It’s the update we’ve all been waiting for: Yik Yak is anonymous again

Yik Yak was a phenomenon that took universities by storm with its simplicity, location-based feed and, most importantly, anonymity.

Through various updates, the things we loved about the application were removed. No more anonymity, a larger location radius making up your feed and a more complicated interface.

Now that’s all changed.

Yik Yak have got rid of compulsory handles, meaning that the application can be anonymous once again.

Users can toggle their handle on or off with each Yak posted, meaning that you can choose when to be anonymous or not.

Yik Yak have also re-introduced the ‘Hot feed’, bringing you the most popular Yaks in your herd every day.

Tyler and Brooks, the creators of Yik Yak, posted a video on their Facebook page explaining the reasons for the U-turn in the update.

The pair said they “underestimated how much you loved having the choice of whether or not to show your handle on each Yak”.

In a stream of Yaks made yesterday on the app, Tyler and Brooks claimed they had “messed up” in removing anonymity and the Hot feed.

They said: “We were so focused on one side of why handles are great that we didn’t think enough about why there’s a benefit to having the choice of whether or not to show your handle.

“We heard very clearly that having the choice of whether or not to use a handle had given you the freedom to talk openly about a tough personal situation, made it ok to Yak about a casual thought you’re still forming an opinion on, [and] took the pressure off always having to post the same type of content just because you’ve built a recognisable personality around that.”

For both of these updates, users have to update their app to the latest version.