WhatsApp is an application used by millions across the world to contact friends, family and other loved ones - 24 hours a day, at any time of the year.
And in a world where we are all in constant contact, it can be overwhelming and means that some people feel the need to take a break from online relationships.
However, the issue with leaving people 'on read' can prove difficult, as some may feel pressured into replying straight away.
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The Mirror reports that many WhatsApp users feel the pressure from the two little blue ticks telling the other recipient that you have read their message - but this doesn't have to be the case.
There is a simple trick to read messages in full from the communication application without sending a read receipt, alleviating some of that societal stress.
Android mobile device management solutions company AirDroid have shared a way for users to open messages in full, which is as follows:
- First, long-press your home screen, bringing up a menu page
- Then tap Widgets, which will in turn show all available widgets
Find the '4 x 1 WhatsApp' widget and pull this onto any of your home pages, long-pressing it once added to enlarge it
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This hack is for Android users only, but iPhone users can disable their WhatsApp read receipts within the app itself. This will prevent contacts from spotting those two blue ticks.
However, this also means that the user won't be able to see when others have seen their messages in turn, which is not always ideal.
The way to turn your read receipts off is as follows:
- Tap More options on WhatsApp
- Click Settings, then Privacy
- Then turn Read Receipts off
According to the WhatsApp website, this action won't disable read receipts for group chats. It also won't play receipts for voice messages, as "there's no way to turn those settings off".
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