There's A New App That Just Sends Anonymous Messages To Your Facebook Friends' Lock Screens

Wut is a messaging app that keeps things simple, semi-anonymous, and focused on your iPhone's lock screen.

The app allows you to send messages in the form of stripped-down push notifications, a usage popularized by the one-worded Yo app.

Wut doesn't have a contact list or news feed. Instead of opening the app, everything happens within your phone's drop-down notification center or lock screen.

This means the only time you ever have to actually open the app is when you decide to send out a message yourself.

It's tidy, and with a design aesthetic akin to Apple's iOS 7, Wut is exactly what a modern messaging app should look like.

To fire off a quick message, Wut users simply type out a message and "Tell Everybody." This button sends your message out anonymously to all of your Facebook friends also using the app.

Here's what it looks like when you send and receive a message using Wut.

And that's it.

Since you have to sign in with Facebook to use Wut, messages aren't truly anonymous. But requiring a Facebook log-in helps people plug in to an already established friend group, an important first step for any messaging app.

The semi-anonymous nature of Wut makes it ideal for activities happening in real-time, and that's really the angle Wut is going for. Think anonymous live-tweeting with your Facebook friends.

The Wut tutorial even features the slogan "You're either in the moment or you missed it."

Wut's settings are simple but effective. You can mute spammy friends or turn off the all-important push notifications until the next time you use the app (though that does defeat the purpose a bit). Wut doesn't even specify the exact number of friends you have, choosing instead to use vague differentiations such as "A couple."

Wut is attempting to tap into the fun aspect of mysterious messaging, and that could be the key.

It's easy to envision Wut being used in schools or workplaces, where people could offer their own colored commentary on an important event without people knowing exactly who sent out the joke that went too far.

The fun of Wut is in guessing which one of your friends sent the message that has everyone laughing.

You can download Wut here for iPhone. An Android version is in the works.