Dobr vs Google Photos Locked Folder
Locked Folder is free and already on your phone. Here's when that's enough.
Locked Folder is the easiest choice if you only want photos out of your main gallery, because it's built into Google Photos and can back up to your Google account. Dobr makes more sense if someone else knows your phone PIN, if you want files as well as photos, or if you'd rather nothing ever went to the cloud.
| Locked Folder | Dobr | |
|---|---|---|
| How it opens | Your phone's screen lock | A pattern separate from your phone PIN |
| Photos and videos | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs and other files | No | Yes |
| Cloud backup | Optional, to your Google account | Never. Dobr has no internet permission |
| Decoy vault | No | Yes, with Unlimited. Every pattern opens its own vault |
| New phone | Moves across if backup is on | Stays on the old phone |
| Price | Free | Free for one vault of 35 items, then paid |
Where Locked Folder wins
It's already installed, it's free, and it costs you nothing to try. Photos in it vanish from your grid, albums, Memories and search. If you turn on its backup, which Google added in August 2023, your Locked Folder follows you to a new phone and to Google Photos on the web.
For hiding a few photos from someone flicking through your camera roll, that's often enough.
Where Dobr wins
A lock nobody else knows. Locked Folder opens with your screen lock. If your partner, your kids or your boss knows your PIN, they know how to open it. Dobr uses its own pattern on a 4 by 4 grid that never unlocks anything else.
Decoys. Dobr doesn't keep a list of vaults. With Unlimited, any pattern opens its own vault, so you can keep a harmless one to show if you're pressured to open the app.
Files. Dobr takes PDFs, scans and any other file type, so contracts and ID scans live next to your photos.
Nothing leaves the phone. Locked Folder backup is optional and off unless you turn it on, but Google Photos is a cloud app. Dobr has no internet permission at all, which you can check on its Play Store listing.
The catch with Dobr
Dobr's vaults are tied to the phone's security hardware and there's no reset. Forget the pattern, or lose the phone, and that vault is gone. Keep copies of anything irreplaceable somewhere else. Our guide on switching phones covers how to move things across.
Last checked 2026-11-01. Phone menus change between Android versions and brands, so labels on your phone may differ slightly.