Let’s face it, you simply cannot get away without using some sort of social media or messaging app in this day and age, and while my husband still balks when our kids choose to IM instead of call, the reality is that we have become a culture of quick and easy communication. There are, however, times when you want peace of mind that your messages are being read only by the intended recipients, an no one else.

iOS is a safe and secure operating system, and Apple is known for the importance it places on data privacy, but if you really want to make sure your messaging truly remains private, the best way to do that is to use encryption.

InnerGroup is a messaging app that supports strong encryption, so each and every word you type and send is wrapped in a package that flies undetected through the atmosphere, reaching their intended reader without being intercepted and read. It’s end-to-end encryption protects text messages, photos, videos and audio files.

While other social media apps openly, and sometimes discretely, collect information about you by saving every post in a database that can soon be devoured by data mining experts; InnerGroup does not. InnerGroup is not in the business of collecting and using personal information, it does not trend on what you have done and it does not save anything to the Cloud; it simply does not track you.

What it does support is the creation of private groups to which you can invite members, or Groupies. These Groupies have access to post and read only to those conversations they are invited. People you invite don’t even have to provide an email address or a phone number. All they do to connect with you is click on a link you send them via InnerGroup. Group creators have the ability to invite members and control who can participate in that conversation.

The encryption comes into the picture when you type a message and send it. The message is encrypted and sent, then it is decrypted at the receiving end. This message is then deleted from the working server. Another important feature to note is that when a Group Creator deletes a group, all messages sent back and forth are deleted from the server.

Another nice feature is the ability to update a group by removing members when necessary. That member is then prevented from seeing messages contained in that Group and cannot join.

Now, you might be wondering how can a free app provide such sophisticated encryption and protection? Easy – by charging for the creation of a group. Creating one group costs $1.99, and this allows InnerGroup to remain ad-free and secure – a small price to pay for secure messaging and preventing being tracked.

If you are ready to invest a little to gain a great deal of privacy protection, InnerGroup is an app to try out.