There’s a hugely popular WhatsApp hack that helps bypass one of the most awkward things about the app.
WhatsApp, like many messaging platforms, tells people when the recipient has opened and read the message. While that feature can be turned off, doing so comes with a number of downsides.
As such, it can be difficult to know the content of a message before opening it. When you do, the “checkmarks” in the message turn blue and the person you’re chatting with will know you opened it.
Some messages can be read from your notification, so it’s possible to know what’s in the message without opening the app and turning on those read receipts. However, if a message is too long, it won’t fit in the notification, which means there’s no way to see what’s in it.
Unless you use a new popular app hack that will allow you to read long messages without opening the chat.
The hack isn’t new, but it’s gone viral across the internet in recent days as people have reveled in a way to avoid the awkwardness of opening conversations they don’t want to reply to.
You need to add the WhatsApp widget to your home screen, which will then display those messages without opening the app. To do this, long press on the screen, select “widgets” from the menu and choose the “4 x 1” WhatsApp widget option.
When placed on the home screen, a list of recent messages is displayed. If you view them from there, it is not registered as “read” within the application and thus avoids the potentially awkward blue ticks.
The trick only works on Android and is not available on iPhone. While iOS allows apps to create widgets in a similar way, WhatsApp offers none.
However, it is possible to see more of a message than in the notification preview on iOS. Long-pressing on a notification will open the quick view, which can display more text, as well as images.
And on both Android and iOS, of course, it’s possible to disable read receipts, so the blue tick doesn’t show up at all. Click on the menus and choose the “Privacy” option, where they can be disabled.
However, it does not work in group chats or voice notes. And turning off the blue checkmarks means you won’t be able to see anyone else’s either.
Translation of Michelle Padilla
