“This file was self-destruct in 5 seconds, Jim” sounds wonderful to many people who want to send pictures or video – or to sext – without worrying that sensitive or embarrassing material might be stored permanently on their phone or the recipient’s – or the company’s server. But Katie Notopoulos of BuzzFeed says that the files that you thought (or hoped) were gone can still be recovered:
The entire allure of Snapchat is that a photo or video sent through the service completely disappears after a few seconds; it’s even quickly deleted off of the company’s servers. And its ephemeral nature means it’s great for sending silly and unflattering images or videos of yourself that you’d otherwise never send. Or sexting. On the heels of Snapchat’s popularity, Facebook recently introduced a “Poke” app that functions almost identically.
But it turns out there’s a straightforward way to save videos sent with either service, breaking part of their promise: Both Snapchat and Poke locally store copies of videos sent to users, which are easily accessible with a free iPhone file browser.
Read how it works on BuzzFeed.