Like there weren’t enough things to be paranoid about, it turns out people can and do send each other secret messages via the iPhone’s Notes app. If you’re resorting to this, the situation has gotten extreme. TikToker Aakaanksh Autade or @Kaansanity is known for his many, many iPhone tricks that the average user doesn’t know anything about their mini handheld computer.
In this one, he starts off by saying, “I’m gonna show you how to send secret messages to anyone.”
@kaansanityLove this one 🤯 ##iphonetrick ##iphonetricks ##iphonehack ##iphonehacks♬ original sound – kaansanity
It’s astonishingly easy, though after watching, I did wonder if the person you sent these secret messages to would have to know to expect them or if they’d get some sort of notification. I don’t check my Notes app regularly, because I assume I’m the only one adding to them. So test that out with somebody in case of emergencies!
First, open the notes app and start a new note:
Once you type something in and hit return, an icon to Add People will pop up, and you can do from your contacts (if they have an iPhone):
Once the convo is started, the note can be locked, so it’s super-secret:
Now, when I first saw this, I assumed that it was a TikTok hack that would mainly be used by people cheating or conducting some other shady business. The messages Autade uses for his example certainly seem to imply that, and many commenters were also aghast, thinking about how their partners might be sneaking around via Notes.
But Autade told Buzzfeed that the hack was actually inspired by domestic abuse victims who are looking for a way to ask for help or communicate when their regular phone use is perhaps monitored by their abuser.
“[The video was] inspired by victims of domestic abuse who reached out to me asking if there were ways to hide certain apps and messages,” he told BuzzFeed. “In current iOS versions, it’s not really possible to lock messages, so I did some research and eventually stumbled upon the Notes collaboration feature.”
He added, “Although it’s typically used for sharing grocery lists, it can be a way for people to secretly message friends for help in dangerous situations.”
But he adds that there are a lot of reasons why people might find this hack useful, because “the possibilities are endless.” Considering this hack has been viewed over 33 million times, I’m guessing a lot of people are testing those possibilities by now.
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