Terms of use

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

These terms are an agreement between you and AA AppCraft ("we", "us"), the developer of the Vaultessa app for Android ("the app"). Contact: [email protected]. By tapping Start using Vaultessa in the app, or by using it, you accept these terms and our privacy policy.

2. The short version

• Only you can open your folders. We have no copy of your files, patterns, recovery codes or keys, and no way to reset or recover them.
• If you forget a folder's pattern and lose its recovery code, that folder can't be opened again, by anyone.
• Your files are stored only on your phone. Uninstalling the app, clearing its data, resetting, losing or breaking the phone deletes them, unless you made a backup.
• Like all software, the app can have errors. Keeping backups of anything important, and keeping your recovery codes safe, is your responsibility.

3. How the app works

Each pattern you draw opens its own encrypted folder on your phone. When a folder is created, the app shows a recovery code once. Backups are .vaultessa files that you create yourself (Menu › Create backup) and keep wherever you choose; a backup can only be opened with that folder's recovery code. The app has no account and no cloud storage, and we don't run servers that hold your data.

4. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• remembering your patterns, and writing down your recovery codes and keeping them somewhere safe and private, away from the phone;
• making regular backups of anything you can't afford to lose, checking that you can find them, and keeping them and their recovery codes safe;
• keeping a copy of important files outside the app (for example the originals) where that matters to you;
• the security of your phone, including its screen lock, its software updates, who can use it, and the apps you install on it;
• keeping your patterns and recovery codes secret, and anything that happens when someone uses them;
• making sure you have the right to store the files you put in the app, and that storing them is legal where you are.

5. Loss of access and loss of files

Because of how the app is built, we have no way to get you back into a folder or to recover deleted or damaged files. You accept that, to the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for loss of files or access caused by:

• a forgotten pattern together with a lost, wrong or unsaved recovery code;
• uninstalling the app, clearing its data or storage, a factory reset, moving to a new phone, or a lost, stolen, broken or replaced phone, where no usable backup exists;
• a backup file that was never made, or was lost, deleted, damaged, out of date or shared, or whose recovery code is lost;
• someone else using your phone, watching or guessing your pattern, learning your recovery code, or being given access by you or forcing you to give it;
• deleting a folder or files yourself, or confirming a deletion by mistake;
• the waiting times after wrong patterns, which are a security feature and can't be shortened by us;
• malware, a compromised or modified ("rooted") phone, or attacks on your phone that are outside the app's control;
• full or failing storage, power loss, or the phone shutting down while the app is working;
• changes or faults in Android, your phone's hardware, Google Play or other apps.

6. Software errors and crashes

Vaultessa is built so that a crash or a sudden shutdown shouldn't damage files that are already saved: changes are written to a temporary file and only swapped in once complete, and the app never deletes your originals when you add files. Still, all software can contain errors. A crash, a bug, an update of the app or of Android could, in rare cases, make a file or a folder unreadable. Please keep backups of anything important; they are the only protection against this. If you notice a problem, stop using the affected folder and contact us before trying anything else.

7. No guarantee of perfect security

We work hard to make Vaultessa secure, and its design is described on this website. No software can protect against every threat, and no encryption is a guarantee against every possible attack, now or in the future. To the extent permitted by law, the app is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind beyond those required by law, including that it will meet your needs, be free of errors, or work on every phone. Don't rely on Vaultessa as the only place you keep files that matter, or for situations where your safety depends on it.

8. Updates and changes to the app

We may update the app to fix problems, improve security or change features. Some updates may be required for the app to keep working. We may change, limit or stop offering features, or stop developing the app, but we won't do anything on purpose that stops your existing folders from opening on your phone. Make a backup before updating Android or moving to a new phone.

9. Vaultessa Pro, subscriptions and refunds

Vaultessa Pro is available as a one-time lifetime purchase or as a monthly or yearly subscription, sold through Google Play. Prices are shown in Google Play before you buy. A subscription renews automatically until you cancel it in Google Play; cancelling stops the next renewal. Payments, renewals and refunds are handled by Google Play under its own terms. "Lifetime" means for as long as we offer the app and Google Play supports the purchase on your account. If Pro ends, nothing is deleted or locked away: every folder still opens, and only adding beyond the free limits needs Pro again.

10. Acceptable use

Don't use the app to store, hide or share content that is illegal, such as material that exploits children, or to plan or hide crimes or harm others. Don't use it to hide evidence you are legally required to keep or hand over. Don't copy, resell, reverse-engineer, decompile or tamper with the app, except where the law allows it. You are responsible for following the laws that apply to you, including any rules about encryption in your country.

11. Your responsibility towards others

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to cover claims, losses and costs that we face because of content you stored in the app, or your breach of these terms or of the law.

12. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits, or loss of data, files or access, arising from your use of, or inability to use, the app. Where liability can't be excluded, our total liability is limited to the amount you paid for the app in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for intent or gross negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that can't be limited by law, and nothing affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

13. Who can use the app

You must be old enough to agree to these terms where you live, or have a parent or guardian's permission. If you are under 16, use the app only with a parent or guardian's permission.

14. Ending use

You can stop using the app at any time by uninstalling it. Remember that this deletes every folder on the phone unless you have backups. Sections 4 to 7, 11, 12 and 16 continue to apply after you stop using the app.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when the app or the law changes. The new version will be published on this page with a new effective date. If the change matters for how you use the app, the app will ask you to accept the new terms; if you don't, you can stop using it.

16. Governing law and general

If you are a consumer, you keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you can bring a claim in your local courts. If any part of these terms is found invalid, the rest still applies. These terms and the privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the app. If we don't enforce a part of these terms right away, we can still enforce it later.

17. Contact

Questions about these terms, or a problem with the app: [email protected].