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by wizerno 433 days ago
Does anyone else miss the functionality of the Android WhatsApp widget [1] on iOS? Being able to read messages without sending read receipts via the widget is a great feature. The iOS notification 'peek' is a clumsy substitute.

Is this a fundamental limitation of iOS widgets/APIs, or just something WhatsApp hasn't implemented? Curious if others have found better ways to handle this on iPhone.

[1] https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-use-the-WhatsApp-wid...
3 comments
russum 433 days ago
Long-pressing the chat in your thread list gives you a quick preview seemingly without sending read receipts.
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nikanj 433 days ago
It is implemented in the app itself. WhatsApp > Settings > Privacy and turn off Read receipt.
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bayindirh 433 days ago
The use case is slightly different. I prefer to send read receipts, but I also like to peek at messages without sending them and removing unread counts because I want to add the message to my mental queue, but don't want the false impression that I didn't bother to answer the said message.
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nikanj 432 days ago
Ah, you want to read messages without letting the recipient know you've read the message, while still having read receipts enabled. I'm not surprised WhatsApp does not support this one, I think they want their users to be able to trust the read receipt indicators
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bayindirh 432 days ago
Actually it supports that, via notifications and peek. The intent is not nefarious, as I said before. I don't want the person who sent me the message think that I read their message and just tossed to a virtual bin.

I just did it yesterday. Somebody sent me a message, and I read it via notification, but they don't have the receipt yet. I'll write their answer with a fresh mind, and send the answer they deserve.

I don't think valuing the person on the other end of the line is a bad thing.

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createaccount99 433 days ago
> Being able to read messages without sending read receipts via the widget is a great feature.

More like an unfair anti-feature

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mort96 433 days ago
Hm? Should I as the user not be able to decide what I send or don't send?
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createaccount99 431 days ago
You can disable read receipts in the settings, but then you won't see their read receipts. This is fair.
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