A browser is not a VPN. A panic wipe empties stores on the device. It does not hide your IP address from sites you visited or from your network operator. Tracking protection is list-based and not absolute: known ads, analytics, and social trackers from bundled lists are blocked on the device, but no blocker catches everything. Erase, panic, and self-destruct permanently destroy data. Erased data cannot be recovered, by you or by us. Private Browser Incognito is rated 17+ for unrestricted web access and is intended for adults.
Panic is easy to over-name. People hear wipe and picture every byte the app ever touched, or they hear panic and picture a gesture at the lock screen without asking which stores die. This page is the inventory. A panic wipe deletes tabs, the entire encrypted vault, and the break-in log, then opens what looks like a fresh start. Irreversible. Three stores, not a slogan. The lock-screen how-to lives elsewhere. The deletion scope lives here.
Private Browser Incognito still has quieter tools. One-tap erase destroys the browsing session and leaves the vault alone. Self-destruct fires after too many wrong codes: saved tabs go, and the vault only if you opted that in. Mixing those verbs is how a file you meant to keep disappears, or a log you meant to empty survives. Name the store before you name the wipe. If you needed the lock-screen control itself, that article is Panic Code: Wipe Tabs and Vault From the Lock Screen.
The three stores a panic wipe takes
First, tabs. Open pages close. The in-memory session that belonged to them dies with them: cookies, cache, and site data. There is no history file to clear, because the engine never writes one. Every tab was already a private session in memory. Panic ends that working state the same way erase does, then it keeps going. Form fields, session logins, and cached scripts go with the tabs. There is no recycle bin and no support path that reconstructs a URL.
Second, the entire vault. Downloads that went into encrypted storage are AES-256, with no plain copy on disk, excluded from backups. They are supposed to survive ordinary erase. Panic does not honor that survival. The box empties. Files you chose to keep off Photos and off iCloud are treated as part of the same emergency as the open tabs. That is the sentence to read twice before you arm the feature. Keep a separate copy of anything irreplaceable. AES-256 is the vault cipher name, not a slogan that survives a wipe.
Third, the break-in log. Failed unlocks that Stealth Suite recorded, including timestamps, go with the tabs and the files. Optional Intruder Photo, if you had enabled it, is part of that local record. Camera permission is asked when you turn that feature on, never at the lock screen. Photos may depict other people. You are responsible for local law. Panic does not archive the log somewhere else. It deletes it. A later unlock cannot scroll who tried, because that store is one of the three that died.
After those three stores are gone, the app opens what looks like a fresh start. The look is still a real web browser, rated 17+, with unrestricted access. It can load pages. It is not a fake UI that crashes on purpose. What panic changed is what used to be on the device. It did not retract a request that already left the radio. Sites you already visited can still have logs. Your network operator can still have destinations.
Session erase: the vault survives
One-tap erase is the free trash. It closes every tab and destroys cookies, cache, and site data. There is a home-screen quick action so you do not have to open the UI first. Stealth Suite adds Auto-Erase if you want the same session destroy after you leave. That family of controls is for browsing residue. Session erase does not empty the encrypted download vault. Files you saved are a separate store on purpose. If those two shared one button, people who download on purpose would be punished every time they threw the tabs away.
The leftover inventory of the free trash is What Erase Does Not Delete. Read it if you are deciding whether the vault should outlive a browsing wipe. The matching how-to for the tap itself is Erase Everything in One Tap. Panic is not erase with a louder name. Panic is the control that takes the leftover erase was built to spare.
Use erase when the session should vanish and the files should remain. Use panic when empty includes the files. Do not use panic as a daily vault cleaner. Delete files from the vault on purpose if you are done with them. Reserve the three-store wipe for the moment when leftover tabs, leftover files, and leftover failed-unlock records should all stop existing together.
Self-destruct: a threshold, not this inventory
Self-destruct answers a different question: what happens if someone keeps getting the code wrong. After too many wrong codes, saved tabs are destroyed, and optionally the vault with them. That is a threshold against guessing, not a wipe you aim at three named stores on purpose. We will not invent an exact try count here. The shipping screen is where you arm the wipe and pick the row. The public sentence stays the one in the facts: too many wrong codes, saved tabs gone, vault optional.
Scope differences matter under pressure. Panic always takes the entire vault and always takes the break-in log. Self-destruct always takes saved tabs and takes the vault only if you enabled that option. Self-destruct is not a second panic number. It counts failed attempts at the real lock. The person guessing gets an empty browser. You also get an empty browser. The dedicated path is Self-Destruct After Wrong Passcodes.
A forgotten passcode is not a wipe you chose. The six-digit lock is never stored. It becomes the key. Forgotten passcodes cannot be recovered. Guessing toward a threshold is how you might fire self-destruct on your own session. That is a second loss, not recovery. Panic is still a deliberate entry of a different code. Do not treat either tool as a reset email. There is no reset email. There are no accounts.
What a panic wipe does not delete
The app remains installed. The Disconnect lists remain in the binary. They are not session data and they are not vault files. They are not downloaded at runtime. Panic does not fetch a fresher list, and it does not uninstall the browser. HTTPS-Only Mode stays the default. Search engine choice stays. Suggestions stay off until you ask. App Lock stays: you still have a lock, and the passcode is still the key. None of those is a tab, a vault file, or a break-in row.
The decoy is a third scene, not a delete. A second passcode opens a clean, empty browser. Real tabs stay hidden. The decoy does not display vault files, and it does not empty them. If you only remember the word wipe, you will pick the wrong control. Hide, destroy the session, or destroy the session plus the vault plus the log. Those are three jobs. Panic is the third.
Network logs are outside the inventory. A panic wipe cannot delete what a site already stored, or what a workplace or school network already recorded. It cannot hide your IP. It cannot spoof fingerprints. List-based blocking still misses names. Per-site exceptions still exist. Rated 17+ still means unrestricted web access. You are responsible for what you visit and for using the app lawfully. A fresh-start look is a local scene. It is not anonymity on the wire.
Stealth Suite, prices, and a lapse
App Lock with a six-digit passcode and Face ID is free in the shipping default. A panic wipe is not. It is part of Stealth Suite, optional Apple IAP: monthly $4.99, yearly $19.99 with a 7-day trial, or lifetime $49.99. We do not invent other prices. Purchases go through Apple. The subscription group display name is Stealth Suite. The kit also includes the decoy, the break-in log with optional Intruder Photo, self-destruct, the vault, Auto-Erase, and icon colors (Midnight, Ocean, Ember). Icon colors recolor the shield. They are not calculator, notes, or weather disguise icons.
If a subscription lapses, protections you already enabled keep working and the vault stays accessible. New downloads that require an active unlock follow the lapse policy in the terms. A lapse does not fire panic. Panic still requires the deliberate wipe. We do not remotely empty devices. There is no browsing server that could. The App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected. We never received your tabs, your vault files, or your log, so we cannot restore them after you destroy them.
We will not invent the exact length of the panic number. Do not copy a blog that publishes a digit count as if it were a universal spec. Set the codes in the shipping app. Keep the real lock, the decoy, and the panic wipe distinct. Mixing them is how you open the real session when you meant to empty it, or empty it when you meant to open it. We cannot tell you which number you intended.
If you are comparing wipes, name the stores. Adjectives will not do it.
| Control | Tabs and session | Encrypted vault | Break-in log |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-tap erase | Destroyed | Left intact | Left intact |
| Auto-Erase timer | Destroyed after you leave | Left intact | Left intact |
| Panic wipe | Wiped, then a fresh-start look | Entire vault wiped | Wiped |
| Self-destruct | Saved tabs destroyed after too many wrong codes | Optional wipe with the tabs | Not this inventory |
| App Lock | Hidden, not deleted | Still there, still sealed | Still there if you use it |
What a panic wipe actually deletes is the session, the entire vault, and the break-in log. What it does not delete is the app, the lists, the lock, and the fact that a site already saw you. Use the free trash when the tabs should die. Use self-destruct when the threat model is a keypad and a person who will not stop. Use panic when leftover files should die with the session. None of those tools is a VPN. None of them changes your public IP.
Private Browser IncognitoFree on the App Store. No history, on-device blocking, one-tap erase.
Get the app
Frequently asked questions
What does a panic wipe delete?
A panic wipe deletes three stores: open tabs and the browsing session that belonged to them, the entire encrypted download vault, and the break-in log. It then opens what looks like a fresh start. The wipe is irreversible. Erased data cannot be recovered, by you or by us. Panic is optional Stealth Suite, not the free trash button.
Does a panic wipe delete the encrypted vault?
Yes. The entire vault goes with the tabs and the break-in log. That is the inventory session erase refuses. Vault files are AES-256, with no plain copy on disk, and excluded from backups. After panic they are gone permanently. Keep a separate copy of anything irreplaceable before you enable a wipe that can destroy it.
How is a panic wipe different from session erase?
Session erase closes every tab and destroys cookies, cache, and site data. The vault survives. Auto-Erase is the same session destroy on a timer. A panic wipe takes the session and the entire vault and the break-in log. Use erase when the tabs should die and the files should remain. Use panic when the files should die too.
How is a panic wipe different from self-destruct?
Panic is a deliberate wipe of tabs, the entire vault, and the break-in log. Self-destruct is a threshold: after too many wrong codes, saved tabs are destroyed, and optionally the vault with them. Self-destruct does not wait for a special panic number. It counts failed attempts at the real lock. Neither wipe can be undone.
Can I undo a panic wipe?
No. The wipe is immediate and permanent. We cannot restore tabs, vault files, or the break-in log because we never received them. There is no app server for browsing. The App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected. A panic wipe is not a reset and not a VPN. It empties stores on the device. It does not hide your IP.