WhatsApp notifications and message status on IOS

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lchiu7

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#302125 31-Oct-2022 11:21

I use WhatsApp as a means to keep in touch with friends and family. While I am on Android unfortunately some of my contacts use IOS :-(

On Android I just leave the app running (I am sure once I open it and even if I move to another app it's still running) and rely on notifications to let let me know if a message has arrived. To avoid notification noise I have the tone turned off apart from one or two very special people for whom I have assigned a recognisable tone. For the rest I rely on an icon in the status bar.

But I notice for those receipients using IOS I will see two ticks (light colour) when a message has been sent and received, two ticks dark colour when it's been read which is normal. But often I will see only one tick which means message sent but not received. Most of my recipients don't turn their phones off so if they have used WhatsApp during the day, is the app still running in the background or when you move to another app it shuts down? I can't imagine my friends actually shutting down the app after reading and responding to messages.

Any ideas?

Benjip

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#2989981 31-Oct-2022 12:19

WhatsApp on iOS can definitely receive messages at any time, regardless of whether the app is open. Could it be that your family/friends don't actually remain signed in?

I know for me personally, I use WhatsApp maybe once a year, and it always seems to want me to re-authenticate because it's been months between sessions. But if I were to use it even once a month, it would keep me signed in, and the messages would definitely be delivered to me.

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lchiu7

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#2989993 31-Oct-2022 12:34

That is indeed strange. They use the app daily or every second day but I find regularly messages show only one tick until they respond. If the app is running the WhatsApp site says messages will be delivered if not read. I can't believe they are signing out after use each day.

I can believe that all notifications, both visual and audio are turned off so that they don't know they have a message until they go back to the app but as the sender I would at least see two ticks, both light coloured.

SheriffNZ

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#2990013 31-Oct-2022 13:04

I use WhatsApp daily as my parents are on Android, but the rest of my family is iOS so it’s a convenient common messaging platform.

We have no issues with messages being sent/received across the group and I can be on the phone to my parents, send them a picture via WhatsApp and hear the message notification come through across the call.

IMHO I suspect it’s a problem inherent in your “group” or how someone’s using it rather than a problem with the app.

lchiu7

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#2990014 31-Oct-2022 13:12

SheriffNZ: I use WhatsApp daily as my parents are on Android, but the rest of my family is iOS so it’s a convenient common messaging platform.

We have no issues with messages being sent/received across the group and I can be on the phone to my parents, send them a picture via WhatsApp and hear the message notification come through across the call.

IMHO I suspect it’s a problem inherent in your “group” or how someone’s using it rather than a problem with the app.

Actually this one to one - not the group chat. So the iOS users must be doing something funny and since they are overseas I can't debug. Going to have to find a family member locally who has an iPHone and see how they set it up.

I can understand if a phone is off you would only see one tick. Or if the phone has been restarted and WhatsApp has not been started, but not after it's been used and the phone has not been restarted. I guess it could be people turning their phones off at night rather than use silent mode?

SheriffNZ

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#2990021 31-Oct-2022 13:24

lchiu7:

SheriffNZ: I use WhatsApp daily as my parents are on Android, but the rest of my family is iOS so it’s a convenient common messaging platform.

We have no issues with messages being sent/received across the group and I can be on the phone to my parents, send them a picture via WhatsApp and hear the message notification come through across the call.

IMHO I suspect it’s a problem inherent in your “group” or how someone’s using it rather than a problem with the app.

Actually this one to one - not the group chat. So the iOS users must be doing something funny and since they are overseas I can't debug. Going to have to find a family member locally who has an iPHone and see how they set it up.

I can understand if a phone is off you would only see one tick. Or if the phone has been restarted and WhatsApp has not been started, but not after it's been used and the phone has not been restarted. I guess it could be people turning their phones off at night rather than use silent mode?

If I turn my phone off, I'll get notifications from what's app (or any other app) when I turn it back on. Yes, suspect its the user. Good luck.

alasta

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#2990042 31-Oct-2022 14:17

I have an iPhone and I (reluctantly) have Facebook messenger which I assume is just Whatsapp with different branding.

I have the notifications disabled in the iPhone settings, so I just open the app once or twice a week to see if I have any messages. In this usage scenario I assume the sender would see the message indicated as delivered but not read for a period of time.

I'm not sure why you would find this unusual?

lchiu7

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#2990047 31-Oct-2022 14:30

alasta:

I have an iPhone and I (reluctantly) have Facebook messenger which I assume is just Whatsapp with different branding.

I have the notifications disabled in the iPhone settings, so I just open the app once or twice a week to see if I have any messages. In this usage scenario I assume the sender would see the message indicated as delivered but not read for a period of time.

I'm not sure why you would find this unusual?

I see the messages as sent and not delivered. That is what puzzled me but I guess the phone is off or WhatsApp is not running.

alasta

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#2990255 31-Oct-2022 19:25

Maybe the phone is shutting down the app because it is hogging system resources in the background. Meta are not exactly renowned for the quality of their software.

lchiu7

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#2990272 31-Oct-2022 20:01

alasta:

Maybe the phone is shutting down the app because it is hogging system resources in the background. Meta are not exactly renowned for the quality of their software.

Or the user does not want me to know their messages have been delivered and use whatever is the equivalent in Android to Force Stop. In fact I just forced stopped my WhatsApp and sent a message from another account to it and it shows one tick. I then opened it and the other phone showed two ticks. So the IOS user is somehow closing the app or shutting down their phone and when it retarts WhatsApp does not restart.

Goosey

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#2990457 1-Nov-2022 06:52

I always thought one tick was sent, two ticks was seen/read. Ive never noticed the light ticks vs dark ticks.

(Im on IOS)

I also have a lot of notifications and or background updates turned off

I still get a wee small notification but its a banner and on the lock screen...i dont have to touch to move on.

When I get around to it (or if a reply is required), I then open the app.