WhatsApp and Telegram offer free unlimited messaging, handy features, and apps for every device. There's definitely a lot to love about these services, but not everyone has mastered using them. In fact, one confusing aspect of WhatsApp and Telegram are the check marks.
When you send a message in WhatsApp or Telegram, one or two check marks appear below it. These later turn from gray to blue. These check marks communicate useful information to you, but if you're not sure what the check marks mean in WhatsApp and Telegram, read on to find out.
What Do the Check Marks Mean in WhatsApp?
The check mark icons in WhatsApp signify the read receipt feature, letting you know if the other party has received or read your message yet.
In WhatsApp, a single gray check mark means that your message sent, but hasn't been delivered to the other person yet. Two gray check marks mean that your message successfully made it to the other person's phone, but they haven't seen it yet.
Finally, when the other party has opened your conversation and has seen the message, you'll see two blue check marks below it.
This works a little differently in WhatsApp group chats. When all group members have received your message, you'll see a gray double-check next to it. Once everyone has read the message, this changes to two blue checks.
If you'd like, you can even see the exact time your WhatsApp message was read. In a group chat, this lets you see when each person received the message and when they opened it.
How to Disable Read Receipts in WhatsApp
You'll send these check marks to other people by default, since the read receipt feature is enabled automatically. If you'd like to disable read receipts on WhatsApp, it's easy to do so.
Open WhatsApp and tap Settings (which is under the three-dot menu in the top-right on Android). Choose Account > Privacy and disable the Read Receipts slider to stop sending them.
Just remember that if you turn off your read receipts, you won't see them for other people, either. And you can't disable read receipts for group chats in WhatsApp.
For more tips like this, check out everything you need to know about WhatsApp privacy.
What Do the Check Marks Mean in Telegram?
Telegram's check marks also let you know if a message was read, but they work a little differently than WhatsApp.
In Telegram, you'll see a clock icon when the app is sending your message. If successful, this turns into a single check mark to signify that your message was successfully sent to the server. Two check marks means that the other person opened your conversation and saw the new message.
The biggest difference between WhatsApp and Telegram checks is that Telegram doesn't have a delivered status. This is due to the ability to use your Telegram account on multiple devices at once, compared to WhatsApp only working on one phone (due to its end-to-end encryption).
Because of this, there's no way for the Telegram service to know if your message made it to a particular device. A delivered status wouldn't make any sense.
In Telegram group chats, a single check still means that your message was sent to the server. A double-check in a group chat means that at least one person read your message, but Telegram doesn't keep track of who that was.
Unfortunately, there's no way to disable read receipts in Telegram. This means that everyone will always know if their Telegram message was read.
Why Didn't They Read My Message Yet?
Wondering why the other person hasn't seen your WhatsApp or Telegram message yet? This can happen for a variety of reasons:
- If either party has read receipts turned off in WhatsApp, you won't see read receipts.
- On the rare chance the other person blocked you, you won't see whether they read your message.
- The other person's phone may be shut off, in airplane mode, or suffering from a poor network connection.
- Of course, they may also simply have not opened the message yet.
There's also a chance that the other person has used a trick to read your message in secret without sending a read receipt. For example, they might have gone into airplane mode to read the message without triggering the "read" status. Most phones also let you preview a message from the notification bubble, which doesn't trigger the receipt either.
If they have done something like this, there's little you can do about it aside from plainly asking them if they saw your message.
Telegram and WhatsApp Checks Explained
Now you know how to find out if the other person read your message in WhatsApp or Telegram. Most of the time, these features are handy and let you confirm that the other person saw what you sent without asking in a follow-up message.
These features don't just apply to WhatsApp and Telegram. You have ways to hide read receipts in other messaging apps, too.
Image Credit: Bacho/Shutterstock
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