Secret messaging app goes global, now available on Android

22 May 2014

Image via Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock

The anonymous social networking craze that captured imaginations in Silicon Valley and reached Irish shores last month is now poised for worldwide reach with the release of Secret internationally on Android and iOS.

Unlike other social networking apps, Secret doesn’t ask users to fill out detailed profiles or even to identify themselves at all. The purpose of the app is to post anonymously within a network of friends, friends of friends or even publicly.

Even the app’s beginnings were shrouded in secrecy as it appeared in stealth mode in December 2013 only to be released privately in Silicon Valley over the next two months, with increasing media coverage for its addictive secret-sharing.

Last month, the anonymous social networking app was finally made available beyond the US, in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, to test the waters for an impending global release. That day has arrived, and the app is now available worldwide on both iOS and Android.

Previously available only to iPhone users, Secret is attempting to make up for lost time with Android users by treating them to exclusive access to a new dual-feed design comprising a ‘Friend’ feed for your contacts and an ‘Explore’ feed broadcasting secret posts from all over the world.

What started as a craze among the Californian tech community could easily become a worldwide phenomenon as co-founder Chrys Bader-Wechseler claims that returning users in the US are opening the app between eight and 10 times a day.

Secret image by Nomad_Soul via Shutterstock

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com