The best calculator vault apps for Android, and what to check first

A calculator vault looks and works like a calculator, until you type a secret code and a hidden gallery opens. Google Play has hundreds of them, and the disguise is the part they all get right. What sets them apart is what's underneath: whether your photos are encrypted, whether there's a backup, and how you get back in if you forget the code. Here's what to check first, then how well-known calculator vaults compare, going by each developer's own Google Play listing and help pages, checked on 27 October 2026.

What to check first

Encryption, not just hiding. Look for what the app says it does to your files. Moving or renaming a file only hides it, while an encrypted file can't be opened without the key. Our guide to checking a vault's encryption shows how to tell.
What an uninstall does. With some apps your files go when the app goes, and with others they stay on the phone. Here's what an uninstall really does.
A backup, and where it lives. Without one, a lost or broken phone takes your photos with it.
How you get back in. Reset codes, security questions and email resets all have to be set up before you forget. Our guide to forgotten calculator vault passwords covers each one.
Permissions. Apps that also lock or hide other apps need wide permissions, such as All files access, Accessibility and a list of your installed apps.
Recent updates. The Updated on date in the listing shows whether anyone still looks after the app.
What the disguise can't hide. Settings and Google Play still list every installed app, as our calculator vault explainer shows, so the protection has to come from the vault itself.

1. Hidey

Hidey is a vault app built around encryption, and its calculator disguise is free. Turn it on, and Hidey's icon and name change to Calculator, and it opens as a working calculator. Type your PIN and press = to get in; wrong PINs just look like sums. Before the disguise turns on, Hidey has you open the calculator once with your PIN, so you know it works.

Encryption: each photo, video and file is encrypted on your phone with AES-256-GCM, and the original is deleted once the encrypted copy has been checked. The details are on our security page.
Backup: free, to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive, encrypted before upload.
Getting back in: with backup on, a forgotten PIN can be reset through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could reset it too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro), where a recovery key takes Google's place.
Also free: the secure camera and the private browser. Pro adds hidden vaults with their own PIN, intruder selfies, Clock, Weather and Notes disguises, auto-hide folders and more.

2. Calculator Lock - Hide Photos (HIDEit)

This one does the most besides photos: it locks and hides other apps, and has a fake vault, intruder selfies, a private browser and Google Drive backup. To do all that, its listing says it needs All files access, permission to see all your installed apps and, to lock WhatsApp chats, Accessibility.

Its listing says photos are hidden "via MD5 encryption algorithm". MD5 is a hashing function, not a way to encrypt files, so ask the developer what really protects them. Its FAQ says hidden files stay on your device after an uninstall and come back when you reinstall, and that a forgotten password can be reset with a code sent to your recovery email, or with a code entered on the unlock screen.

3. Calculator Vault - App Hider

This calculator hides apps by cloning them: you run a copy of an app inside the vault, from its own private launcher, and the listing says the copies keep working even if you uninstall the originals. It says photos and videos in its hidden gallery are encrypted, and it unlocks with a PIN or fingerprint. The listing doesn't mention a backup or a way to reset a forgotten PIN, so check both before you trust it with anything.

4. Vaulty

Vaulty can disguise itself as a calculator or, if you use a text password, a stocks app. Vaulty's help says you open the calculator by typing your PIN and then pressing and holding =.

Files: Vaulty's help says hidden files are renamed and, in many cases, obfuscated, in a Documents/Vaulty folder. It doesn't name an encryption method.
Backup: free, to a folder in your own Google Drive that you can see on drive.google.com. Vaulty's help says anyone who can sign in to your Google account can open that folder.
Getting back in: your security question, unless you turned on its secret door feature.

Our Hidey vs Vaulty comparison goes into more detail.

5. Calculator Vault- Gallery Lock

A calculator vault for photos, videos, audio and notes, with fingerprint unlock and a screen-down action that can close the app when you put the phone face down. Its FAQ gives the reset code: type 11223344 and press =, then answer your secret question, or use an emailed code if you added an email address. The same FAQ says files are gone once you uninstall, so unhide them first. The listing doesn't mention encryption or a backup, and it was last updated in April 2024.

6. Calculator Vault - Hide Photos (Vasundhara Infotech)

It locks apps with a PIN, pattern or fingerprint, and hides photos, videos, contacts and passwords, with a fake cover that makes the vault look as if it had crashed. Its listing doesn't mention encryption, a backup or a way to reset a forgotten password.

7. CalculatorVault - Hide Photos (GalleryVault Developer Team)

This one comes from the developers of Gallery Vault. Its listing says every file inside is encrypted, and it adds break-in alerts, a fake password that shows other content, PIN locks for single albums, a browser that downloads videos, and SD card support. The listing doesn't mention a backup or say how to reset a forgotten password.

How to choose

Any of these will put a working calculator on your home screen. The difference is what stands behind it, so look for the three things a disguise can't give you: encryption you can check, a backup you control, and a way back in that you've set up before you need it. Hidey has all three, and the calculator costs nothing.

Whichever you choose, practise opening the vault before you hide anything you can't lose. Our guide to using a calculator vault walks through it, and our Hidey vs calculator vault apps page sums up the differences. For vaults without the calculator, see the best apps to hide photos.