Though, spoiler, there will always be some things in life that can’t be unseen…
Praise the app gods – there’s now a way to retract drunk or embarrassing messages after you’ve sent them. That’s right, thanks to a new free messaging app called Privates and its nifty ‘Recall’ button, humanity is one step closer to avoiding those mortifying social awks when you realise you’ve sent something you really shouldn’t have. Because whether it’s that Pinot Grigio-induced declaration of love you sent to that new beau/only-actually-met-once-on-Tinder-but-I-think-he’s-The-One-guy, or that angry rant you fired off to your ex about how you know they’re still using your Netflix account, we’ve all sent some regretful texts in our time… Not to mention pics, ahem… But, before you get too giddy, dial down the victory dance a touch because there is one small caveat – the recipient needs to have not opened the message first. So the longer you leave the message out there, the less chance you have of retracting it. And sadly, there’s no app to wipe something from someone’s memory - well not just yet, anyway. However, this next-generation app – which is currently only available on iPhone, although the developers promise Android and Windows versions soon - also offers suped-up security in several other ways.
Top of the list is screenshot protection technology, which stops people forwarding, copying or saving your messages. It also features industrial-strength encryption to keep out hackers, and protects messages even after they’ve been read. Just make sure to unplug your phone when viewing a message, as this prevents people from using external tools to make unauthorised copies – so now you know. It even gives you the option to choose how quickly your messages self-destruct, and three different security settings - Mild, Wild, and Insane - to control the security and length of expiration of every text, video, or photo you send. Sounds like app heaven. If only it would let us take back bad dates, goofball comments and those drunken dance moves IRL, too…