Today WhatsApp has launched a way to know if the recipients of your message have read it. Or should we better said opened it? because reading is something that they cannot really know that a person has done, at least not yet! 😉 mind control is not yet here.

WhatsApp wants people to know when messages are read. Can they read your mind?

Here is the explanation by WhatsApp:

What are those check marks next to my messages?

Check marks will appear next to each message you send. Here is what each one indicates:

– One tick -> message successfully sent.
– Two ticks -> message successfully delivered to the recipient’s phone.
– Two ticks in blue -> the recipient has read your message.

What does double blue tick mean in WhatsApp message

In a group chat, the second check marks will appear when all participants in the group have received your message. The two blue check marks will appear when all participants in the group have read your message.

The Message Info screen shows you who has seen your message and when.

If you only see a single check mark next to your message, there is likely nothing wrong with WhatsApp or your phone. There may be several reasons why your message has been sent, but not delivered to your chat partner:

– Their phone might be off.
– They could be sleeping, especially if they live in a different time zone.
– They might be experiencing network connection issues.
– They might have seen the notification on their screen, but did not launch the app (especially common if the recipient uses an iPhone).
– They might have blocked you. For more information read this article.
Cheers,
WhatsApp Support Team

Source: https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/20951546

They can even know at what time you read (opened) it

If you click in a message and then click on the info icon on top (i) you can see at what time the message was received, and at what time the message was read (opened).

Is there a way to avoid it?

We have been looking inside the configuration options within WhatsApp, namely inside the Account > Privacy, or Notifications, and we do not see the option to remove the possibility to let others know when we have read (opened) a message.

This website provides a hack to avoid showing that you have read a message: http://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-stop-whatsapp-from-sending-read-receipts-on-iphone/