Why am I sending myself secret messages? Because no one else will...
Some people are mischievous, other people just curious. Some are jealous, and others envious. Whatever the reason, I'm sure many of you have caught, friends, parents, significant others, siblings, or strangers snooping through your phones and checking your messages (or maybe you're the on doing the snooping).
Either way, Black SMS helps prevent unwanted eyes from looking at your messages.
There are numerous “Secret SMS” and “Encrypted SMS” messaging systems out there. Most work by allowing users to type a message, encrypt the message, password protect the message, and send the message as a link to the recipient who can then click on the link, enter the password and see the message. These applications appear to create simple encrypted websites that need a password in order to view the content.
Black SMS still doesn’t encrypt and decrypt messages within the iOS messaging app (I haven’t been able to find one that does), but the usual messy link is replaced with a simple black messaging box. Oddly enough iOS recognizes the black box as an image, which when opened is a simple a variation of the same pattern each time. Something tells me each pattern associated with the black message box is uniquely developed and encoded with the message information embedded inside.
The iPhone blows up the pattern on the left and appears as a crazy gradient of colors when viewed directly from the messaging app.
Sending a protected text is simple, but it does take a few steps:
Black SMS allows users to send the same encrypted message with the same password to multiple other users as well. The only catch is they need to have Black SMS installed as well to view the content. The big question is, what bad choices have you made where the content of your text messages could get you in trouble with the law/girlfriend/wife/husband/boyfriend/neighbor/parents/brother/sister/roommate/boss/boss’s wife or husband or any other person that would want to look through your phone?
Black SMS is currently available for free in The App Store for a limited time. The UI is simple, the purpose clear, and it’s implementation more “secret” feeling than sending someone a link. But, I still want an encrypted messaging app/tweak that does all the password entering, coding, and decoding on the same screen without having to switch apps.
Still, Black SMS is worth a look, especially while it’s free.
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