Tricks
Three ways to read a WhatsApp message without appearing online
We present you with some methods with which you can read Whatsapp messages without appearing online, either thanks to Widgets or popup window.
When you receive a message on WhatsApp, the normal thing to do is to read it. But as soon as you do this action, according to WhatsApp's default settings, you appear as active in the messaging app. But if you want to read a message without being online in WhatsApp, the app has a few ways to achieve this, from obviously tinkering with the privacy settings to using other less common shortcuts and features. We are going to give you three of them:
How to read a WhatsApp message without appearing online
Activate WhatsApp widgets
- Unlock the smartphone and go to the main screen - where we usually have widgets such as the weather forecast activated. The best thing to do is to slide your finger to the side to be on a page completely clear of icons.
- Now we make a long press on the screen. In this way we will see different configuration and customization options.
- We are interested in the one that says 'Widget'. Click on it and enter.
- Depending on the apps and programs you have on your phone, you will see more or less pages of Widgets. As they are usually sorted alphabetically, it is best to go to the last one, until you see WhatsApp.
- Now we will see several widgets and icons inside. The one we are looking at is called WhatsApp and it usually occupies a space of 4x2 according to Android.
- Hold it down and drag it to the empty page, because unlike an app icon that occupies a single box, this widget occupies 4 boxes wide by 2 boxes high.
- And that's it. We already have the WhatsApp widget active and with it our trick.
What will happen when you receive a message? You will see that the widget screen will display the name of the contact and the entire message. In fact, if we receive several messages from different contacts, they will all appear and we just have to scroll. The advantage is that this way we do not have to go into WhatsApp to read them as we do it through the widget, and therefore it will not appear in the app neither that we have read it nor that we are online.
Replying from notifications
Another similar way is to enable notifications on your mobile for the WhatsApp app specifically. To do this:
- Go to Settings on your cell phone. Look for the gear icon in the menu by swiping down from the top of the screen, or directly on the desktop.
- Scroll down the list until you find the Notifications section.
- Within these look for the All apps option
- Look for WhatsApp in the app list and check that all notifications are enabled.
When you receive a WhatsApp message, you will see it reflected on the mobile screen and you can read it either from the notification center or from the lock screen of the mobile. And you can also answer them from there, which means that you will not have to enter the app to read and/or answer them, and therefore you will not appear online.
Activate the Popup Window
WhatsApp has several functions to notify a user that they have received new messages. And one of them is the pop-up window. It appears in the middle of the mobile screen when it is activated and you receive a message. This window can appear when the mobile is on, off, and even on the lock screen.
But the best thing is its customization, since it can either be activated for all contacts by going to Settings > Notifications > Pop-up window, or only for those we want to see without activating the confirmation, otherwise known as custom notification. Mind that, this method is only for smartphones with Android version 9 or earlier
- Open the chat window of the contact you are going to activate the pop-up window.
- Click on the settings menu (the three vertical dots) and select view contact, or directly click on the photo at the top.
- You will see an option called Custom Notifications, click on it to activate it and choose the pop-up notification. With this, this particular contact will show you the messages where you choose, and you will be able to read them without confirmation.