Auto-lock and screenshot block in Vaultopaz

Updated November 10, 2026

What is auto-lock?

Auto-lock closes your vault when you stop using Vaultopaz. As soon as the app goes to the background, for example because you switch to another app or go to the home screen, a timer starts. When it runs out, the vault locks. To get back in, you draw your pattern again, as described on the one pattern, one vault page.

The screenshot block is the other half of this feature. Screens that show what is in your vault, or a secret such as your recovery phrase, refuse screenshots and screen recording.

How it works

You pick the delay yourself. The choices are:

• immediately
• after 30 seconds, which is the default
• after 2 minutes
• after 5 minutes

If an import is still running when the time is up, it finishes first, and then the vault locks. You never have to wait for the timer: Lock is always one tap away.

Time you spend in a screen that Vaultopaz opened itself, such as the file picker, the camera, the browser or the Google Play sheet, does not count toward the delay, for at most ten minutes. If you stay away longer and the vault locks after all, the files you pick or the photo you take are kept and added right after the next unlock.

When the vault locks, the small previews in the library are wiped from memory. They only ever live in memory while the vault is open and are never written to storage.

The screenshot block covers the library, the viewer, the screen with your recovery phrase and the screens where you export an encrypted backup or type its secret. Each of those screens refuses screenshots and screen recording.

What it does and does not do

What it does:

• Locks the vault after the delay you chose, also when you forget to lock it yourself. The one exception is a screen that Vaultopaz opened itself, such as the file picker or the camera: time there does not count, for at most ten minutes.
• Clears the previews from memory on every lock.
• Keeps vault content out of screenshots and screen recordings made on the phone.

What it does not do:

• Lock while you are using the app. The timer only starts once Vaultopaz goes to the background.
• Stop someone from pointing another camera at your screen while the vault is open.
• Give you a way to save vault content as a screenshot. For a normal copy of a file, use the export of a readable copy, which asks for confirmation first.

When to use it

• Immediately suits you if you often open your vault around other people, or hand your phone to someone.
• 30 seconds works for quick switches, such as answering a message and coming back.
• 2 or 5 minutes fits when you go back and forth between Vaultopaz and another app while you work, and do not want to draw your pattern each time.

Whatever you pick, tap Lock when you are done and the vault closes at once. Do that before you hand your phone to someone, because time in the file picker, the camera, the browser or the Google Play sheet does not count toward the delay.

How to set it up

1. In the open vault, tap the menu and choose Auto-lock.
2. Choose immediately, 30 seconds, 2 minutes or 5 minutes.
3. Nothing to switch on for the screenshot block: the screens that show vault content always refuse screenshots and screen recording.
4. Make a habit of tapping Lock when you put the phone away.