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Turned Their Read Receipts Off
Turned Their Read Receipts Off
The answer is that it depends on what communication app you are using. Most
messaging apps have some kind of delivery and read receipt but they all work
differently. In this article I�ll go over some of the most popular platforms and
discuss how they handle read receipts. I�ll also discuss the reasons communication
experts suggest turning off read receipts.
MESSAGE SETTINGS
Quick Links
Message Settings
iMessage
Messages (Android)
Signal
WhatsApp
Facebook Messenger
Telegram
Instagram
Snapchat
Bumble
Tinder
LinkedIn
The great read receipt debate
The case for using read receipts
The case for turning read receipts off
Most major messaging platforms feature some capability for read receipts in 2019,
but not all of them make it easy to turn them off�or to tell if someone has turned
them off on their end. Here�s how each major messaging platform works in 2019.
IMESSAGE
iMessage makes things simple. It too enables read receipts by default but has the
capacity to turn them off. If you send via IMessage to another iPhone, you will see
the blue bubble in the chat window. Underneath you will see the status, Sent,
Delivered, Read.
If the bubble is green, it means the recipient isn�t on iPhone which means read
receipts might not work. If both bubbles are blue and the status stays at
Delivered, they may have turned read receipts off.
iMessages
(Want to know how to turn your read receipts on or off in iPhone? Check out our
tutorial article on read receipt settings for iPhone.)
MESSAGES (ANDROID)
If your phone doesn�t support RCS (and it probably doesn�t), you�re probably using
basic SMS through Messages on Android, which means that you won�t be able to view
and use read receipts. However, Google is finally taking RCS into their own hands
from the carriers, so over the next several months, you may receive a notification
regarding �Chat� services being enabled on your phone. Once you have Chat (Google�s
own marketing name for RCS), you�ll finally be able to view typing indicators and
read receipts with those who also have RCS enabled on their phone.
Read receipts can be disabled within the Chat settings in Messages. If someone has
read receipts disabled, the checks won�t appear within the app.
SIGNAL
Signal shows status messages by default, although you can turn it off if you wish.
A single check mark shows the message was received by the Signal server. Two check
marks means it has been delivered to the recipient. When those two check marks turn
blue, it means the recipient has read your message.
If the check marks don�t turn blue, they may have turned read receipts off.
WHATSAPP
WhatsApp also uses the check mark system to show message status. Like Signal, you
can also turn off read receipts if you want to. One gray check mark means your
message was sent. Two gray check marks means it was delivered. Two blue check marks
means the message has been read. You can press and hold the message to see what
time it was read if you really need to.
If the two check marks stay gray, the recipient may have turned read receipts off.
FACEBOOK MESSENGER
Facebook Messenger works in much the same way as these others. Read receipts on by
default but can be turned off. Instead of check marks, Facebook Messenger uses
circles. A blue circle means your message is being sent. A blue circle with a check
mark means it has been successfully sent. A filled blue circle with a check mark
means it has been delivered. A profile pic under the message means it has been
read.
If that profile picture doesn�t appear, the recipient may have turned read receipts
off.
If you to avoid people knowing that you�ve gotten their message, read our article
on turning off read receipts in Messenger.
TELEGRAM
Telegram also provides read receipts by default and allows you to turn them off if
you want. A single green check mark means the message has been received. Two green
check marks means your message has been read.
If you don�t see that second green check mark, the recipient may have turned read
receipts off.
INSTAGRAM
Instagram DMs have a very simple read receipt system. If your message has been
seen, the word �Seen� appears beneath the message. If you�re in a conversation with
multiple people, then an eye icon along with the Instagram name of the person who
has seen your message appears.
If you don�t see the �Seen� text or the eye icon, the recipient may have turned
read receipts off.
SNAPCHAT
On Snapchat, when your message reaches your correspondent�s inbox, the word
�Delivered� will appear on the app. Once they�ve actually opened the message, it
will read �Opened�.
Snapchat doesn�t allow you to disable the ability to see if a Snap or a message is
open, so if you don�t want to use a platform with read receipts, don�t use
Snapchat. On the other hand, if you want to communicate with someone who doesn�t
like read receipts but does have a Snapchat, you�ll know for sure when they opened
your message within Snapchat.
BUMBLE
Bumble�s read receipts can be tricky, so we�ve devoted an entire article to looking
at them. Read our tutorial for a full discussion of read receipts in Bumble.
TINDER
Like Bumble, Tinder�s chat can be a bit complicated. For information on how Tinder
handles read receipts, check out our tutorial article about read receipts in
Tinder.
LINKEDIN
To learn about read receipts on LinkedIn, see our tutorial article about how to
tell whether someone read your message in LinkedIn.
The main case for using read receipts is the elimination of uncertainty. You know
your message has been read and digested. You know it didn�t get lost. You know the
other person has read your message and therefore will not be uncertain about
whether it arrived or not. For some people, this uncertainty can bring about
serious anxiety which can be avoided by using read receipts.
In other words, read receipts makes you put someone else�s needs above your own. In
an ideal world, your needs would be equal to others but in this instance they would
be subject to that other. You should be able to reply when you want, how you want
rather than beholden to a little check mark.
Real life happens and you should not feel beholden to others just because you may
not want to be wedded to your phone every second of the day. If the person knows
you, they will know you won�t ignore them. If they know you well, they will know
your attitude to your phone and to not using read receipts. They should be able to
work with that.
Whichever side of the debate you�re on, that simplest of message settings has quite
an impact on our lives. Which side of the argument do you sit on? Tell us your
opinion below!