Terms of Service
These terms cover using CTRL Vault and paying for CTRL Vault Pro. Apple’s Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies. If the two disagree, Apple’s agreement wins.
Who you’re dealing with, and which law applies
CTRL Vault is made by Mario Noriega, an individual established in Guatemala City, Guatemala, trading as CTRL Vault. These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Guatemala, and the courts of Guatemala City have jurisdiction. That doesn’t take away the protection of any mandatory consumer-protection law of the country where you live, or your right to go to its courts where that law gives you one.
What CTRL Vault is
CTRL Vault is an encrypted vault for photos and videos on iPhone. It encrypts them on your device, opens them with a pattern you draw, and keeps an encrypted backup in your own iCloud. There is no account and no server of ours in between.
Using CTRL Vault
You may use CTRL Vault for your own personal, lawful purposes. Don’t copy, resell or reverse-engineer it. The app belongs to us; the photos and videos you keep in it belong to you, and you are responsible for what you store. Don’t use it to keep or share anything illegal.
Your pattern and recovery phrase
Your pattern opens your vault. Your 12-word recovery phrase opens it if you forget the pattern or move to a new iPhone, and it is shown only once, when you create the vault. Keep it on paper, somewhere safe.
We never receive your pattern, your phrase or your keys, so we can’t reset them, recover a vault or open it for you, and neither can anyone at Apple. If you lose both your pattern and your phrase, the vault can’t be opened by anyone.
Backups
Encrypted iCloud backup is on by default and free. The app shows when your last backup finished and tells you if something is wrong. A backup needs space in your iCloud and a working connection, and Apple runs iCloud, not us. Check the Backup tab now and then, and keep your phrase safe: without it, a backup can’t be restored.
What stays free
Encrypted backup, restoring on a new iPhone and exporting your vault are free and don’t need CTRL Vault Pro, now and for as long as CTRL Vault is offered. The free plan holds up to 100 photos and 10 videos in each vault. Going over never locks anything: you can always open, view and export what you have.
CTRL Vault Pro
- What it adds. Unlimited photos and videos in every vault.
- Plans. Weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions, a one-time Lifetime purchase, and Family versions of the yearly and Lifetime plans. The App Store shows the price in your currency before you pay.
- Payment. You pay through your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase.
- Renewal. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Your Apple Account is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before then.
- Cancelling. Open iPhone Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for.
- Free trial. The yearly plan starts with a free week for people who haven’t had one. If you don’t cancel before the week is over, the yearly price is charged.
- Lifetime. A Lifetime purchase is paid once and keeps Pro for as long as CTRL Vault is offered. We won’t turn it into a subscription or take Pro features away from it.
- Family plans. Shared with up to 5 other people in your Apple Family Sharing group. Each person’s vaults stay private on their own iPhone.
- Refunds. Apple handles refunds at reportaproblem.apple.com.
- Price changes. If a price goes up, Apple tells you first and, where required, asks you to agree.
Deleting
Deleting a vault removes it from this iPhone and from your iCloud backup, and can’t be undone. The app asks you to type DELETE before it does. Export first if you want to keep a copy.
Apple services
iCloud, the photo picker and the App Store are Apple’s and follow Apple’s terms. If Apple changes or stops one of them, the CTRL Vault features that rely on it may change too.
Changes to the app
We may add, change or remove features. What’s listed under “What stays free” stays free for as long as CTRL Vault is offered. If we ever stop offering CTRL Vault, your exports and backups still open with your recovery phrase, using the documented format.
No warranty
CTRL Vault is provided as it is. We use well-tested encryption and test backup and restore carefully, but no software is perfect. As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for photos that are lost, damaged or can’t be opened, and our total responsibility is limited to what you paid for CTRL Vault Pro in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing here takes away rights that consumer law in your country gives you and that can’t be waived.
The rest
These terms and Apple’s agreement are the whole agreement between us. If a court finds one part unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a part right away doesn’t mean we give it up.
Changes and contact
If these terms change, the new version will be posted here with a new date. Questions go to [email protected], or by post to Mario Noriega, 41 Avenida 15-49, Zona 5, Jardines de la Asunción Sur, Guatemala City, Guatemala.