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Learn More Try It FreeHow to Tell If Someone Has Read My Text Messages on Android and iPhone
You expect a response when you send a text message because most communications are dialogue. However, not all message recipients respond when they see a message. For instance, you may have a message typed and about to respond before your child calls or another notification enters your phone. At that time, you may abandon that message.
While this may not be the case for everyone, many people do not reply to text messages. Hence, you want to know if the person has read your message or they have not. In the sections below, we discuss how to know if someone has read your SMS messages or chats on messaging apps.
Part 1. How to Tell If Someone Has Read My SMS Messages
The most popular technology for pinpointing when someone has read your SMS is read receipt. Read receipts show that a person has received and opened a text, chat, or email. In this section, we discuss the read receipt of popular OS.
iMessage Read Receipts on iPhone
The default texting app on iPhone, iMessage, has the read receipts for knowing if someone read the text you sent. The feature works when the sender and recipient activate the read receipt on their Apple iMessage service. The sender will see the Read icon and the time the message was read under the text message they sent.
To turn on the feature, go to Messages in your Settings app. Then, turn on Send Read Receipts.
Message Read Receipts on Android
Google Messages is a popular SMS app on Android devices. However, most users do not know about the read receipt feature. For this feature to work, both the sender and recipient must have the feature enabled on their apps. You can turn it on in your messaging app Settings. Click directly on Multimedia Messages, Text Messages, or open More Settings to see these options. Then, tap Chat Features to turn on Send read receipts.
Once it is turned on, the checkmarks in your previous conversations will change. For instance, a single gray checkmark means your message was sent successfully but is yet to be delivered. If it turns to two checkmarks, your text message has been delivered to the recipient. Or, your message has been read if the checkmark turns blue.
Part 2. How to Tell If Someone Has Read My Text Messages on Messaging Apps
Most instant messaging apps have the read receipt feature. However, users can turn it off at will so that no one finds out if they have read a message. In this section, we discuss read receipts on eight instant messaging apps.
- 1. WhatsApp Read Receipts
- 2. Facebook Messenger Read Receipts
- 3. Instagram Read Receipts
- 4. TikTok Read Receipts
- 5. Signal Read Receipts
- 6. Tinder Read Receipts
- 7. LinkedIn Read Receipts
1WhatsApp Read Receipts
You can tell if someone has read your chat on WhatsApp through the read receipt. The feature has three checkmarks: grey, double grey, and double blue ticks. The first indicates that your chat has been sent. The second tick shows that it has been delivered. The last checkmark shows that the recipient has read your message.
The feature is different in group chats. Once you send a message, you can tell if someone has read it by clicking the message information "i" icon at the top corner of the screen after selecting the chat. You will see contacts that have received (Delivered to) and read (Read by) your chat.
2Facebook Messenger Read Receipts
The read receipt feature is quite different on Facebook Messenger. This feature displays an icon to indicate when a message is yet to be sent, sent, or delivered and when it has been read. When it is yet to be sent, the icon at the side of your message will be a blue circle. Once it is sent, the circle will be marked with a blue tick. When it is delivered to the recipient of your message, the icon will change to a circle filled with blue and marked with a white tick. After the message has been read, it becomes a mini version of your recipient's display picture.
3Instagram Read Receipts
Instagram has a direct message feature that uses read receipts. The status of the message will be "Delivered" to know if your message has gotten to the recipient. They have read the message if you see a blue tick next to the person's name.
4TikTok Read Receipts
Sharing a TikTok video and not getting a response can be quite daunting. Hence, the rollout of the read receipt feature on the app is a long-desired feature of the app users. However, both users must have their read receipt feature turned on for you to see who has read your message.
5Signal Read Receipts
Signal is another instant chat platform with explicit read receipts. The app features four variants. The message is still sending when a user sees a circle of dots. Once the circle of dots turns to a full circle with a grey tick in the middle, it is sent. The sent icon will be duplicated and slightly overlapped to know that a chat has been delivered. Lastly, you can know when someone has read your chat on Signal when the overlapping icons become filled with grey and has a white tick in the middle.
6Tinder Read Receipts
When on the matchmaking app, you want to know the person giving you an audience and who is ghosting you. Usually, most users have to guess, but the read receipt feature is available in Tinder's online shop. Once the feature is on, you will see a read notification once your match has opened your message. Since it is a paid feature, it counts as one usage once you apply it to a chat.
7LinkedIn Read Receipts
The professional networking platform has an available read receipt for its users. Given the busy schedule of most of its users, senders must have an indicator that helps them know if their recipient has had time to go over their message. The inconspicuous icon is located at the bottom right of your message. It comes with a timestamp to indicate when the message was read by your correspondence.
Part 3. Why My Child Hasn't Read My Message but Has Been Online
If your instant messaging app shows your child is online, but they are not reading your message, many things can be responsible for that. Some of these reasons are identified below.
- The child might not be within the phone's reach because they are studying or cooking. While the chatting platform may be on, they may not be able to read your chat if the phone is not with them.
- Their phone may be lost. It is not uncommon that an app is open while a person misplaces their phone or it was stolen. In these instances, the app will still show that they are online, but they cannot read their messages.
- If your child is in an online meeting, they may be online but unable to read your message. In some cases, they may read your message but may not be able to reply if they are in a physical meeting. While they may take a glance at your message, the timing to reply might be off.
- Other reasons your child might not read or reply to your message could be silent treatment, procrastination, lack of answer when you ask a question or resentment.
Part 4. Monitor Your Teens' Text Messages on Their Android Phone
If you have a teenager, chances are you will get much silent treatment from them. Hence, you should monitor their text messages. For example, you can use a third-party app to track what is happening on your phone in real time. You can see text messages they received, ignored, or were about to reply to on their Android phones. We recommend AirDroid Parental Control as our trusted parental monitoring app.
You can use it to monitor your kid's texting. Firstly, you need two synchronized Android phones with yours to start viewing what happens on their phone. Then, you can start viewing their chat contents from another device.
The Bottom Line
There is hardly a messaging technology currently that does not have a read receipt. It is an easy feature that helps senders ascertain when the recipient has gotten their message. This article discussed the traditional read receipts of SMS messages on the two popular operating systems. Also, we have discussed the receipts of eight other chat apps. However, you may notice in several cases that the read receipt may not indicate that the message has been read if the message has not been delivered. Therefore, you can use a parental control app to monitor the message delivery on your teen's phone with AirDroid Parental Control.
Hottest Question Related to Reading Text Messages and Read Receipts
Check some of the most popular messages on reading text messages below and read recipients on popular instant messaging apps.
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