One has come to rely on Facebook to introduce innovative technical flourishes with increasing rapidity. The Poke app for iPhone users is the social media giant’s latest contrivance aimed at injecting a bit of levity in users’ online correspondence. Some also view the app’s announcement as a genuine endeavor to challenge the rival SnapChat application, also designed for Apple users. Without “poking” around too much, here’s a roundup of this mirthful application:
What Poke App Does
The Poke app facilitates the exchange of text, video, and image messages between Facebook users but with a conspicuous difference – the exchanged content is engineered to last for a minimum of one second and a maximum of 10 seconds only. Once the sender-customizable expiry time is reached, the messages will automatically be deleted by the Facebook server.
As can be easily discerned, there will scarcely be a dull moment when the app is in full flow.
How to Poke
The procedure is simple. Upon activating the application, users need to navigate to the message composition option, choose the expiry time (between 1 and 10 seconds) displayed on the top of the screen, and relay the message. Note that the character limit for text messages has been restricted to 120 in order to enable swift and abridged correspondence.
To view pokes sent by friends, one needs to press and hold the key indicated by the interface. The app also allows users to indicate the location from where their pokes were sent.
Privacy and Safety
While sending and receiving pokes is indubitably enjoyable, some analysts have expressed certain confidentiality and security concerns. Fortunately these issues have been adequately addressed, as is described below:
- To restrain spam and mischievous messages from being received, Facebook has enabled a special inbuilt mechanism whereby users may report errant messages. Ostensibly, Facebook intends to block such messages and even caution the user sending the same.
- Observers have pointed out that some users cleverly take screenshots of the messages to electronically preserve the embedded content prior to expiry. As this defeats the purpose of the app, Facebook has entrenched a functionality that intuitively detects the screenshot action and politely alerts the user from taking screenshots.
- Potential coding issues have also been allayed as it is learnt that Facebook has employed sophisticated encryption knowhow for the Poke app. All pokes are coded at the time of correspondence and deleted 48 hours after they are exchanged. In addition, server backup is withdrawn inside 90 days to obviate the unauthorized access of pokes.
Poke App: Product Information
- Poke was launched on 21st December 2012 and has already garnered a 4+ ranking.
- The app is supported by iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices bearing iOS 5.1 or higher versions. Incidentally, the app has been specially formulated for iPhone 5.
- Poke, which is categorized as a social networking application, is accessible in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese languages.
The app is 8.6 megabytes in size and may be freely downloaded from the Apple online store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-poke/id588594730?mt=8
So go ahead – poke and joke away!
Author Bio: Heather Protz, a freelance writer for USAheadlines.com – offers full home security to help protect your family, assets from burglary and other crimes. adt security reviews
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