The private browser: downloads go straight to the vault

Why a browser in a vault

The phone’s main browser remembers. Its history fills in what you type, its downloads land in a shared folder, and pages you saved show up in suggestions. That is handy most of the time and awkward for a medical search, a bank’s statement, or a document a site lets you download once.

What it keeps, and what it doesn’t

The private browser does not save history, cookies or site data, and what it holds is erased when the vault locks.

So when you lock the vault, the browsing session is gone. The next time you open it, you start clean, signed out of every site.

Tracker blocking in the private browser is on by default.

Turning it on

The browser is off until you ask for it.

1. Open Settings in Sealed.
2. Under Beta Features, turn on Private Browser. Turning on Private Browser in Settings, under Beta Features, adds a Browser tab to the vault.
3. Open the Browser tab and visit a site.

What any browser can’t keep private

A private browser controls what stays on the phone. It doesn’t control the rest of the trip a page makes.

• The network still sees where you go. Your internet provider, or the Wi-Fi you are on, can see which sites you connect to.
• The site still sees you. A site knows your connection’s address and anything you sign in with.
• A screenshot is a screenshot. What you capture lands in your photo library like any other.

Treat the private browser as a way to leave no trace on your own phone, not as a way to be unseen online.

The age rating

The App Store age rating is 17+, because the optional private browser can open any website. That rating is about what a browser can reach, not about anything in the app itself.

Free or Pro

The free plan includes passcode and Face ID lock, the recovery key, Recently Deleted, encrypted iCloud backup, stacks, the photo editor, the private browser and the USB drop box. On the free plan the private browser saves only photos into the vault, up to the photo limit, because videos and documents need Sealed Pro everywhere in the app.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps keep what you browse and download off the rest of your phone. The private browser does not save history, cookies or site data, and what it holds is erased when the vault locks.

It doesn’t do these things:

• Make you anonymous online. The network and the sites still see the connection. Tracker blocking in the private browser is on by default.
• Keep you signed in. Cookies go when the vault locks. The private browser does not save history, cookies or site data, and what it holds is erased when the vault locks.
• Protect a screenshot of a page. Screenshots are saved to your photo library automatically.
• Replace your main browser. It is a side door for the few things that should leave no trace. See where private photos still show up.