Anonymous voice notes and voice masks

Some things land better said out loud. On DropAsecret you can send a link owner a voice note instead of a typed message, and you can disguise your voice with a mask before it's sent.

Sending a voice note

On someone's link, tap the microphone, record, listen back, and send. A voice note can be up to 30 seconds long, or a minute with Plus.

Voice notes only appear if the link owner allows them. Owners can switch them off in Settings, under Link, and then their link only takes text.

Masks

Before sending, you can choose how your voice sounds. Three masks are free:

• High raises your voice a little.
• Deep lowers it.
• Robot gives it a metallic, buzzing edge.

Plus adds playful ones: Chipmunk, Helium, Mouse, Baby, Kid, Cartoon and Giant.

A mask changes both the pitch of your voice and its shape, the quality that makes a voice sound like a particular person, so it does more than speed a recording up or slow it down.

Where the mask is applied

The mask is applied on your own phone or computer, before anything is uploaded. We never receive your unmasked voice, so there's no original recording on our side to leak or hand over.

Voice notes are stored privately. Only you and the person you sent it to can play one, through links that stop working after a few minutes.

How anonymous is a masked voice?

A mask makes your voice harder to recognise. It doesn't make it impossible. People who know you well may still pick up:

• The words you use. Favourite phrases and slang travel with you, whatever your pitch.
• How you speak. Your pace, your pauses and your laugh survive most masks.
• What's in the background. Music, a sibling, a familiar room or a classroom bell can give you away.

So if staying anonymous matters, record somewhere quiet, keep it short, and say it the way you wouldn't usually.

Tips for a good voice note

• Write down what you want to say first, even roughly. Thirty seconds goes fast.
• Hold the phone at a normal distance. Too close and it crackles.
• Listen back before sending. If you hate it, record it again.
• Keep it kind. A voice carries tone in a way text doesn't, which makes a nice message nicer and a cruel one crueller.

Ideas for voice notes

Some messages are simply better heard than read:

• Sing "Happy Birthday", badly, in the Robot voice.
• Say the compliment you'd never manage face to face.
• Tell the story of how you first noticed them.
• Do your best impression of something they always say.
• Wish them luck before an exam, an interview or a big match.
• Answer their Drop out loud instead of typing.

A masked voice adds mystery, and makes a silly message sillier. A plain voice, for the brave, makes a kind one land harder.

For link owners

If you love getting voice notes, say so when you share your link. If you'd rather not, switch them off: you're not missing anything people can't type. And if a voice note isn't welcome, you have the same controls as for any message: block, report, or delete the conversation.