iPhone App Review: Private Info - Plus A Chance to Win A Copy

Private Info

$1.99

iPhone/iPod Touch

Version: 2.4.5

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.1)

Rating: 4 of 5

Private Info is an application that acts as your digital wallet, protecting all your digital information, including usernames, passwords, bank accounts, credit cards, notes, photos, videos and voice memos. Using the latest technology in 256-bit AES encryption, Private Info removes you from worry about losing, scattering or forgetting your critical information. The application does not limit the types of information to be stored in its secure vault, because apparently your iPhone/iPod can act as the temporary secure file server to receive a wireless file transfer from the browser on your laptop/desktop. Now, that's what I call innovation.

First of all, you need to set your own numerical (or you may opt to have it as alphanumerical) password to your vault. You'll need this password to access all the data within the vault. Afterwards, you can set the photo and video import quality that you'd like. This relates to photos and videos that you will take using the app. The nice thing about taking photos/videos using the app is that you can have it stored directly inside the vault, without having them exposed to the built-in Photo app first. But if you need to share them in the future, the app also allows you to select the photos/videos you'd like to export to the built-in Photo library or even e-mail them.

You can create photo albums to have better file organization, but currently I can't find a way to create a video album. Depending on how the different users may use the vault, they may require the video album feature to be available. Private Info also allows you to store voice memos in the vault. This is a good idea, because people may need to store a quick note to self or to record an interview or customer testimonial. 

Private Info also allows you to store the usual suspects, i.e. bank account information, credit card information, usernames and passwords for web services, notes and other free-formatted information. I think this is where the user can get creative and store various other information. In fact, the Private Info developer is kind enough to share five promo codes for you, the readers, in a unique contest. 

Here are the steps you need to take to get a chance to win the promo codes:

1. Follow @appenthusiast on Twitter
2. Tweet this: "Secure your digital info with Private Info for iPhone! Get a chance to win a copy! http://bit.ly/erL9jj"
3. Post a comment to this post describing how you would use this app in a creative way to store your personal information
4. The contest ends on Friday, Apr 15, 2011, 23:59 PST
5. I will choose the five winners with the most creative ways to use the app

Don't miss this great chance, because this is not the end of the review. In fact, Private Info has an innovative feature which I love the most, i.e. the ability to act as a temporary secure file server to receive a wireless file transfer from browsers in your laptop/desktop. Yes, you read that right! So if you want to store a file from your PC/Mac securely, you can open up the File Box tab of the app and click the Server button. This will setup your iPhone/iPod as the temporary secure file server. Then, using the address shown in your iPhone, you can open it in your browser and upload any files you want.

I've tried transferring PDF files, and I know that it would work well with audio/video files as well. The app is so secure in a way that you can't see the files you stored in the File Box when you synchronize your iPhone to iTunes. This would prevent people from plugging in your iPhone into any desktop and have access to the vault contents. The same is true for photos and videos. So, wait no more, join our contest and get a chance to win this great app.

Despite the great features, I do have some suggestions that can be included in the future updates:

1. The app somehow doesn't handle the iOS auto-lock mechanism very well, because after the device is auto-locked, you can easily access the vault without being prompted for password. Now, this might be a security leak for some people in certain circumstances.
2. The app seems to have a bug when the user decides to cancel an e-mail draft attaching one or more photos. The app hangs when I try to send another e-mail after canceling my previous attempt.

Overall, this is a great app, and I enjoy using it. I'm sure you would too.

Check out my other iPhone app reviews here.