Decrypting WhatsApp’s blue double check (and other icons)

The blue double check mark indicating ‘read’ messages in WhatsApp has gotten a lot of attention since it’s debut last week. But it’s also got a lot of people confused. Didn’t the double check mark already mean that? Well, no, and you’re probably not the only one having trouble making sense of all of WhatsApp’s icons.

Before you start freaking out over people not responding to messages, and to make things a little less confusing, we’ve made a handy guide to WhatsApp icons to help you understand exactly what each icon means.

What do WhatsApp icons mean?

Timestamps for read and received messages

On top of showing status icons, WhatsApp lets you know at exactly what time someone has read and received a message. This is particularly useful in group chats, where WhatsApp only displays the grey check.

To know who’s read the message and at what time, press and hold down on the message and click on Info for iPhone, or click the small info button on Android. You’ll get a new Window which shows exactly who has read the message, and when.

Be careful with the double blue check

Seeing the double blue check doesn’t necessarily mean the message has been read. It could be that the person left the conversation open, and then switched to another conversation or closed the app without actually having read or noticed the message.

The moral of the story here is, if someone hasn’t responded to your message, don’t freak out: people get easily distracted.

Related Stories:

WhatsApp is testing a ‘message read’ blue double tick (Update)

10 WhatsApp features you might have missed

How to restore deleted WhatsApp chats on Android

Original article written in Spanish on Softonic ES.

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