Snapchat, for Hoarders

I like Snapchat, but if I'm being totally honest, it's not something I use every day. I like it because my kids send me goofy pictures and videos, and it makes me happy that they think to include me in their Snapchatty world.

The thing is, Snapchat is designed with the notion that photos and videos should be ephemeral, and once they're viewed, they disappear. I don't share that particular sentiment, and I tend to err the other way. Namely, I not only keep photos and videos, but I also generally back them up in three different places, geographically separated in case of failure. Also, I'm old, and I forget things.

(Photo from the Casper Website)

Thankfully, there's a non-official Snapchat client made for folks like me. It's called Casper, and it's not available in the Google Play store. Installing it is fairly simple, but because it allows you to save photos and videos, it's not allowed to be distributed in the Play store. Also, I'm sure the folks at Snapchat don't really like the app, since it goes against one of the app's core "features", but if you're okay with all those issues, I highly recommend it. The app is free, and you can use it as your Snapchat client, even if you don't intend to save the photos or videos your kids send you. But, if your kids are as interesting as mine, you'll probably want to!

Shawn is Associate Editor here at Linux Journal, and has been around Linux since the beginning. He has a passion for open source, and he loves to teach. He also drinks too much coffee, which often shows in his writing.

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