Why did I build another photo vault?

Why did I build another private photo vault for iOS? There are hundreds of them. All the way from well established devs like Cryptomator or Ente to Private Photo vault and Keepsafe, who have been on the market forever and concurred the mobile market completely?

In my opinion, privacy products should be diverse.

The reason why there are fewer viruses on macOS and Linux is simply due to lack of user base. So yes macOS and Linux users are safer, although not necessary because Linux a macOS are more secure. Being outside the most wide user range means there is less chance of being targeted at all. Small protection outside of default settings can go a long way. That’s why I don’t believe in the most widespread products are always the best. Being number one also means being targeted first. While being small doesn’t really mean compromising on security or privacy, often otherwise.

There was no product for me.

The world is becoming polarized, and it affects everything including software, there is no room for nuances, you either build open source, completely free, bug free tool which you ideally never even charge for (who know how do you pay the bills) and target privacy nerds.

Or you know how to navigate Google or Appstore bureaucracy monster and climb to the top of ranking with hard paywalls and weekly subscriptions. Distribution and conversions becomes the product, the app functionality becomes a liability.

I’m not a privacy nerd, nor I’m willing to be milked because some CEO decided that subscriptions is good for business. And if you think that’s how most people think, surprisingly there are no apps for me.

The perfect app for me is like Things 3. I use it every day for more than 7 years. I’ve paid for it once. It’s not ideal, it doesn’t even have images, but it becomes ubiquitous because it solves problems well and does nothing else. It doesn’t try to become the next subscription monstrosity, nor it tries to be the most packed task manager. it does it’s job, charge fair money and get out of the way.

So I decided to build an app which has

• Privacy. Real, on-device encryption, transparent for user.
• No subscriptions. No storage of files on the server.
• Will serve an average user. Will not target nerds from day one, they are too picky

What I’ve learned is shocking

Nerds are too hard to sell to.

I didn’t open source the app, even though encryption is verifiable by user and was constantly shamed by all the nerds. Understandable, but I was not ready to open source my app from day one.

Security is a feature of a product, but not a product in itself.

To secure something means not only protect, but hide first. It was a hard lesson to learn for me, and it did cost me almost 2 years, but it’s impossible to ignore looking at sales numbers. Can you guess when I’ve introduced disguise feature?

Apple is a ruthless behemoth of a company.

When I’ve started I was sure Apple will be the good guys who always looking for hidden gems in the Appstore. The reality couldn’t be further from truth. Most of the top ranked apps in the AppStore are there not because they are good apps, but because they know how to navigate unwritten rules. Connections with publishers, reviews UX, user retention means for Apple way more than actual user satisfaction.

Being indie is brutal. You need both deep pockets, lots of time, enthusiasm to experiment and thick skin to survive being constantly attacked by Apple at any random moment, if I knew what it takes, I probably wouldn’t start.

But I didn’t know all that and that’s why I’ve built another photo vault for iOS, check it yourself it might be for you