Sarahah: The 'Honesty First' Secret Messaging App

Sarahah was created by a developer from Saudi Arabia called ZainAlabdin Tawfiq as a way for people to share honest thoughts anonymously with their friends and contacts. Sarahah, which means "honesty or "candour" in Arabic.

The Sarahah app, lets users send one another anonymous messages.  Since its launch two months ago it has reached number one in Apple's App Store in 30 countries, including the UK.

Once downloaded, users need to set up an account on the Sarahah app to start receiving messages. They can share their profile with friends or on their other social media accounts so people can send them anonymous messages. Users can also look up people they know if they have the username in a search section of the app.

Users can forwarded their anonymous messages to friends on WhatsApp. New messages appear in a feed on the app, which can be Favorited, forwarded or deleted. The sender isn't alerted about any of these actions. Users can also block senders if they receive a message that is offensive or makes them uncomfortable. Users can block senders of abusive and offensive messages on Sarahah.

Not everyone agrees with the mission of the app, and some users say it will facilitate and encouraging bullying online. Critics on social media have said the anonymity granted by Sarahah gives users "an excuse to bully people" and that it will lead to abuse.