After School App: What the Anonymous School Message Board Was and What Replaced It

After School was an anonymous message board app built around individual high schools. Students joined the board for their school, then posted and read messages without names attached. It was popular for a short time, controversial almost immediately, and is now gone. But the pattern it represented, anonymous posting inside a closed community of classmates, keeps coming back under new names. Here is what parents should know about the app, what happened to it, and how to spot its modern equivalents.

What After School was

After School launched in late 2014. When a student signed up, the app tried to confirm which high school they attended and then placed them on that school's private board. Everyone on the board could post text and images, comment and vote, and nobody's name was shown.

The appeal was obvious. Teens could say what they really thought about teachers, classes, crushes and each other, without consequences. The trouble was equally obvious. Within weeks schools across the US were warning parents about bullying, sexual content and rumors spreading on the boards.

Why it was pulled from the App Store

In December 2014 Apple removed After School from the App Store twice in quick succession. The trigger was a series of threats of school violence posted on the app, including one in Michigan that led to the arrest of a 17-year-old after the app's makers helped police identify him. After the first removal, the app briefly returned with a 17+ rating and new warnings, then was pulled again days later.

After School came back in April 2015 with a different approach. The developers added filters for threatening and abusive language, human moderators, and an automated system meant to flag threats against a school and alert police, school administrators and principals.

What happened to it

Interest faded over the following years. The app's last iOS update was released in February 2019, and by 2020 it was no longer available in either the Apple App Store or Google Play. Its website went offline. There was no big announcement; it simply stopped.

If you see After School mentioned on an old school notice or in a list of "dangerous apps", you can cross it off. It is not something your child can download today.

Why the idea keeps coming back

After School was not the first anonymous app aimed at students, and it was not the last. Yik Yak, Whisper and Ask.fm all followed the same arc: rapid growth among teens, bullying and threats, emergency safety changes, then decline. You can read about two of them in our guides to Yik Yak and Whisper.

The reason is simple. For a teenager, anonymity among people you know is far more powerful than anonymity among strangers. A cruel comment from a random account on the internet is easy to dismiss. A cruel comment that you know came from someone in your chemistry class is not.

The 2026 versions to watch for

The specific apps are different now, but the features are the same. Look out for:

• Anonymous message links. Apps such as NGL let a teen post a link on Instagram or Snapchat and receive anonymous messages from anyone who taps it. In 2024 the FTC and the Los Angeles District Attorney settled with NGL's makers over deceptive practices, and the company agreed to stop offering the app to users under 18.
• Anonymous polls and compliments. Some apps and in-app features let classmates vote on each other anonymously. They are often pitched as positive, but they can easily be used to single someone out.
• Fake or "burner" accounts. On mainstream apps, teens sometimes create throwaway accounts specifically to post about classmates without being identified.
• School-based group chats. Large group chats with a whole grade in them can function like a message board, especially when people join under nicknames.

What to do if your child is using an anonymous app

Deleting the app is tempting, but it rarely solves the underlying issue, because there is always another one. A better approach combines settings and conversation.

1. Ask what they like about it. Often the answer is curiosity, or wanting to know what people really think. That is a normal teenage feeling and worth acknowledging.
2. Talk about what anonymity does to people. Most teens have seen someone say something online they would never say in person. Ask whether they have seen that on the app.
3. Make reporting easy. Agree that if they see a threat, sexual content involving classmates or a pile-on against someone, they will tell you or a school staff member, and they won't be in trouble for having seen it.
4. Use app approval. Turn on age-based restrictions and purchase approval so new apps need your OK. Our guide on restricting apps by rating shows how on iPhone and iPad.
5. Revisit the family rules. If you have a family media agreement, add a line about anonymous apps and accounts.

If something serious is posted

Threats of violence should be reported to the school and to local police right away, even if they look like a joke. Screenshots help. If a post involves sexual images of a minor, do not forward or save copies; report it to the platform and to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline.

The bottom line

After School is gone, but the next anonymous school app is always one download away. Keep this short checklist handy:

• Know which apps on your child's phone allow anonymous posting or messages.
• Keep app downloads behind your approval.
• Talk about anonymity before there is a problem, not only after.
• Agree on what your child should do if they see a threat or a pile-on.
• Report threats to the school and police immediately.