AiThaoWhat it does
- In a one-to-one chat, either of you can turn on Ask not to screenshot in the chat’s settings.
- On the other person’s phone, their app leaves the conversation, and photos opened from it, out of screenshots and screen recordings. Where the chat would be, the screenshot shows a line saying that you asked.
- If they take a screenshot anyway, the app tells them why the chat is missing from it.
- In a group, an admin can turn on Forbid screenshots in this group, and every member’s app applies it.
How to turn it on
Open the chat, tap the name at the top and switch on Ask not to screenshot. To ask in every new one-to-one chat from the start, turn on Ask not to screenshot, in new chats in Settings → Privacy and security. It is off until you turn it on.
On calls
On iPhone, when the other person has asked not to be screenshotted, the call screen is protected the same way, and your call shows that they asked not to be recorded. If the person you are talking to records or mirrors their screen during the call, your call screen says so.
What it cannot stop
- A camera or another phone pointed at the screen.
- A modified or unofficial app, or a jailbroken phone.
- Mirroring the phone to a computer and capturing the picture there.
- On iPhone the protection relies on a system behaviour Apple does not document, so a future iOS version could change it. If that happens, the chat is still shown, without the protection.
How it differs from encryption
End-to-end encryption keeps a message unreadable on its way and on AiThao’s server. Screenshot protection is about the other end: what the person you write to can capture from their own screen once the message is decrypted there. The two work together, and neither replaces the other.
Because it is applied by the other person’s app, it works when both of you use AiThao.
Questions
Can I stop someone from screenshotting our chat?
You can ask, and their AiThao app will leave the chat out of its screenshots and screen recordings. Nothing can stop a camera pointed at the screen, so do not send what must never be captured.
Will the other person know that I asked?
Yes. The chat tells them, and a screenshot they try shows the same line.
Does it work in group chats?
Yes, when an admin turns on Forbid screenshots in this group.
Is it on by default?
No. Turn it on in a chat, or for every new one-to-one chat in Settings → Privacy and security.