Confide Brings Off-the-Record Messaging to Desktop
Encrypted, Disappearing and Screenshot-Protected Messaging Platform is now available for Mac and Windows
When we launched Confide 18 months ago our goal was to create a global and ubiquitous off-the-record messaging platform that allowed professionals and business people to communicate digitally with the same level of privacy and security as the spoken word. We have made substantial progress in the past year and a half. Confide is now available in 15 languages across iPhone, Android and Apple Watch. And we have expanded our offering to include photos and documents. As a result, Confide is now used in over 180 countries worldwide. Today, we are pleased to announce another major step toward our goal. Introducing Confide for Desktop — off-the-record messaging from your Mac and PC.
Mobile First, But Not Mobile Only
Why desktop? Because Confide is for professionals. Starting with mobile apps was obvious — our phones are always on us and mobile growth rates are explosive. Mobile’s design constraints are also helpful in editing and tightening the product.
But our goal is for Confide to be everywhere professionals and business people are. While domestic mobile usage has recently eclipsed desktop usage, US adults still spend over 40% of their digital media time on a desktop or laptop computer. And this is likely even higher among professionals and business people.
Ever wonder how Marc Andreessen tweets so much, so quickly? Around 84% of his tweets are sent via Twitter’s web client. Simply put, desktop remains widespread, fast and efficient in the workplace.
Natively Secure
The next question was whether to build a web app, or a pair of desktop apps for Mac and PC. While the web provides a sense of ubiquity, it comes at the expense of privacy and security. Native apps have significant encryption benefits, and allowed us to prevent screenshots. These benefits made going native an obvious choice for us.
Screenshot Prevention
Screenshots are the enemy of the ephemeral. They have the ability to make disappearing messages permanent. That’s why we have engineered Confide for Desktop to prevent screenshots. In fact, here’s what you get if you try to take a screenshot — a blank gray screen on Mac and and a blank black screen on Windows:
Features
Compatible with Windows (7+) and Mac OS X (10.8+), Confide for Desktop will be a familiar experience for existing Confide users. Desktop users can send and receive encrypted, disappearing and screenshot-protected messages that are fully interoperable with our mobile applications. And we have adapted our patent-pending reading experience for desktop as well. Instead of unveiling a message by “wanding” over it with their finger, Desktop users “wand” over the message with their mouse. Like our mobile apps, Confide for Desktop supports text, photos and PDF document attachments. And, of course, messages disappear forever after they’re read — no copying, no forwarding, no printing … no nothing.
Download Confide for Desktop today for Mac or PC.
