Read WhatsApp messages secretly! Know how to Turn Off Read Receipts or 'Blue Ticks

Did you know there's a way you can turn off read receipts on WhatsApp and hence, read messages secretly without letting the sender know? You can do it this way.

Know how to turn off read receipts on WhatsApp. (Bloomberg)

Since its launch in 2009, WhatsApp has grown by leaps and bounds. It has become one of the most widely used apps in the world. It has a special feature that is quite useful sometimes. This is the WhatsApp read receipts, aka 'Blue Ticks' feature. It allows senders to see when their message has been read by the recipient. This feature can be useful for ensuring that important messages have been received and read by the person they have been sent to. Although this feature is useful in most situations, it can cause some privacy concerns. For example, if a user doesn't want to respond to a message he has already read, he may feel pressure to do so knowing that the sender knows it has been opened and read.

Fortunately, WhatsApp allows users to turn off read receipts. Therefore, users will still be able to read the message without the sender knowing whether the message has been read. Users should note that this won't disable the read receipts for group chats or play receipts for voice messages. There is no way to turn those off yet. You can turn off WhatsApp read receipts on your smartphone this way.

Turn off WhatsApp Read Receipts on Android

Step 1:

To turn off read receipts, open WhatsApp.

Step 2:

Tap on the More icon, which is 3 dots at the top right corner of the screen.

Step 3:

Tap on Settings and then Privacy.

Step 4:

Tap on Read Receipts to turn it off.

Turn off WhatsApp Read Receipts on iPhone

Step 1: 

To turn off read receipts on the iPhone, open WhatsApp.

Step 2: 

Tap on the Settings tab and go to Privacy.

Step 3: 

Tap on Read Receipts to disable it.