Lockspeare VS ShellNewHandler

Lockspeare's answer

Lockspeare encrypts every photo and video on the phone itself, before it is stored. Many vault apps only put a PIN screen in front of files that stay readable on the phone: a 2022 university study of 20 Android vault apps found only 5 even tried to encrypt them. In Lockspeare, a file manager or another app that opens the vault folder sees only encrypted data, with no file names. There is no account and no server: nothing is uploaded unless you make a backup yourself, and backups stay encrypted. The full security design is published at lockspeare.com/security, including what the app cannot protect against.

Lockspeare's answer

Real encryption (AES-256-GCM) of every file, with the key protected by your PIN or pattern and the phone’s secure hardware. No account, no ads, no analytics or tracking libraries. A separate PIN or pattern from your screen lock, so someone who knows your phone’s PIN can’t open the vault. A 12-word recovery phrase if you forget your PIN, which nobody else holds. Encrypted backups to your own Google Drive or to a file, which open only with those 12 words. A decoy vault and a calculator disguise in Premium. Free for up to 50 photos and videos, with a one-time lifetime option instead of only subscriptions.

Lockspeare's answer

Android users who keep private photos, videos or documents on their phone and want them protected even if someone else uses the phone, borrows it, or copies its storage. That includes people who share a phone with family, people worried about a lost or stolen phone, and privacy-minded users who have looked at gallery “hide” features or vault apps and found that the files were still readable.

Lockspeare's answer

Lockspeare was started by Dragos Ivanov, an independent software developer from Romania with a long-standing interest in cybersecurity. He found that many popular vault apps only hide photos behind a PIN screen while the files stay readable on the phone, and he wanted a vault he would trust with his own family’s photos. So he built one that encrypts the files themselves, needs no account, and publishes its full security design so anyone can check it. It launched on Google Play in October 2026.

Lockspeare's answer

Kotlin and Jetpack Compose (native Android) AES-256-GCM encryption, with keys protected by the Android Keystore (StrongBox when the phone has it) Argon2id to derive keys from the PIN or pattern Google Play Billing for purchases Media3 for encrypted video playback Website: Astro on Cloudflare

Lockspeare's answer

The app targets b2c customers and it's available only on Google Play.