a backup file on the lock screen and enter each vault's phrase.
- Don't delete old backups until every vault is back and checked.
Want photos your iPhone passcode can't open?
Hidy Vault keeps photos, videos and documents in encrypted vaults that open only with a pattern you draw. No account, no Hidy server. Free for 3 vaults.
Frequently asked questions
Will my Hidy vaults survive an erase?
Not on the device. They come back from a Hidy backup (iCloud or file) with each vault's recovery phrase.
Should I rely on the iPhone's own backup for Hidy?
Make a Hidy backup as well. It's the restore path Hidy is designed for, and it works on any iPhone with the phrase.
Do I have to turn off Find My?
Apple's steps depend on the iOS version; newer versions offer a Ready for Repair option. Follow Apple's current page, linked below.
