Confide brings its screenshot-proof and off-the-record messaging app to your Mac and PC

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Confide messaging app photo

Confide Inc

Confide for iPhone.

Since launching as an off-the-record messaging app in 2014, Confide has tried its best to position itself as the go-to private channel for professionals to discuss confidential matters.

And while its mobile apps for iPhone, Android, and Apple Watch are perfect for swapping snippets of text or sending sensitive screenshots, financials, or PDFs, I've always felt that Confide would make the most sense as a desktop app, existing within the same Mac and PC screen as my other day-to-day work.

On Tuesday, Confide for desktop was finally unveiled, and Confide fans will be happy to see that it brings the same functionality and simplicity to Mac and PC, right down to preventing screenshots. Whether you're using Confide for desktop, iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch, you'll be sending encrypted, self-destructing, screenshot-proof messages, with the idea being that those in the business and tech world can use Confide to talk about things that are too sensitive for email, Slack, or even iMessage.

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When it came to bringing Confide to desktop, Confide co-founder and president Jon Brod told me that the team decided to create a native desktop app for Mac and PC instead of simply creating a web app. While a web app would certainly be more accessible in many ways and wouldn't require any download, Brod says creating a native application was the only way to integrate screenshot-prevention features, which Confide users have come to expect.

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Confide for Mac desktop

Confide

Using Confide on the desktop is pretty straight forward. You can message people in your address book or by inputting their email, and Confide's handy desktop notifications will let you know when the recipient has received and read your message. You can attach files such as photos, screenshots, or PDFs, and you can also easily access emojis.

When you receive an encrypted Confide message, the text is obscured by orange blocks until you hover your mouse over the message, which reveals it in its entirety. Unlike Confide for iPhone or Android, you don't have to "wand" over each individual word, which I actually found helpful on desktop since that action felt more at home on a touch screen where you can use your finger for the wanding motion.

Any image or file you're viewing in a Confide message is also blurred out and obscured until you mouse over it, and if you try to take a screenshot of any part of the message, you'll be greeted with a grey screen on Mac and a black screen on PC. Dragging and dropping a screenshot or photo from Confide over to your desktop doesn't work either.

Confide screenshot desktop mac

Business Insider

What it looks like when you try to screenshot a Confide message on Mac.

Once you've replied to a message, Confide destroys your reply and any previous messages you've received from that person, erasing your messaging history.

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If you're already a Confide user with the mobile iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch app, you'll be pleased to know that notifications will stick to desktop-only when you've been active on your Mac or PC, eliminating the annoyance of having all your devices ping you with an incoming message.

With the addition of its desktop app, Confide finally feels like a solid alternative to email and Slack for those looking for a private channel that's accessible wherever they're working. The desktop app is nice and simple, it delivers on its screenshot-proof promise, and notifications are tightly integrated into the latest Mac and PC software, allowing Confide to feel right at home next to Slack and iMessage when you're working.

You can download Confide for Mac and PC for free starting on Tuesday. To see what the entire process of sending and receiving a message on Confide is like, watch the launch video below.

 

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