Send a file to the Vault from another app
When a file is in another app, such as a PDF in Files or a picture in Photos, you can send it to the Vault from that app's Share menu. This is the Vault receiving a file. It is different from FirstHour's own Share feature, which doesn't appear in other apps' Share menus yet. If you haven't set up your Vault, start with Set up your Vault.
Step by step
- Open the file in the other app and tap its Share button. Send one file at a time.
- Choose FirstHour in the Share menu. FirstHour opens on the Vault tab.
- Read the message on the lock screen. It says "1 file is waiting. Unlock to lock it away. If you leave, this copy is removed."
- Unlock the Vault with your pattern or PIN. The file is locked in, and FirstHour checks the copy.
- Read the result. It says "Locked in the vault, the copy checked. The original is still in the app you sent it from. Delete it there if you want it gone."
You can do this even if FirstHour was closed. The file waits for you when FirstHour opens.
What happens if you don't unlock
The waiting copy only stays while FirstHour is on screen, on the Vault tab. If you leave FirstHour, switch to another tab or lock the Vault, the waiting copy is removed. Nothing is added to the Vault. The original stays in the app you sent it from, so you can send it again.
What happens to the original
FirstHour can't delete the original in the other app, so it never removes it. If you want it gone, delete it in that app yourself, once you can see the file in the Vault.
If something goes wrong
- If the file can't be received, FirstHour says "A file sent to FirstHour couldn't be received. It's still in the app you sent it from."
- If it can't be locked in, FirstHour says "One item couldn't be locked away. It's still in the app you sent it from."
- If your iPhone doesn't have room, FirstHour says so. Free up some space and try again.
Good to know
- The Vault doesn't unlock inside the other app. The file comes to FirstHour, and you unlock the Vault there.
- While it waits, the copy is an ordinary unlocked file on your iPhone. It's removed once it's locked in, or when you leave. If FirstHour closes unexpectedly, a waiting copy can stay until the next time the Vault locks.
- It goes into whichever Vault your pattern or PIN opens.
- Send one file at a time. To add several at once, tap + in the open Vault and choose Choose from Files. See Add files and notes to the Vault.
- Some apps send a changed copy of the file instead of the original.
- FirstHour's name shows in the Share menu to anyone using your iPhone.
- Some apps don't offer FirstHour for everything you select. In Photos, FirstHour wasn't offered when two pictures were selected, so send them one at a time.
- There's more about what the Vault does on the Vault page.