For whom it is intended:
Supposedly conceived as a way to send nudes, Snapchat has evolved into a full social media platform where users can share all kinds of content with their followers.
While it has tons of other features, including videos and opportunities to meet new people, Snapchat still works as a great messaging app — and it’s free.
Why we chose this:
Snapchat has worked its way up the app food chain over the past 12 years, becoming a staple on the list of major social media outlets. We’d say it tops Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok. According to the Associated Press, there are about 406 million daily active users of the app and more than 7 million Snapchat+ subscribers.
The basic function of the app allows you to send anything you want (naughty pictures, sexy voice messages or a private text message) and it will disappear as soon as the recipient opens it. Users can choose a time limit of 1 to 10 seconds or an “infinite” option, which allows the recipient to view the photo as long as they want before closing it. And, like the other apps on this list, Snapchat sends screenshot notifications, so you can send your bae a sneak peek of the goods without worrying if they’re secretly showing it to others behind your back.
Despite its features and ephemeral nature, Snapchat does present some risk, especially if you’re in a heated conversation and accidentally send a snap to the wrong person — or your story (*screams*).
Aside from the human error causing the potential disaster, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has been in the news for trying to steal Snapchat’s secrets through “Project Ghostbusters.” As Mashable reported, the project allowed Facebook to decrypt Snapchat’s network traffic to gain a competitive advantage over the popular messaging app. Facebook couldn’t snoop on messages or photos, but the company used software on users’ smartphones to secretly measure Snapchat usage data.
Although the actual project dates back to 2016, Project Ghostbusters was only recently revealed in documents unsealed as part of a class action lawsuit against Meta. So if privacy is your top concern, remember that texting is only as safe as the platform you’re using — or the person on the other end of the conversation.