The sneaky invisible texting trick kids love using to fool their parents revealed

A concerned parent has issued a warning after she discovered her child sending
A concerned parent has issued a warning after she discovered her child sending "concealed" texts to their friends, as detailed in a Reddit post blowing up online.

It’s an act of text-pionage.

A concerned parent has issued a warning after she discovered her child sending “concealed” texts to their friends, as detailed in a viral Reddit post.

“My child has found a way to conceal texts,” the unnamed guardian lamented while describing her child’s incognito correspondence on the subreddit Apple/help.

They also included a since-deleted screenshot showing the phantom message obscured by dancing pixels like TV static.

This tool obscures messages from prying eyes. New York Post screenshot
This tool obscures messages from prying eyes. New York Post screenshot

As many Redditors pointed, the youngster was using Apple’s “invisible ink” tool, which allows senders to hide their texts from prying eyes.

“Your child didn’t find anything,” snarked one. “You as a parent are unaware of the features Apple had built into iMessage.”

To encrypt their message, users simply click on iMessage and type the desired text into the chat box (this doesn’t work on SMS so make sure you’re texting someone who also has iMessage).

Instead of tapping “send,” press and hold the send button to pull up a hidden menu.

The user then clicks the “invisible ink” option and hits send, whereupon the message will arrive in the recipient’s inbox as the aforementioned squiggly pixels.

Fortunately, it’s easy to disable the function. Jeanette Goh – stock.adobe.com
Fortunately, it’s easy to disable the function. Jeanette Goh – stock.adobe.com

Tapping this message will make it appear like a kiddie spy thriller.

This can be an effective tool for concealing correspondence from over-the-shoulder phone peepers or perhaps discussing movies in a group sans revealing spoilers to the people who haven’t seen them.

Amazon's Big Spring Sale is HERE!

Shop the Deals

And, as the aforementioned original poster pointed out, it’s also a great way to conceal texts from parents.

Thankfully, you don’t have to be Alan Turing to break the code. Just like the intended recipients, mom and dad simply have to press the message to decipher it.

“Just run your finger over the sparkles,” advised one Redditor, while another wrote, “Just tap on the squiggles, it will show you the text.”

The user types their message into the iMessage chatbox and clicks on the arrow to pull up the “invisible ink” option. They then select this and press send so the encrypted message appears in the recipient’s inbox. Apple
The user types their message into the iMessage chatbox and clicks on the arrow to pull up the “invisible ink” option. They then select this and press send so the encrypted message appears in the recipient’s inbox. Apple

There’s even a way to disable the tool altogether. The parent simply clicks “Settings,” then “Accessibility” and “Reduce Motion.”

Clicking this will deactivate the iMessage effects, effectively preventing one’s teen from committing text-pionage under their roof.