PrivateMessage lets you lock individual text message bubbles with Touch ID

PrivateMessage is a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Frozen Penguin that lets you lock individual message bubbles in the iPhone’s stock Messages app with Touch ID.

Perfect for anyone with paranoia, this tweak can hide confidential messages from any text messaging conversation, regardless of the context or who you might be talking to.

Whether you share your device with someone that might snoop through your Messages app and read your conversations or you merely have a nosy individual glancing over your shoulder to see what you’re typing, PrivateMessage can provide an ounce of peace of mind.

Using the tweak is easy; just double-tap on a message bubble and PrivateMessage makes it entirely indiscernible, as shown above.

To unlock the message bubble, all you do is double-tap on it a second time, and a prompt asks you to authenticate yourself with Touch ID, like so:

After your authentication succeeds, the message becomes visible just as you’d expect. Furthermore, you can easily hide the chat bubble again by double-tapping on it for a second time.

PrivateMessage works with both iMessage and SMS message chat bubbles, and it even works with attachments. It’s perfect for hiding secret messages such as what you got someone for the holidays or candid images that you might have sent over to your significant other.

If you would like to try PrivateMessage for yourself, then you can grab it for free from Cydia’s BigBoss repository. The tweak doesn’t play nicely with any third-party messaging apps, but it does work on all jailbroken iOS 10 devices with Touch ID support.

Do you like the concept of PrivateMessage, or do you prefer Touch ID-protecting apps in their entirety? Share in the comments section below.