Kaboom is an ephemeral messaging app from the people behind VPN service PrivacyShield.

It may appeal to those with no interest in SnapChat because the focus is on the ability to send short-lived communications regardless of platform.

Messages composed inside Kaboom can be texted, emailed and posted to most social networks so recipients do not have to install the app to see your messages, only if they want to reply.

These messages can be set to expire anywhere from seconds to days after sending, or set to expire after a certain number of views.

There is a degree of privacy in that a message from Kaboom creates a unique, HTTPS-protected web address for each message, which disappears after a set time but, unlike SnapChat, anyone can take a screenshot and the original poster does not get an alert; there is no way of knowing if photographic evidence of the message remains.

kaboomit.com/