The Lock Screen camera

The Lock Screen camera lets you take photos and videos for a vault without unlocking your iPhone. Each shot is encrypted the moment it’s taken, and the camera itself can’t see anything already in your vaults.

What it is

Paperwise adds a camera control to iOS that you can place in three spots:

the Lock Screen (in place of the flashlight or camera button at the bottom)
Control Center
the Camera Control button, on iPhones that have one

The control comes in two names that do exactly the same thing:

Paperwise private camera
Quick Camera: a neutral name, useful if you use a disguised app icon

It opens Paperwise’s private camera, with Photo and Video modes, even while your iPhone is locked. A small count shows how many shots you’ve taken, with no thumbnails of earlier ones.

Shots wait, encrypted, until you open a vault that has Lock Screen camera saves here turned on. That switch is off in every vault until you turn it on.

When to use it

When a moment won’t wait for Face ID and unlocking.
When you don’t want a photo to touch the Photos app at all, even for a second.
When you’d rather not open Paperwise in front of other people.

Step by step

Choose the vault that receives them

Open the vault and tap the settings button (the gear).
Turn on Lock Screen camera saves here.

Shots then wait for the next vault you open with this switch on.

Add the control

This needs iOS 18 or later.

Lock Screen: touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, choose the Lock Screen, tap one of the two buttons at the bottom to replace it, then search for Paperwise private camera or Quick Camera.
Control Center: open Control Center, touch and hold an empty area, tap Add a Control, then search for Paperwise.
Camera Control button: in the iOS Settings app, go to Camera → Camera Control and choose Paperwise as the app it opens.

(These are iOS screens, so their wording can change slightly between iOS versions.)

Take photos and videos

With the iPhone locked or unlocked, tap the control (or press the Camera Control button).
Choose Photo or Video and take your shots.
Lock the iPhone again, or open Paperwise.

See them in your vault

Open Paperwise, then open the vault that has Lock Screen camera saves here on. Paperwise imports the waiting shots and deletes them from the camera’s holding area. They’re under the Photos chip.

Free and Pro

The Lock Screen camera is free.

Privacy

The capture camera runs separately from the app and works while the iPhone is locked. It encrypts every photo and video the moment it’s taken, using a public key: a key that can lock things but not open them. It holds no key that opens a vault and can’t read anything already in your vaults.
Shots are never saved to the Photos app or iCloud Photos.
The holding area contains only encrypted data until a vault imports it. If the emergency pattern is ever used, shots not yet imported are lost. Open your vault soon after taking them.
Seeing what you took always needs the app, Face ID and the vault’s pattern.

Tips

If you use a disguised icon, add Quick Camera rather than Paperwise private camera. Some places still say “Paperwise”, such as the text iOS shows when you take photos with the iPhone locked.
If the switch in vault settings reads Shared items save here instead, this iPhone can’t use the Lock Screen camera (it needs iOS 18 or later). The switch then only decides where items shared to Private vaults go.

What if…

What if my shots don’t show up in my vault?

They wait for a vault with Lock Screen camera saves here on. Open that vault, or turn the switch on in the vault you want and open it again.

What if I can’t find the control?

Make sure Paperwise is installed and has been opened at least once, and that the iPhone runs iOS 18 or later. Then search for “Paperwise” or “Quick Camera” when adding a control.

What if someone uses the control on my locked iPhone?

They can take new photos that will go into your vault, but they can’t see anything already there, not even earlier shots from the same session.