WhatsApp has become the most popular IM or chat client for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia S40, Symbian and Windows Phone platforms. If you’re just starting out with WhatsApp, then there are two issues that could bother you.
First issue is what does that checkmarks next to a message meant? You might think that sometimes it displays one and sometimes two checkmarks to all the messages that you send through WhatsApp. Well, in simple terms, a single check mark means that the message was delivered to the WhatsApp server, while two check marks mean that the message has been delivered from the server to the phone of the recipient (or chat partner).
The second issue is the “last seen” time notification that is displayed for each contact. If you’re able to see when your chat partners/friends have last seen your message, then it means that they too will be able to see when you have last seen their message.
Now this is somewhat problematic. The reason for this is that your chat partner will know when you have seen this message, which means you can’t ignore their message. If you ignore them, then they might ask why have you not replied them. This is also a matter of privacy for some, who don’t want to reveal the time when they have last seen the message. It basically means you can’t ignore anyone, even if you want to.
Prevent/Hide Last Seen Time on WhatsApp for Android
There are some applications that claim to hide the timestamp, but for some reason, they are not available in Google Play Store and that’s why, installing them is not advisable. But fortunately, there’s a manual way using which you can prevent the last seen time from being updated.
WhatsApp updates this time when you launch the app. That’s why, when you get a notification telling you that you have received a new message, don’t launch the app just yet.
Firstly, turn off or disable all your phone or tablet’s internet access (WiFi and data) and then open WhatsApp. Once you open it, read all the messages that you have received and then exit the application. After closing it, you can enable your device’s internet connection again, if you need it.
If you follow this method, then your contacts won’t know when you have opened the app and read those messages because WhatsApp will no longer update the timestamp.
The official FAQs from WhatsApp tell us that there’s no option to go invisible or hide your online status from contacts. They only advise you to block the contact. Once blocked, you will no longer receive messages from them, nor they will be able to see your last seen at or online time. However, this method is not a real solution as they won’t be able to send any messages to you. That’s why, follow the above process to hide last seen time on WhatsApp for Android.
Leave a Reply