Nikita Bier, creator of popular apps like anonymous polling app tbh (acquired by Facebook) and anonymous praise app Gas (acquired by Discord), has created a new app called Explode, which focuses on missing messages in iMessage. Blast can be used as a mini app for Apple’s Messages app. It helps you send lost messages to others. The user can see the text or image once, and then… it explodes. The app prevents users from taking pictures as well. In a post on X, Bier said that only senders should have the Explode app. While the app is free to download, users can sign up for Explode+ for $39.99 per year or $7.99 per month to unlock all features. Paid users receive image alerts, can block all images, can replay previously posted photos, and can lock photo views after posting. Guys, I’m happy to announce our newest app: Introducing Explode· Send missing texts and photos in iMessage· Only senders need this app: Drop it directly into your chats · Screenshots are also blocked Why did we build it? Blast is a crazy app. Yes, and… pic.twitter.com/mGwmoN28T8— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) January 14, 2025 Bier’s post on X about Blast is too slanted to take a dig at Snapchat. In the post, he said that after talks with Snap about acquiring Gas, the social media company kicked Gas off its SnapKit developer platform. “Two years ago, I met with the CEO of Snapchat to discuss the acquisition of the previous company. I openly showed how quickly we grew. Only a week later – during the Thanksgiving holiday – Snapchat kicked our application from the SnapKit platform, quickly stopping our growth,” he said. . In a screenshot of an email seen by TechCrunch, Snap sent an email to developers saying that Gas uses URL attachments to make friend recommendations without the sender’s clear intent — Snap thinks this is a violation of its policy and is trying to mimic Snap’s functionality. Bier said Gas operates on contacts and doesn’t rely on Snap’s social graph. However, Snap is the main growth driver for the app. In a post in October 2022, Bier said that 23% of Snapchat’s US user base had seen a Gas story. He said that sharing the Gas poll with Snapchat was placed as a key on the app, and that Snap’s actions disabled the app for seven days. Gas app interface Image Credit: Nikita Bier Snap did not immediately comment on the story. Discord finally acquired Gas in January 2023 and shut down in November 2023. Currently, the app is only available in the US and other countries such as Canada, UK, Australia, US, France, Germany, and Italy.
The creators of Gas and tbh created an app to lose photos via iMessage
