Seakret
Before anything happens
- Keep private files in an encrypted vault, not just in a hidden album, so they stay locked even when the phone is unlocked.
- Use a strong lock for the vault. A long passphrase is the strongest option (pattern or passphrase?).
- Know your recovery phrase. Write it down and keep it away from the phone.
- Consider screenshot blocking (Settings) if you do not want the screen captured.
A lost phone and a forced unlock are different problems
If you simply lose your phone, your risk is that a stranger gets into it. If someone demands your phone and your code, the risk is that you are made to open it yourself. Different situations need different preparation, and the first step for both is the same: keep the files that matter inside a vault with its own lock, not just in the gallery.
Separate vaults help
Seakret can hold several vaults, each opened by its own pattern. There is no list of vaults to choose from, so what opens depends only on what you draw. That means one vault can hold things you do not mind sharing and another can hold what you do.
Duress Mode (Seakret Pro)
Duress Mode lets you choose a second pattern. If it is drawn on the lock screen, one vault opens as normal, and Seakret removes this phone’s access to your other vaults. Backups you have already made are not touched.
This is a safeguard for rare situations. It does not make anyone safe, and you should always put your own safety first.
A five-minute checklist, done now
- Turn on a strong screen lock for the phone itself.
- Know how to find, lock or erase your phone remotely with Google’s tools or your phone maker’s, and check that they are switched on.
- Put private files in a vault with a long passphrase or a good pattern (how to choose).
- Write down your recovery phrase and keep it away from the phone.
- Make a backup if you want to be able to restore on a new phone (how backups work).
Getting back in later
If you have a backup in your own Google Drive and your 24-word recovery phrase, you can restore on a new phone (how to back up, the recovery phrase). Without the phrase, nobody, including us, can recover a vault.
If the phone is already gone
- Lock or erase it remotely if you can, and change your Google password from another device.
- Tell your mobile provider so the SIM can be blocked.
- Your vault stays locked. Without your pattern or passphrase, the files in it cannot be opened.
- Get a new phone, install Seakret and restore from your Google Drive backup using your recovery phrase.
What Duress Mode does not do
Duress Mode (Seakret Pro) opens one vault and removes this phone’s access to your other vaults. It does not delete your backups, it does not alert anyone, and it does not make a dangerous situation safe. Treat it as one tool among many, and put your own safety first. If you have not backed up, the vaults it hides from the phone cannot be brought back without a backup and your recovery phrase.