What is duress mode, and when would you use it?

Most security features assume you're choosing to unlock your phone. Duress mode is for the moment you aren't.

What duress mode is

In VaultMaster, duress mode is an optional second pattern. You draw your real pattern to open your real vault. If someone makes you unlock the app, you draw the duress pattern instead. A harmless vault opens as normal, and every other vault on the phone is erased.

It's free for everyone, off until you set it up, and it asks you to confirm because it deletes your own data.

When it might help

• Someone with power over you, or someone who's a danger to you, demands to see what's in your phone
• You carry sensitive photos or documents while travelling and may be asked to unlock your phone
• You want your private vault to stay private even if you're pressured

How to set it up well

1. Make the harmless vault believable. Put a few ordinary photos in it. An empty vault looks like a trap.
2. Choose a duress pattern that's easy to draw under stress, and different from your real one.
3. Back up what you can't replace. Duress mode erases data. Keep an encrypted backup file somewhere safe, and keep your recovery phrase separate from your phone.

What happens when you use it

It helps to know exactly what happens, so there are no surprises.

1. You draw the duress pattern. The app treats it like any other correct pattern.
2. The harmless vault opens, showing the ordinary photos you put in it.
3. The other vaults are erased. They're deleted from the phone, and they can't be brought back without a backup.
4. Nothing on screen announces any of this. The app looks as it normally does.

Because the erase happens straight away, it's worth practising the set-up, not the trigger. Make sure the harmless vault looks the way you want, and make sure your backup is current, before you rely on it.

Duress mode and backups

Erasing is the point, but you may not want to lose your real photos for good. Keep an encrypted backup file somewhere that isn't the phone, such as iCloud Drive or a computer, and keep your recovery phrase separate from it. Restoring later needs the backup file and the phrase together.

What duress mode can't do

It only helps if a harmless vault exists, and only if the person asking doesn't know to look for another. Someone who understands vault apps may not accept the first vault they see. And erasing is permanent, so only use it if you've decided that's what you want.

Read more on the duress mode page, or see how VaultMaster's hidden vaults work.