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Phantom is the Snapchat-like app that brings self-destructing photos to Facebook and Twitter

Saqib Shah
August 4, 2014

A new app entitled Phantom lets users post self-destructing photos and videos to a vast range of social networking sites and blogs, including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Content uploaded to those sites via the Phantom app will have similar ephemeral functions to Snapchat, which include a time-limit and user-placed restrictions on the number of people who can view the posts.

Phantom is available on both iOS and Android and has a user interface that is very similar to Snapchat. It allows users to snap a photo or record a video via in-app controls or select an item from your smartphone gallery. You can then edit or draw on the image like you would in Snapchat.

Where it differs from the popular ephemeral messaging app is that Phantom lets you configure how long your content will exist, as well as determining how many users it can have before it expires permanently.

So whereas on Snapchat you can send photos and videos with time-limits to a selected number of friends, Phantom’s integration with social networks means you can set a general time-limit for your posts – after which they will expire, no matter how many people have seen them.

As mentioned previously, Phantom’s other main difference to its major influence is that it works with a number of popular websites. These include Facebook, Twitter, Google+, WordPress and Blogger. Additionally, via  a “More” option, you can also share to Tumblr, Pinterest, Whatsapp, LINE, Telegram, Movable Type, iMessage/SMS or email.

The final result will see recipients given a link along with a blurred preview. To open the image they will have to use the Phantom app.

One of the most daunting aspects for users of Snapchat is whether other users are taking screenshots of their posts. Phantom combats this by disabling the option on Android devices and forcing users to continuously touch the screen to view an image – like Snapchat.

You can grab Phantom from iTunes and the Google Play Store.

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About the Author

Saqib Shah

Tech/gaming journalist for What Mobile magazine and website. Interests include film, digital media and foreign affairs.

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