After Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp, Now Viber Copies Snapchat With Secret Destructible Messages

By Abhishek Joshi On Mar 15, 2017

All social media platforms are targeting the USP of Snapchat – destructible messages. Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp all three have copied Snapchat’s 24-hour story feature, while some have copied Snapchat’s secret message feature.

Now, joining the bandwagon is Viber, a not-so-famous messaging app that was at one point of time quite famous for stickers and voice calling. Viber has completely taken the ‘secret chat’ feature from Snapchat and integrated it to its platform.

What’s better than end-to-end encryption? End-to-end encryption with loads of other privacy enhancing features. Try Secret Chats today! pic.twitter.com/NgAmNtkF8p

— Viber (@Viber) March 13, 2017

According to a report by TechCrunch, the feature is rolling out to iOS and Android users globally with the latest update. Called ‘Secret Chats’, users can send messages to their friends on the platform with a set timer, after which the message will self-destruct. Also, if the receiver screenshots the message or forwards it, then the sender will be notified.

Viber claims to have over 800 million subscribers, but hasn’t revealed the number of active users. It is nowhere close to the popularity of WhatsApp and Messenger, and definitely does not enjoy a huge share in developed markets. However, it is quite prominent in Latin America and South-East Asia.

Secret Chats are similar to the messaging platform on Snapchat. The company has previously also announced destructing media, which should have ideally been revealed after secret chats. Secret chats can be timed at 1, 3, 7 and 10 seconds only.

Viber also supports end-to-end encryption like WhatsApp, so in any case the messages between you and the receiver are safe and encrypted. Secret Chat will be going further than encryption, so that the receiver cannot reveal any information.

As all the social media platforms are trying to copy one another, privacy of information has been one main confirm for all biggies, which is why Snapchat’s feature has been straight away lifted. Not even the biggest media apps could come up with smarter ways to share information secretly, making us believe that innovation is almost dead in the ‘secretly sharing of information’ world.

Source: TechCrunch