WhatsApp Users on Android can now disable the Read Receipts feature
WhatsApps’ new feature that enabled senders to know if and when their sent messages had been read by the recipient is soon coming to an end. At least for users on the Android platform, after WhatsApp released an update for its Android app that will enable users to disable this feature.
The feature not only displayed a second tick when the recipient reads the message, but it could also show the sender the exact time when the recipient read the message; the sender only needed to long-press on the message.
Most people criticized this feature with some describing it as a feature ‘ruining friendships’. WhatsApp has since reacted by enabling users who wish not to have this feature, be able to turn it off at their own will.
However this will only be possible to users using WhatsApp on Android devices. Users on Windows, iOS and BlackBerry are yet to receive this WhatsApp update.
Steps to switch off the read receipt feature: Go to Settings> Privacy, then uncheck the box ‘Read Receipts’.
Having unchecked the ‘Read Receipts’ box, your contacts on WhatsApp will no longer be able to know if and when you have read their messages. You will also no longer see the blue checkmarks in your WhatsApp conversations.