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

[GoCubsGo]

First, if you're putting **** on snapchat, or anywhere elses on the internet, that you don't want others to have then stop. To think people can't save this **** is absurd.

I read this twice and still don't know what they're talking about....

I had to read it twice, the writing seems conflicting.

Do people use snapchat for anything other than nudes?

I don't know anyone who uses snapchat. Then again, I don't hang with 10 year olds.

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.

Help me out here. If the screenshot interrupts the picture and closes the photo then the notification is not that a snapshot has been saved, rather, isn't it that a snapshot was attempted? And is snapshot a term for screenshot in snapchat?

Either the photo is interrupted and no saving took place or it was not interrupted and there is a copy out there. You can't have it both ways as far as I can tell.

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the attention deprived individuals will not like this...

On the contrary, they should love this.

 

[Maltz]

on and off, i read it whole day, still don't have a clue, its something got to do with screenshot....but what? maybe installing snapchat might make some sense. I'll pass anyway.

Ok, it took me a while to get it as well, but here's the basics...

Snapchat is apparently an app that lets you send a picture to someone and claims to prevent that person from doing anything other than viewing it, such as taking a screenshot of it to share with others.

The mechanism Snapchat uses for this is that you must have a finger touching the screen to view the image. When iOS 6 takes a screenshot, it interrupts the touch, thereby closing the image before the screenshot is taken. But in iOS 7, that doesn't happen, so it is possible to take a screenshot of the image while it is open.

The bottom line is that Snapchat was using an undocumented behavior for its security and that behavior changed (surprise!), breaking Snapchat's security. And of course, there were myriad ways around this anyway. Use another phone/camera to capture the image, you could probably use video-out to another device, etc. Or you could go really old school and just pass the phone around. You know, in person. lol

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Now even our most private photos, those we would only share with a few dozen of a best online friends, can be hijacked and exposed to the world!

Do you see the problem with what you wrote?

 

[HenryDJP]

Do people use snapchat for anything other than nudes?

Well at least we all know what you use it for.

 

[Asclepio]

No touching!

 

[chrismaddern]

Alternative way to approximate this

There is an alternative way to detect this. Create an AssetLibrary in the application and subscribe to library changes - disabling iCloud updates.

When a screenshot is taken, that screenshot is inserted in to the photo library and so the library has changed and the app will be notified. They're in the snapchat app looking at a picture so they're not taking a picture of their own. The only edge case would be if they were syncing with iPhoto / iTunes at the time and it was transferring images to the device, then you would get a false positive.

This is just an iOS 7 Snapchat bug -- it can be fixed

 

[charlituna]

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

Until Snapchat updates.

Or a later beta restores the functionality

 

[nazaar]

Whats Snapchat?

 

[charlituna]

In iOS 6, Snapchat detects when the user takes a screen shot and hides the photo just before the screen shot is taken.

If the point of the exercise was to stop screenshots why didn't they find a way to actually stop screenshots. Without all the extra games.

 

[gSOLO]

People keep saying it, but snapchat does not and has not ever stopped you from taking a screenshot of photo on screen.

 

[tbrinkma]

Snapchat's screenshot detection, which is designed to be a safety measure to keep photos private

Rule 1: If you want to keep photos private, DO NOT SEND THEM TO ANYONE!
Rule 2: If you have sent a photo to someone, IT IS NOT PRIVATE ANYMORE!

 

[notjustjay]

If the point of the exercise was to stop screenshots why didn't they find a way to actually stop screenshots. Without all the extra games.

Because I don't think there's any way to stop screenshots. That's an OS-level function.

The next best thing was to detect when a screenshot is about to occur, and then remove the image from the screen. That's why snapchat implemented that "touch the screen to view the picture" functionality.

 

[Technarchy]

I read this twice and still don't know what they're talking about....

Same. Read it 3 Times and still can't manage to care.

 

[NOV]

I read this twice and still don't know what they're talking about....

Me neither, but the picture in the posting is better than a Tom Cook picture.

 

[Prof.]

Well at least we all know what you use it for.

Pshhh I don't have snapchat, I just use iMessage

 

[TWSS37]

Never used Snapchat. Because I'd like to think I have a life.

I've generally found that people who need to assert that they "have a life", don't.

What does using or not using SnapChat have to do with your ability to "have a life"? Moreover, what does that even mean? That because you don't use SnapChat, it enables you to endlessly BASE jump and other extreme activities? Newsflash: posting to most social media, including SnapChat, are usually done while HAVING A LIFE and hanging out with friends, family or doing something moderately exciting.

 

[lightz39]

I'm not to worried about it. I use with friends and don't care if my pictures are "captured".

 

[Apple Mac Tec]

Do people use snapchat for anything other than nudes?

Yeah, I just love to send photos to all my friends of me sitting on the loo.

I joke

 

[kerryb]

what is this?

My sex life is good but now I understand sexting life is nonexistent.

 

[Ingot]

good looking girls in that pic.. looks a little too perfect

I'm out.

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No touching!

Too late.

 

[randolorian]

I'm so distracted by the chics in the photo that I can't read the article.

 

[iSee]

The problem is that snapchat tries to implement restricted sharing of photos.

But it is doomed to fail. They can make it less convenient to capture photos from other people but they can't stop it. Malicious people can jailbreak to get around any restrictions an app might have. And of course you can always take a photo of a screen while it's displaying a picture.

Once those photons are released there's no way to control them. If someone can see it, they can copy it.

 

[skinned66]

If you're going to transmit pictures you should always assume you no longer control them.

EDIT: For the nth time.

 

[roadbloc]

I've generally found that people who need to assert that they "have a life", don't.

What does using or not using SnapChat have to do with your ability to "have a life"? Moreover, what does that even mean? That because you don't use SnapChat, it enables you to endlessly BASE jump and other extreme activities? Newsflash: posting to most social media, including SnapChat, are usually done while HAVING A LIFE and hanging out with friends, family or doing something moderately exciting.

It was a joke.... a poor one, but a joke none the less. There is no need to get on your morale high ground about it. I was in no way suggesting you don't have a life. Maybe you missed the and the at the end of my post? Or did humour.dll fail to load today?

 

[Snookerman]

Ok, I understand the snapchat problem but how does it impact facebook pokes?