Help / Add files and notes to the Vault

Add files and notes to the Vault

Besides photos and videos, the Vault can hold PDFs, other files and plain-text notes. Open the Vault first. If you haven't set it up yet, start with Set up your Vault.

Add a file from the Files app

  1. Tap + in the open Vault. A menu opens.
  2. Tap Choose from Files. iPhone's file picker opens on top of the Vault.
  3. Pick the file. You can pick more than one at a time. If a file is only in iCloud Drive, FirstHour first brings it down to your iPhone. If it can't, that file isn't added.
  4. Wait for the message. When it's done, FirstHour says it is locked in the Vault and the copy was checked. It also tells you the original is still in Files. If you picked several, it says how many items were locked in.

If something couldn't be added, FirstHour says so and the original stays in Files. If your iPhone doesn't have room, it says that instead, and you can free up some space and try again.

What happens to the original

FirstHour only reads the file in Files. It doesn't change it and it doesn't remove it. If you want it gone, delete it in Files yourself, once you can see it in the Vault. A file keeps its own name in the Vault, and you can change it later with Rename.

Open a file in the Vault

  1. Tap the file in the Vault.
  2. For a PDF, it opens right away and you scroll through the pages. Links inside it don't open.
  3. For most other kinds, such as a Word file or a spreadsheet, tap Open. The file shows read-only, and you can't edit it. Links inside it don't open. Tap Done when you finish.

A PDF opens without leaving a copy. Any other kind makes one temporary unlocked copy while it is open. FirstHour removes it when you tap Done, or when the Vault locks.

Pictures and videos you choose from Files go in like any other picture or video, and open the usual way. One that iPhone can't show, such as an SVG drawing, goes in as a file.

Files that can only be saved or shared

Some files can't be opened inside the Vault. In their place FirstHour says it can't open the file here, and suggests you save it to Files or share it. This is the case for:

To save or share one, tap it and use Save to Files or Share at the bottom of the screen. Either one makes an unlocked copy outside the Vault, so the file can go where you send it. Once it's there, the Vault no longer protects that copy.

Write a note

  1. Tap + in the open Vault and choose Write a note.
  2. Type your note. It saves by itself about a second after you stop typing.
  3. Tap Done when you finish. If the Vault locks or you leave FirstHour first, the note is saved before it locks.

The first line with words on it becomes the note's name in the Vault, up to 60 characters. A new note with nothing in it isn't kept.

Read, change or save a note

  1. Tap the note in the Vault to read it.
  2. To change it, tap Edit at the bottom of the screen. Your changes save by themselves, and you tap Done to close it. A note's name is its first line, so there is no Rename for notes.
  3. To keep a copy outside the Vault, tap Save to Files or Share. The note goes out as a plain text file. This is an unlocked copy outside the Vault.

If a note can't be saved, FirstHour tells you at the top of the note and asks you to copy your words somewhere safe before you close it.

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