You can now delete messages from somebody else’s phone before they read it

It also prevents recipient of message from taking a screenshot

We have all regretted sending a text message at least once in our lives and wished there was a way to take it back. Behold, now there’s a way you can delete a message from somebody’s phone before they read it.

Privates, a new app created by Dr Isaac Datikashvili, lets you recall messages after hitting the ‘send’ button. But it only works before the recipient opens the message.



The app allows users to select from three levels of security – mild, wild and insane – which deletes the message (so long as it’s unread) after three, 12, 24 hours.

According to Telegraph, the app also prevents the recipient of a message from taking a screenshot of it, and from sending or leaking unauthorised copies of messages.

Dr Datikashvili originally created the app keeping medical record transferring in mind. “I’m very honest about that but it’s better than anything else at maintaining privacy. It’s not impossible but it’s virtually impossible for one person to screen grab or save anything if the security setting is high.”



“We originally were going to call it ‘Private’ or ‘Keep Your Messaging Private’ and we didn’t really think about what it meant when we added the ‘s’. It’s only when someone mentioned the double-meaning of privates that we realised.”

There’s also an interesting optional function which captures the recipient’s reaction as they view the sent message.

At present, Privates is only available on Apple’s iOS, though Windows and Android versions are expected to be on their way.

This article originally appeared on Metro.