What happens after you send an anonymous message on DropAsecret

Most of what's written about anonymous messages is for the person with the link. This one is for the person on the other side. You found someone's DropAsecret link, wrote something and pressed Send. Here's what happens next.

You get a confirmation

You'll see Sent! and "Your message was delivered anonymously to @name." Under that is See replies in your chats, and if you have something else to say, Send another message.

How you find out they replied

If you stay on that page, the button changes the moment a reply lands. It says They replied!, and you tap it to read.

If you're leaving, tap Turn on next to "Get a notification if they reply." On iPhone and iPad, add DropAsecret to your home screen first, using Share and then Add to Home Screen, and open it from there.

The notification says the person's name and "replied", then "Open your chat to read it." It never shows the message itself. It does name who you wrote to, so keep that in mind if other people can see your phone.

You can also open Chats whenever you like. Every conversation you've started is there.

Keeping your chats

If you aren't signed in, your chats are kept in the browser you sent from, and you'll see a note saying so: "Only on this browser. Sign up to keep your chats." Clear that browser's data and you can lose them.

Signing up for free saves them to your account, so you can open them on any device. The people you message still can't see who you are.

There's also Copy private link in a chat's menu, which reopens that chat on another device. Treat it like a password: anyone with the link can read the chat and reply as you.

Carrying on the conversation

You can reply with text, up to 1,000 characters at a time, or with a voice note if the other person allows them. They see you under a nickname for that conversation, like "Anonymous Fox 42".

What they can and can't learn about you

Your name stays hidden unless you agree. Either of you can ask for a reveal, and a name only shows if you both say yes. You choose the name that's shown. If you don't answer a request within 10 minutes, it ends as a no. After three no's in a row in one chat, they have to wait 10 minutes to ask again. Nobody can pay to see your name.

Hints don't name you, but you should know about them. When you send a first message, DropAsecret notes:

• Your kind of phone or computer, its model name, system version and browser
• Your country
• The app you found the link in, when that can be told
• When you first opened the link, and how many times you opened it

A link owner on Plus or Creator Pro can see these once you've answered a reveal request, whether you said yes or no. On any plan, if they asked and you left it unanswered for 10 minutes, they can see them for 5 minutes.

Hints never include your name, email address, phone number or network address. But in a small class or office, a phone model can narrow things down, so bear that in mind before you write something you really can't have traced back to you. The privacy policy has the full list.

When you're done

A chat's menu has a few ways out:

• Mute stops notifications for that chat.
• Close ends the conversation, and Reopen brings it back.
• Report is there for harassment or bullying, threats, sexual content, spam or anything else.
• Leave conversation is for good. You won't be able to open that chat again.

If the other person closes the chat or blocks you, it says "This conversation is closed." You never find out more than that, and they never learn who you are from it.

Curious what people would tell you? Get your own link on dropasecret.com.