HushDisappearing Messages Apps: Expiry and Its Limits
An expiry timer limits how long messages remain available in a conversation. It does not guarantee immediate erasure of every copy or remove every sign that people communicated.
Signal, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Telegram offer message-expiry settings with different rules. Check whether a timer starts at sending or viewing, and whether saved messages are exceptions. Hush combines chat expiry with per-contact code access; Plus adds available longer expiry settings. Server cleanup happens later.
How disappearing messages work, app by app
Signal
Signal starts the timer for your sent message after sending, and for a received message after reading. Set a timer for the conversation or a default for new chats. The other person can still retain a copy. Read Signal’s timer rules.
Signal provides end-to-end encryption. Hush does not: its code-based access and keypad interface are different from protecting content against server access.
WhatsApp documents optional default timers of 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days for new chats. Turning on a default does not delete old history. Keep in Chat can retain selected messages subject to the sender’s choice. Check the current chat setting rather than assume every item expires. Default timers · Keep in Chat. Secret Code’s folder hiding is a separate access control.
Snapchat
Snapchat's Chats With Friends, including one-to-one and group conversations, default to deletion 24 hours after everyone views the chat or 31 days after sending, whichever comes first. Community Group Chats have a different default. Saving, replying or reacting can keep messages longer. Check Snapchat's current deletion rules and conversation settings.
Telegram
Telegram distinguishes ordinary-chat auto-delete, counted from sending, from Secret Chat self-destruct timers, counted after the recipient displays a message. A chat’s type matters; do not apply one rule to all conversations. Auto-delete explanation · Secret Chat FAQ.
When expiry helps
A timer can reduce the history accumulating inside a conversation. It can suit short-lived plans or updates when both participants understand the selected retention rule.
It does not guarantee erasure from every phone, backup or independently saved copy. Check saved-message exceptions and whether the timer starts at sending or viewing before relying on it.
Expiry and chat access are separate controls
Expiry generally concerns content retention. Chat locks, archives and hidden-folder settings concern where a conversation appears and who can open it. A timer does not guarantee removal of notifications, saved copies or device records.
Hiding the thread itself is a different feature. We cover it in how to hide messages from one person, and there's a broader four-point checklist for judging any "secret" messenger. The short version: expiry and access controls solve different parts of the problem.
How Hush combines expiry with code-based chat access
Hush's home screen is a numeric keypad with no contact or conversation list on that screen. Each chat opens with its own six-digit code; leaving the chat returns you to the keypad. Requests, blocked users and security alerts can show names or badges elsewhere in the app.
Start with free messaging and a limited photo/video sharing allowance. Plus increases eligible sharing allowances and adds longer expiry options and custom contact names. Either person's Plus can extend eligible benefits to that conversation; it does not upgrade the other person's account or personal storage. See the current limits, available settings and prices in the app.
- Install Hush from your app store. It is free to download, with optional in-app purchases.
- Create an account and choose a username. The current default signup needs no phone number or email.
- Connect by username or invite link. For a username request, choose your six-digit code when sending or accepting it; the other person must approve and chooses their own code. A one-tap invite link from Hush connects you without a separate approval once the person who received it has set up Hush and taps it.
- Open the chat with your code. Return to the keypad when you leave.
- Check notification controls on both phones. Select show name, hide name or mute for that contact, then check the actual notifications.
An incorrect code does not open a chat or space. The keypad can give error feedback. Security alerts can warn about several different incorrect codes tried in a short time. A single typo does not normally trigger an alert, and an alert does not prove who tried the codes.
Messages expire in the conversation; server cleanup occurs later. The available expiry choices depend on the conversation and released app. Private Space items do not use this timer.
- Hush conversations happen inside Hush. It does not hide existing SMS, iMessage or WhatsApp chats. Both people need Hush to message each other.
- Keep your codes and account access safe. There is no in-app forgotten-code recovery or master unlock. Reconnecting with a known username starts fresh and does not recover earlier history. The default account has no implemented recovery route after session loss; do not assume reinstalling or changing devices restores it.
- Hush is not end-to-end encrypted. Backend services store messages, media and access data. Code-based access is not a guarantee against server or device access.
Common questions
Is expiry optional in Hush?
Hush messages have an expiry duration. Choose from the settings available for the conversation in your released app; Plus adds longer options. Expired messages can appear as placeholders before later server cleanup.
Does expiry delete every copy?
No. Someone may save or photograph content before it expires. Server cleanup happens later, and no exact deadline for deletion from all storage or backups is promised.
Does Plus give both people longer expiry?
Either participant's Plus can enable eligible longer-expiry options for that conversation. Your partner's subscription does not increase your own Private Spaces allowances.
Do photos in a Private Space expire like chat messages?
Private Space items do not use the chat expiry timer. They normally remain until deletion, subject to service availability. Private Spaces are advertised for iPhone; Android release parity is unverified.
