How to Encrypt iOS App Photos Outside Camera Roll
Learn to Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.
What is App Only Photos Protection?
Appdome’s App Only Photos feature, protects mobile app privacy and data by keeping mobile app photos private and preventing other apps from accessing photos taken from the protected app, thereby ensuring that photos taken by a protected application are accessible only within the context of the protected app – no other apps can access those photos.
Why Prevent Other iOS Apps from Accessing Your App's Photos?
App Only Photos protects any mobile app photos taken by the application. When a photo is taken by a user within the application, Appdome intercepts the “saving” request and saves the photo to the application’s private files, which makes the photos inaccessible to the iOS camera app to another mobile app on the device. Furthermore, with Appdome’s TOTALData Encryption the app photos and sensitive data will be encrypted using AES 256 encryption.
Prerequisites for Using App Only Photos:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for App Only Photos
- Mobile App (.ipa for iOS)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos on iOS apps using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos without an SDK or gateway:
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Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.
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Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System
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Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
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iOS Formats: .ipa
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App Only Photos Compatible With: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more
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Build the feature: App Only Photos.
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Building App Only Photos by using Appdome’s DEV-API:
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the App Only Photos feature as shown below:
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the App Only Photos feature via Appdome Console, to add the App Only Photos feature to this Fusion Set.
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Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):
Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
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Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
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Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the App Only Photos feature
Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required). -
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Building the App Only Photos feature via Appdome Console
To build the App Only Photos protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.
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Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > Mobile Privacy section.
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How: Check whether is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . The feature App Only Photos is enabled by default, as shown below. Toggle (turn ON) App Only Photos, as shown below.
If needed, Customize the Threat Notification to be displayed to the mobile end-user in a standard OS dialog notification when Appdome Prevents other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos.Figure 3: Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos option
Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging. -
When you select the App Only Photos you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains App Only Photos
Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added App Only Photos protection
- Optional Configuration with App Only Photos:
- Combined Camera Roll
Make the public (device) camera roll accessible to your application. Private photos will only be accessible to your application.
- Photos Favicon
Add this customized icon as a favicon to private photos’ thumbnails.
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Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
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Congratulations! The App Only Photos protection is now added to the mobile app -
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Certify the App Only Photos feature in iOS Apps
After building App Only Photos, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the App Only Photos protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the App Only Photos protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:
Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate
Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that App Only Photos has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that App Only Photos and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app
Using Threat-Events™ for other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos are:
Threat-Event™ Elements | Prevent other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos Method Detail |
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Appdome Feature Name | App Only Photos |
Threat-Event Mode | |
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE | Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging. |
ON, IN-APP DETECTION | Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce). |
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE | Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection). |
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check | x |
Visible in ThreatScope™ | x |
Developer Parameters for Preventing other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos Threat-Event™ | |
Threat-Event NAME | |
Threat-Event DATA | reasonData |
Threat-Event CODE | reasonCode |
Threat-Event REF | |
Threat-Event SCORE | |
currentThreatEventScore | Current Threat-Event score |
threatEventsScore | Total Threat-events score |
Threat-Event Context Keys | |
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message | Message displayed for the user on event |
failSafeEnforce | Timed enforcement against the identified threat |
externalID | The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events |
osVersion | OS version of the current device |
deviceModel | Current device model |
deviceManufacturer | The manufacturer of the current device |
fusedAppToken | The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app |
kernelInfo | Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine. |
deviceID | Current device ID |
reasonCode | Reason code of the occurred event |
buildDate | Appdome fusion date of the current application |
devicePlatform | OS name of the current device |
updatedOSVersion | Is the OS version up to date |
timeZone | Time zone |
deviceFaceDown | Is the device face down |
locationLong | Location longitude conditioned by location permission |
locationLat | Location latitude conditioned by location permission |
locationState | Location state conditioned by location permission |
wifiSsid | Wifi SSID |
wifiSsidPermissionStatus | Wifi SSID permission status |
With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when other iOS apps from accessing your app's photos is detected.
The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for App Only Photos:
let center = NotificationCenter.default
center.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name(""), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in
guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else {
return
}
let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user
let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName: @"" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) {
__block NSNotification *note = org_note;
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) {
NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Message shown to the user
NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
}];
const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);
function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
}
export function registerToAllEvents() {
registerToDevEvent(
"",
(userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))
var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Total threat events score
var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
);
}
RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter(""));
class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
}
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
(NSString)"", // Threat-Event Identifier
delegate (NSNotification notification)
{
var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
window.broadcaster.addEventListener("", function(userInfo) {
var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Total threat events score
var variable = userInfo.<Context Key> // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
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import 'dart:async';
​
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
​
class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget {
const PlatformChannel({super.key});
​
State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();
}
​
class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> {
static const String _eventChannelName = ''; // Replace with your EventChannel name
static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName);
​
void initState() {
super.initState();
_eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError);
}
​
void _onEvent(Object? event) {
setState(() {
// Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure
var eventData = event as Map;
​
// Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event
var externalID = eventData['externalID'];
​
// Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure
String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code
String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Current threat event score
String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Total threat events score
​
// Any other event specific context key
String variable = eventData['<Context Key>'];
});
}
​
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using App Only Photos. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.
Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with App Only Photos
After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
Related Articles:
Blur Application Screens for Mobile User Privacy in iOS Apps
How to Protect iOS Apps from Screen Sharing Malware
How to Protect Android & iOS Apps from Copy/Paste Attacks
How Do I Learn More?
If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.
Thank you!
Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.