Skip to main content

This week in Snapchat privacy issues, turns out iOS 7 kills the app’s screenshot notification

snapchats photo

Snapchat has had enough privacy issues to last the start-up a lifetime – and there’s a new one to add to the ever-growign list. According to the LA Times, it turns out the everyone running iOS 7 won’t be able to receive Snapchat’s screenshot notification, which alerts users when the recipient of the Snap has taken a screenshot of the image. IOS 7 prevents this notification from going through, however, so you’ll never know what sexts you need to be worried about. 

IOS 7 is still in beta, but developers who have early access to the update have found that it deal with screenshots differently than the last version of Apple’s mobile operating system. This does mean that since iOS 7 won’t be publicly released until the Fall, Snapchat has some time to try and find a fix. Of course Apple is a bit closed-off when it comes to tinkering with native features like this, so Snapchat could find itself in a precarious position. And if we’re going to go whole-hog conspiracy theorist on this, you have to wonder if Apple is plotting some iMessage feature involving private, time-based texting…

The bigger issue in all this has less to do with iOS 7’s screenshot alert-killer and more with the fact that Snapchat just can’t catch a break. The supposedly “private” messaging system is obviously not what we all originally thought it was, as more and more ways to save or find Snaps continue to surface. There are so many loopholes, it’s hard to keep up. At least this time, Snapchat has a hope of patching it, and it was discovered by a small group rather than en masse. 

Francis Bea
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Francis got his first taste of the tech industry in a failed attempt at a startup during his time as a student at the…
Twitter CEO claims platform had best day last week
A stylized composite of the Twitter logo.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted on Monday that despite the current fuss over Meta’s new and very similar Threads app, Twitter had its largest usage day last week.

Subtly including the name of Meta’s new app, which launched to great fanfare last Wednesday, Yaccarino did her best to sing Twitter’s praises, tweeting: “Don’t want to leave you hanging by a thread … but Twitter, you really outdid yourselves! Last week we had our largest usage day since February. There’s only ONE Twitter. You know it. I know it.”

Read more
Meta brings cartoon avatars to video calls on Instagram and Messenger
Meta's cartoon avatars for Instagram and Messenger.

The pandemic was supposed to have made us all comfortable with video calls, but many folks still don’t particularly enjoy the process.

Having to think about what to wear, or how our hair looks, or even fretting about puffy eyes following another bout of hay fever can sometimes be a bit much, even more so if it’s an early-morning call and your brain is still in bed.

Read more
Twitter is now giving money to some of its creators
A lot of white Twitter logos against a blue background.

Some Twitter users are now earning money via ads in the replies to their tweets.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the revenue-sharing program in February, and on Thursday some of those involved have been sharing details of their first payments.

Read more