One feature that could make WhatsApp even more better

2 Billion users and counting, WhatsApp has been on a roll since 2009 when it was launched by two Yahoo employees. Undoubtedly, the reason of its success could be attributed for creating a world of free messaging, connecting billions of people across the world — saying goodbye to BB Messenger.

Given these numbers, I am sure the reader of this article has already used or is using WhatsApp currently. Having said that, there is one specific use-case that I believe would resonate with each WhatsApp user.

Incorrect read receipts

Some may have already guessed what I am going to tell about, however what I really want to discuss is the solution to solve this particular problem.

Let’s look at the problem first briefly

Have you ever sent a WhatsApp message which never had the blue ticks, however the recipient already knew about it? I faced this multiple times and I am sure you might have faced it too.

This occurs when the recipient reads the message in the notification bar or on the screen unlock notification page or in the WhatsApp chat list (if the message length is very short), and then directly either calls you to acknowledge it or just never acknowledges it, if the message is something which he/she wants you to assume that it was not read at the first place.

A use-case like this completely destroys the purpose of read receipts and hence, I personally feel that there should be a better solution to it.

Here is how I think could be one of the many ways to solve it.

Message masking for notifications

In the WhatsApp’s setting, there could be a setting allowing the sender to select/de-select and accordingly decide the behavior of messages if the read receipt is turned on.

Here is how the setting could look like on the sender’s phone.

Here is how it could look on the receivers' phone

As you can imagine, this scenario instantly resolves the previously stated problem. Voila!

To summarize, I as a Digital product lover always like a feature till the time it says what it does 100%. Alternatively, it is always better to include those caveats if there are, so that rather than the users discovering those caveats, they are aware of it and the Product team could work on resolving it if it becomes a bigger problem later.

If you think there could be an even better way, I would love to discuss that :)

If you like what you read be sure to <clap> it below — it means the world. You can follow me on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jatin-rajvanshi/