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iOS 7 Disables Screenshot Interruptions, Allows Users to Secretly Take Snapchat Screenshots

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MacRumors

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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While we detailed a number of new features of iOS 7 beta 2 earlier today, a MacRumors reader sent us a tip on a small change that has gone unnoticed since the first beta was released on June 10.

In iOS 7, screenshot behavior has been altered, and as the release notes state, "Active touches are no longer canceled when the user takes a screenshot." This minor change has a number of implications for several apps that rely on screenshots to notify users of unwanted behavior, such as Snapchat and Facebook Poke.

When a user opens a Snapchat photo in the app, a finger is required on the screen to hold the photo open while viewing the picture. The act of taking a screenshot interrupts the picture viewing and closes the photo, which is the method that Snapchat uses to detect an "illegal" screenshot, thereby notifying the sender of the photo that a snapshot has been saved.

snapchat.jpg
In iOS 7, taking a screenshot no longer closes the photo viewing window in Snapchat, which means no notification is sent when a screenshot is captured. As screenshots no longer interrupt on-screen touches, the photo stays open and the app is unable to recognize the screenshot action. iOS 7 users will be notified if an iOS 6 user takes a screenshot of a sent photo, but the reverse is not true.

Snapchat's screenshot detection, which is designed to be a safety measure to keep photos private, has had issues in the past. Earlier this year, several screenshot workarounds surfaced, allowing users to save photos without sending notifications, and with iOS 7, a workaround isn't required as the app's core functionality is disabled.

While the change has immediate implications for Snapchat users interacting with other users running iOS 7, it will ultimately require Snapchat and similar apps to come up with a new method for detecting screenshots or to abandon the feature entirely when the final version of iOS 7 is released.

(Thanks, Matt!)

Article Link: iOS 7 Disables Screenshot Interruptions, Allows Users to Secretly Take Snapchat Screenshots
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/24/ios-7-disables-screenshot-interruptions-allows-users-to-secretly-take-snapchat-screenshots/
jclo

jclo

Managing Editor
Staff member
Dec 7, 2012
1,970
4,302
komodrone said:
great, now I can't send nude photos with my face anymore. #firstworldproblems
Click to expand...

Maybe Snapchat can implement some blackout dots or a blurring tool, that'll solve the problem!
 
T

Theclamshell

macrumors 68030
Mar 2, 2009
2,741
3
That explains why my friend was so concerned he did not get a screenshot notification when I texted him the hilarious snapchat he sent me. I then tried it with a couple other friends and none of them got notifications. Now I can be a mega creeper :p
 
C

cire

macrumors 6502
Jun 21, 2007
262
0
This is huge! Forget about the NSA and the government spying on us! Now even our most private photos, those we would only share with a few dozen of our best online friends, can be hijacked and exposed to the world! This will have an unbelievable chilling effect on social networking everywhere! What next, will they turn off the little green light that tells us our cameras are active so strangers can see us in bed, late at night typing our replies? Oh God, I have to turn my computer off now!
 
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S

scotty321

macrumors regular
Jun 4, 2003
229
181
Please, Snapchat, give us a break! You can never prevent people from snapping a photo of the screen. The ultimate workaround has always been -- and will always be -- the same. Take a photo of your screen with another iPhone, an iPod, an iPad, or any normal digital camera!!
 
J

JoeyCloverfield

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2012
243
0
Prof. said:
Do people use snapchat for anything other than nudes?
Click to expand...

A study done in 2012 by the government funded cancer research company B.A.C.K.R.O.N.Y.M. showed that 96% of subjects that took no part in the study use Snapchat exclusively for sexting purposes.
 
B

BoxBrownie

macrumors newbie
Jun 19, 2013
23
0
Snapchat is rarely used for nude photos. I'm sure that there are people that do it but my friends and I mostly use it just as text messaging. Here I am, this is what Im doing, this is what Im having for lunch, this is what Im reading etc. None of that is worthy a screenshot, especially a secretive one. :p
 
K

komodrone

macrumors 6502
Apr 26, 2011
499
0
ScottyTheMenace said:
I agree. WTF does this even mean? It sounds like snapchat was taking advantage of an iOS bug and calling it a feature.
Click to expand...

Touches on screen = Snapchat shows photo
No touches = Snapchat hides photo

Taking a screenshot in iOS 6 interrupts all touches on screen = no touches detected on screen even if your finger is still on the screen = Snapchat hides photo before screenshot can save the photo

Taking a screenshot in iOS 7 does not interrupt touches on screen = screen still has touches = Snapchat still shows the photo = screenshot saves the photo == rendering Snapchat a useless messenger.
 
P

PrometheusGeek

macrumors regular
Mar 19, 2012
231
0
Gemütlichkeit said:
I read this twice and still don't know what they're talking about....
Click to expand...

ScottyTheMenace said:
I agree. WTF does this even mean? It sounds like snapchat was taking advantage of an iOS bug and calling it a feature.
Click to expand...

Ya, right? Seems like it's an iOS bug that lets horny men send pictures to other horny men against the will of the subjects of the pictures. That about it?

Apple no longer lets you finger your screen to send voyeuristic pictures of young girls to perverts. Ok. I'm all good with that, then.
 
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