We've all had that moment when we wish we could "unsend" a text message. Now, the Privates app strives to provide people with this opportunity.
Available for iOS, the app is designed to "protect your privates" with its end-to-end encryption and an "unsend" function. This feature deletes messages from the sender's phone, as well as the recipient's phone.
Isaac Datikashvili, a doctor, is the man behind Privates. He originally created the app with the transfer of medical documents and information in mind. Datikashvili was motivated to seek more privacy when he took screen capturing into account. Many people use the screen capture option on their smartphones to save information, whether it's text or images.
Upon downloading Privates, individuals can select from three levels of security — Mild, Wild and Insane. They delete unread messages after three, 12 and 24 hours, respectively.
"Industrial-strength encryption keeps hackers out, while patent-pending screenshot protection keeps recipients from making and sharing unauthorized copies," says the Privates website.
Privates also has a function that prohibits users from screenshotting, forwarding and saving messages. The app also only functions when the smartphone is unplugged — this prevents users from utilizing external tools to create unauthorized copies of text messages.
On the Privates app website, its developers claim that it's designed for everyone, ranging from millennials to professional doctors. The goal is to provide widespread security to individuals who want to make their smartphone communications a bit more private.
Privates is also geared toward making messaging more fun, with an option that allows users to send "reactions" to messages. At the moment, Privates supports text, video and photo, but it claims that there is more to come.
Although Privates is currently only supported on iOS, versions for Android and Windows Phone are in the works.
The app may be generating hype, but some of these features are already present on the social networking market. For example, WhatsApp and Snapchat provide end-to-end encryption. Some apps even include features that alert users when message recipients have screenshotted their content.
Downloads of private social messaging apps increased by 200 percent between 2012 and 2013, according to Flurry.
