4 ms·

They shouldn't store the images on the phone. You should be only able to view the image immediately after downloading it. After 10 seconds of viewing the image,

They shouldn't store the images on the phone. You should be only able to view the image immediately after downloading it. After 10 seconds of viewing the image, everything gets deleted from ram.

johsoe 12y ago
Then you have to wait for the download every time you open the app. This is an okay compromise tbh. (They could offer a super secure option or whatever, I guess)
- readerrrr 12y ago
  Actually you could just download the encrypted images without the unique key( for every image ) and then get the key on demand. Load the image into ram, decrypt, show the image and then erase everything.
  - JoachimSchipper 12y ago
    That would be more secure, but you still need to wait for the key to be downloaded on-demand - you don't exactly get butter-smooth scrolling that way. (I like security.)
    - readerrrr 12y ago
      And you would have to be connected to the internet. That is a problem. The delay could be hidden behind a ui.
      - emidln 12y ago
        Snapchat doesn't work particularly well offline...
fla 12y ago
I wonder why they didn't choose this path. A trade off for better usability ? Why would an app break it's core promise to offer better usability ?
- MichaelGG 12y ago
  Because it's still totally flawed? Nothing stops anyone from writing a program that pretends to be Snapchat and downloads the keys and images as it pleases.
  - roywiggins 12y ago
    If you hide a per-device API key inside the real Snapchat app, you might at least require that the user root the device before being able to grant an Evil App access to their photos.
    - cortesoft 12y ago
      If you look at the link, even the current method requires root on the device.
      - roywiggins 12y ago
        I was thinking about Bad Apps that users voluntarily hand their login details to (so they can download snapchats they get sent). Those don't need root, since they're just mimicking the Snapchat app and receiving the photos directly. But it doesn't work, since you need some way to generate new API keys for your second device... which could be a Bad App. If you 1) enforce one key at at time (so one "device" at a time), 2) rate-limit key changes (if you switch to a new device, or Bad App, you can't switch back within a day or two) and 3) eliminate Bad Apps in the app stores- you effectively limit Bad Apps to being entirely web-based, and hopefully the restrictions on webapps will make the Bad App sufficiently a pain in the ass to use that people won't want to switch to it, even though it lets them save photos, since it locks them out of the real app.
        deleted 12y ago
singron 12y ago
It's also not difficult to bypass the app completely and poll the service from another program (for instance, run by cron on a server). Like other people have said, the entire premise is flawed.
- meowface 12y ago
  I wouldn't say the premise of the app is flawed, rather it's just that people seem to misunderstand its technical capabilities. Snapchat was designed for ephemeral communication, not secure "send-and-destroy" messages. It would be very foolish of them to market it as something it cannot possibly be.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

They shouldn't store the images on the phone. You should be only able to view the image immediately after downloading it. After 10 seconds of viewing the image, everything gets deleted from ram.

johsoe 12y ago

Then you have to wait for the download every time you open the app. This is an okay compromise tbh. (They could offer a super secure option or whatever, I guess)

readerrrr 12y ago
Actually you could just download the encrypted images without the unique key( for every image ) and then get the key on demand. Load the image into ram, decrypt, show the image and then erase everything.
- JoachimSchipper 12y ago
  That would be more secure, but you still need to wait for the key to be downloaded on-demand - you don't exactly get butter-smooth scrolling that way. (I like security.)
  - readerrrr 12y ago
    And you would have to be connected to the internet. That is a problem. The delay could be hidden behind a ui.
    - emidln 12y ago
      Snapchat doesn't work particularly well offline...

fla 12y ago

I wonder why they didn't choose this path. A trade off for better usability ? Why would an app break it's core promise to offer better usability ?

MichaelGG 12y ago
Because it's still totally flawed? Nothing stops anyone from writing a program that pretends to be Snapchat and downloads the keys and images as it pleases.
- roywiggins 12y ago
  If you hide a per-device API key inside the real Snapchat app, you might at least require that the user root the device before being able to grant an Evil App access to their photos.
  - cortesoft 12y ago
    If you look at the link, even the current method requires root on the device.
    - roywiggins 12y ago
      I was thinking about Bad Apps that users voluntarily hand their login details to (so they can download snapchats they get sent). Those don't need root, since they're just mimicking the Snapchat app and receiving the photos directly. But it doesn't work, since you need some way to generate new API keys for your second device... which could be a Bad App. If you 1) enforce one key at at time (so one "device" at a time), 2) rate-limit key changes (if you switch to a new device, or Bad App, you can't switch back within a day or two) and 3) eliminate Bad Apps in the app stores- you effectively limit Bad Apps to being entirely web-based, and hopefully the restrictions on webapps will make the Bad App sufficiently a pain in the ass to use that people won't want to switch to it, even though it lets them save photos, since it locks them out of the real app.
      - deleted 12y ago

singron 12y ago

It's also not difficult to bypass the app completely and poll the service from another program (for instance, run by cron on a server). Like other people have said, the entire premise is flawed.

meowface 12y ago
I wouldn't say the premise of the app is flawed, rather it's just that people seem to misunderstand its technical capabilities. Snapchat was designed for ephemeral communication, not secure "send-and-destroy" messages. It would be very foolish of them to market it as something it cannot possibly be.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]