Umbra vs Keepsafe
Keepsafe is one of the best-known photo vaults on Android. The core difference with Umbra is philosophy: Keepsafe is built around an account and cloud sync; Umbra is built so your files physically can't leave the device.
The core difference: account & cloud vs offline
Keepsafe asks you to create an account (phone number or email) and offers cloud backup and sync across devices. That's convenient - and it's also a second place your private photos exist, protected by a company's servers and your account security.
Umbra has no account and no internet permission. There's nothing to sign up for, nothing synced, and no server that could be breached or subpoenaed. The trade-off is deliberate: you handle your own backups, and in return your vault never leaves your phone.
| Keepsafe | Umbra | |
|---|---|---|
| Account required | Yes (phone/email) | No |
| Internet permission | Yes (cloud sync) | None requested |
| Encryption | Yes | Yes - AES-256-GCM |
| Decoy / fake vault | Limited | Yes - decoy vault |
| Failed-attempt / intruder log | Some tiers | Yes |
| Data leaves your device | Yes, to cloud | Never |
When Keepsafe makes sense
If you specifically want cloud backup and multi-device access to your vault, and you trust that provider with that data, Keepsafe's sync is a real feature Umbra doesn't try to match.
When Umbra makes sense
If your mental model is "the only truly safe copy is the one that can't travel," Umbra fits better. No account to phish, no cloud to breach, no internet permission to abuse. Pair that with a decoy vault and a failed-attempt log, and you've covered both the remote threat and the in-person one.
Prefer a vault that never phones home?
Umbra is offline by design - AES-256 encryption, no account, no cloud, no internet permission.