By now you would have noticed the two blue check marks beside messages on your WhatsApp – which tells you when your message has been read.
While you still can hide your last seen timestamp (deactivate through ‘Settings’), it looks like you will be unable to run away from the third layer of information, as long as you open the app to read the messages.
In exploring the new feature, you can also check what time your message is delivered to the other party’s device, and also the time the message was read! Simply click and hold on to the message until the settings for the message comes up and click on “info”.
However, for iPhone users, this function is not available for group messages, but for android phone users can see who the messages have been successfully delivered to and who has read it.
Is this useful? Probably for some and maybe the most important question on your mind is, “Can I bypass this?” The answer is, YES!
A simple way (which yours truly uses at times) is that before reading your WhatsApp message, turn on Airplane mode to disable Wifi or data connections. The check marks will remain as grey! Sometimes the first try in opening the app the latest messages does not appear, but repeat the process and you would be able to read the message.
Story and photos by Cedric Tang
