Secure messaging service Wickr has rolled out a new tool that allows private images to appear as cat pictures to those Facebook friends whom the user has unselected to share the picture with.
Dubbed Wickr Timed Feeds (WTF), the new feature allows users to create feeds of photos that self-destruct in 24 hours.
Wickr uses old-time spy technique steganography – the art of hiding messages in plain sight – to share secret photos on Facebook. When Wickr pictures are posted to Facebook, what shows up at the social network are cute kitten photos instead of the personal images that have been shared. Users’ friends with Wickr apps installed can double-click on kitten pictures to see the secret images shared online. In addition, app users can also set how long they want messages to last before self-destructing.
The images can be shared with up to 151 friends and the app features photo filters, stickers as well as the ability to mark up with “graffiti.”
“This is truly a breakthrough,” co-founder Nico Sell told AFP.
“Essentially, this is our Instagram-killer.”
“Users fully own and control pictures shared through Wickr, unlike pictures shared on Snapchat, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and Twitter,” Sell added.
Versions of the application have been released for Android and Apple mobile devices as well as for Macintosh, Windows or Linux software powered computers.
According to Sell, Wickr has been downloaded more than five million times in 196 countries since the start-up was launched in 2012.
