Who controls the keys?
The user controls the recovery phrase or imported private key. Aperture does not maintain a custodial copy that can authorize transactions or reset wallet ownership.
Self-custody, without euphemisms
Your keys. Your decisions. Your recovery responsibility.
Aperture is a self-custody crypto wallet for iPhone and iPad. The user controls the wallet credentials; Aperture cannot move funds, reverse a transaction, or recover a lost recovery phrase.
No accountrequired for core wallet use
No custodyAperture does not hold user funds
Localwallet secrets and transaction signing
Open sourcepublic code for independent inspection
What “self-custody” should answer
The label is useful only when the product explains who can authorize a transaction, where secrets are stored, and what happens when a device is lost.
Where are secrets kept?
Sensitive wallet material is handled through Aperture’s iOS Keychain vault with this-device-only protection where applicable. The local wallet database stores opaque Keychain references rather than recovery phrases or private keys.
Where are transactions signed?
The app constructs and signs an authorized transaction locally. The resulting signed transaction can then be sent to the selected blockchain’s infrastructure for broadcast.
What leaves the device?
Public addresses, transaction data, balance queries, market requests, and signed transactions may cross the network boundary as required by the feature. Private signing material does not need to accompany those public requests.
Who can recover the wallet?
Aperture cannot recover a lost recovery phrase, private key, or BIP-39 passphrase. Recovery depends on the method the user deliberately preserved before loss or replacement.
Who can reverse a transfer?
Aperture cannot reverse or guarantee reversal of a confirmed blockchain transaction. Recipient, network, asset, amount, and fee review must happen before authorization.
How to compare self-custody wallets
The best wallet is the one whose security model, network support, recovery choices, and operational limits you understand and can verify.
- Verify custody. Determine whether the provider, an account reset, or a server can authorize transactions without your wallet credential.
- Verify recovery. Learn exactly which credential restores the wallet and whether optional backups are encrypted, portable, and testable.
- Verify network identity. Make sure the wallet validates addresses, tokens, fees, and account derivations per network instead of trusting ticker symbols.
- Verify the code and claims. Prefer precise public documentation, source code, version history, and an honest audit registry over vague security slogans.
- Verify the failure modes. Understand what happens after a lost phone, forgotten passphrase, unsupported token, wrong-network transfer, or compromised recovery phrase.
Never send a recovery phrase, private key, passphrase, app passcode, or backup password to Aperture support—or to an AI assistant. Legitimate troubleshooting does not require those credentials.
Recovery is a plan, not a button
Each recovery method protects against a different failure and introduces its own responsibility.
| Recovery phrase | Portable deterministic recovery. Anyone with the phrase—and the optional BIP-39 passphrase, if used—can derive the wallet. |
|---|---|
| Private key | Network-specific import for supported credential formats. It may restore only the account controlled by that key, not a complete multi-network wallet. |
| Encrypted iCloud backup | An optional encrypted backup in the user’s iCloud environment. It is not a server-side Aperture recovery account. |
| Direct iPhone transfer | An optional local encrypted transfer between compatible iPhones without using an Aperture storage server. |
Common questions
Plain-language answers about non-custodial and self-custodial wallets.
Is non-custodial the same as self-custody?
The terms are commonly used for software where the provider does not control the credentials needed to move funds. The concrete authorization and recovery model matters more than the label.
Can Aperture reset my wallet?
No. Aperture can help explain documented recovery routes, but it cannot recreate a lost recovery phrase, private key, or BIP-39 passphrase.
Does self-custody mean offline?
No. A wallet can keep signing keys under the user’s control while still using internet services for public balances, prices, fee estimates, history, and transaction broadcast.
Is self-custody automatically safe?
No. It changes who controls authorization. Users must still protect credentials, verify recipients and networks, avoid malicious tokens and phishing, and maintain a recovery method they understand.
Continue with first-party detail
Go deeper with the product pages, Journal explainers, and machine-readable sources that support this page.
Self-custody is clearest when the rules are visible.
Download Aperture from the official App Store listing, verify the product identity, and understand your recovery method before moving funds.