

You are still – like a normal Facebook message conversation – able to block and report users. A padlock icon is displayed next to the person’s profile picture to tell you if a conversation is ‘Secret’. You are able to have both a normal Facebook messenger conversation as well as a Secret Conversation with the same person.

The recipient must also agree to use Secret Conversations before they can access messages. Next to their image it will read 'Encrypted from one device to the other' to let both parties know they're engaged in a "Secret" chat. It's worth noting that if you send someone a message through Secret Conversations, they will know it's a secret chat because the message bubble, which is usually blue, will be black. There is also an option to turn this feature off. You are given options to display your message from as little as five seconds, to a maximum of 24 hours. If you make your message available for 30 seconds, for example, a timer appears on the right hand side and then displays a countdown showing how many seconds the message is available for, before it disappears. That means you can’t view a previous conversation on your laptop if you initially created or opened it on your smartphone, and vice versa.Īs well as this, Secret Conversations creates an ephemeral nature to your conversations by allowing you to control how long your messages can be seen by the person you send them to.

The messages that are sent and received are only available to read on the device you use to either create or open your conversation.
