A browser is not a VPN. Keeping vault files off a backup does not hide your IP address from sites you visit or from your network operator. Tracking protection is list-based and not absolute. Private Browser Incognito is rated 17+ for unrestricted web access and is intended for adults. The vault is optional Stealth Suite, on this device, not a cloud we run.
Backup is a copy made so a lost phone is not a lost life. That is useful for photos you want again. It is the opposite of useful for files you sealed because you did not want a second copy floating around. Private Browser Incognito treats the download vault that second way: excluded from backups, on the device, no cloud folder of ours.
This article stays at that product fact. It does not invent operating-system API names. It does not claim we control Apple’s backup screens. It says what we build: an AES-256 store with no plain copy on disk, kept out of backups, with no account that could restore it later. The vault as a feature is An Encrypted Download Vault on iPhone.
Excluded means the files stay here
When we say vault files are excluded from backups, we mean they are not supposed to ride along when the phone copies itself elsewhere. They stay on this iPhone. Restore a different device and those sealed downloads do not appear from us. There is nothing on a Private Browser server to fetch, because there is no app server for browsing and no accounts.
That is a trade, not a bonus in both directions. You do not get a surprise copy in a backup you forgot you made. You also do not get a rescue if the phone is gone, wiped, or the passcode is forgotten. The passcode is never stored. It becomes the key. Forgotten passcodes cannot be recovered. Data sealed under a forgotten code is permanently inaccessible, by you or by us.
Photos and Files participate in a different story. A library is built to be found again. A vault is built not to join that story. Why downloads should not land in the gallery is Why Downloads Should Not Land in Photos. Backup exclusion is the same idea aimed at copies instead of tiles.
There is no cloud drive with our name on it
People hear encrypted and picture a folder in the sky with a lock icon. That is a sync product. It needs an account. It needs our computers, or someone else’s. Private Browser Incognito does not offer that. The App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected. No analytics SDK, no ads in the app, no third-party SDKs.
Network the app makes: pages you open, search you send if you search, downloads you start, StoreKit if you buy Stealth Suite. Block lists ship inside the app. They are not downloaded at runtime. Suggestions stay off until you agree to share a keystroke. None of those paths is a place we archive your vault.
AES-256 is the cipher on device. We name it. We do not call it military grade. Ciphertext on this phone is still on this phone. The slower explanation is AES-256 in the Vault, Explained Without Hype. Backup policy does not make the cipher stronger. It only refuses a spare copy in the backup set.
What a new iPhone will not bring back
Set up a replacement phone. Sign into Apple. Restore whatever else you restore. We still cannot pour vault files into the new install. We never received them. Support cannot reconstruct a sealed store from a receipt. A lifetime Stealth Suite purchase can restore your access to the features on a device where you install the app. It cannot materialize files that lived only on the old flash.
If you needed those files in two places, you would copy them yourself by some other path you accept. That path would be your decision and your risk. We do not build a sync pipe for it. We also do not publish a list of sites that might have offered the original file again. Pages change. A catalog would be a promise we cannot keep.
Lose the iPhone on a train and the vault on it is as gone as the hardware. That is the honest sentence. Encryption does not summon a backup we refused to make.
Erase, panic, and what still is not a cloud delete
One-tap erase closes every tab and destroys cookies, cache, and site data. It does not clear the vault. Auto-Erase, if you enable the timer in Stealth Suite, is still a session control. Panic is the control that takes files: one code at the lock screen silently wipes tabs, the entire vault, and the break-in log, then opens what looks like a fresh start. Self-destruct can optionally take the vault after too many wrong codes.
Those wipes are permanent on the device. They are not a request to a server to drop an object, because the object was never there. Erased data cannot be recovered, by you or by us. If you needed the file, it is gone. Do not configure a panic code you will type by accident.
The decoy passcode opens a clean, empty browser. Real tabs stay hidden. Vault files do not appear in that scene. App Lock is free. The vault, decoy, and panic live in Stealth Suite: monthly $4.99, yearly $19.99 with a 7-day trial, lifetime $49.99. If a subscription lapses, protections you already enabled keep working and the vault stays accessible.
What this page will not claim
We will not name internal backup flags as if they were consumer documentation. We will not claim Apple’s backup UI will always show a particular line because of us. We will not claim that excluding the vault hides you from a site, a school network, or a cafe router. IP addresses remain visible. Blocking remains list-based. The app remains 17+.
HTTPS-Only Mode still asks before insecure HTTP. That encrypts a connection. It does not put the file in a backup, and it does not take the file out of one. Search still goes to the engine you chose if you search. Suggestions stay off until you agree. None of those paths is a restore pipe for the vault.
| Copy people expect | What this app does |
|---|---|
| Files in the cloud, encrypted | Files on this iPhone, excluded from backups |
| Restore from our servers | Nothing to restore. No accounts |
| Erase means every byte in the app | Erase destroys the session, not the vault |
| Backup exclusion hides IP | It does not. Not a VPN |
| A spare in Photos just in case | Never appears in Photos or Files |
The free core still forgets pages: no history file, on-device Disconnect lists, one-tap erase, HTTPS-Only Mode, App Lock. The vault is the paid box for files you decided to keep after the page is gone. Keep backup out of that box on purpose. If you want a life that survives a smashed screen, use Photos for the pictures that belong in Photos, and accept that vault files are bound to this device and this key. Private Browser Incognito is iOS only. We cannot hold a copy we never took.
Private Browser IncognitoFree on the App Store. No history, on-device blocking, one-tap erase.
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Frequently asked questions
Are Private Browser vault files backed up to iCloud?
No. Vault files are excluded from backups. They stay on the device. There is no second copy on a server we operate, because there are no accounts and no app server for browsing. If you lose the iPhone, the sealed files on it are gone with it.
If I set up a new iPhone, can you restore my vault?
We cannot. There is nothing on our side to restore. The vault is on-device, AES-256, with no plain copy on disk, excluded from backups. A new phone does not receive those files from us. Forgotten passcodes also cannot be recovered. Choose the trade with that in mind.
Does excluding backups hide my IP address?
No. Backup policy is about copies of files on this iPhone. It does not change the network. Sites you visit and your network operator can still see your IP address. A browser is not a VPN. Encryption on disk is not a tunnel.
Does one-tap erase also remove vault files from backups?
Session erase closes every tab and destroys cookies, cache, and site data. It does not clear the vault. The vault is already excluded from backups whether you erase or not. A panic code can wipe the vault on the device. That wipe is permanent and still is not a cloud delete, because there was no cloud copy.
Is the vault a Private Browser cloud drive?
No. There is no cloud drive. Files never appear in Photos or Files. They live in an encrypted store inside the app. Stealth Suite is optional Apple IAP. If a subscription lapses, protections you already enabled keep working and the vault stays accessible on that phone.