Nikita Bier, the creator of popular apps like anonymous polling app tbh (acquired by Facebook) and anonymous complimenting app Gas (acquired by Discord), has created a new app called Explode, which focuses on disappearing messages in iMessage.
Explode works as a mini app for Apple’s Messages app. It helps you send disappearing messages to other people. Users can see the text or images once, and then it… explodes. The app blocks users from taking screenshots as well. In a post on X, Bier said that only the sender needs to 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 screenshot alerts, can block screenshots altogether, can review photos they’ve previously sent, and can lock photos from being viewed after they’ve been sent.
Bier’s posts on X about Explode lean heavily towards Snapchat digs. In a post, he said that after talking to Snap about buying Gas, the social media company removed Gas from the SnapKit developer platform.
“Two years ago, I met with the CEO of Snapchat to discuss the acquisition of my previous company. I openly shared how fast we were growing. Just one week later – over the Thanksgiving holiday – Snapchat removed our app from the SnapKit platform, bringing our growth to an abrupt halt,” he said.
In a screenshot of an email seen by TechCrunch, Snap sent an email to developers saying that Gas was using URL attachments to make friend recommendations without the sender’s clear intent — Snap thought that violated its policy and tried to replicate Snap functionality. Bier said Gas operated on contacts and did not rely on Snap’s social graph.
However, Snap was a huge growth driver for the app. In an October 2022 post, Bier said 23% of Snapchat’s US user base had seen a gas story. He said that sharing a Gas survey with Snapchat was set as the main button on the app, and Snap’s action crashed the app for seven days.
Snap did not immediately comment on the story. Discord eventually acquired Gas in January 2023 and shut it down in November 2023.
At the moment, the app is only available in the US and other countries like Canada, UK, Australia, US, France, Germany and Italy.
