WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the key features of WhatsApp is Stories, which allows users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Many WhatsApp users post Stories as a way to share moments from their lives with close friends and family. However, sometimes you may want to view someone’s WhatsApp Stories anonymously, without them knowing you’ve seen their updates. Here are some ways to see WhatsApp Stories anonymously.
Using a Third-Party App
The easiest way to view WhatsApp Stories anonymously is to use a third-party app. There are several apps available for both Android and iOS devices that allow you to browse WhatsApp Stories discreetly. Some examples include WAMR, Story Saver for Whatsapp, and WA Stories. These apps work by accessing the WhatsApp database on your phone and displaying Stories from your contacts. The advantage is that they never actually open WhatsApp, so the app doesn’t show your view to the Status poster. However, many of these third-party apps require you to login with your phone number, so they aren’t completely anonymous. The app creators could potentially link your viewing activity to your number, but they claim not to share any data with WhatsApp or your contacts.
Steps to view Stories anonymously using a third-party app:
- Download the WAMR, Story Saver for Whatsapp, WA Stories or similar app from the Play Store or App Store.
- Open the app and allow it access to your contacts and media files when prompted.
- Search for the contact whose Status you want to view.
- Tap on the contact’s name and you will see all their recent Stories.
- View the Stories just like you would on WhatsApp. The app will mark them as seen but your view won’t show up for the contact.
Using WhatsApp Web
Another way you can view WhatsApp Stories anonymously is by using WhatsApp Web. This is the web browser version of WhatsApp that mirrors your phone app. Any activities done on WhatsApp Web, like viewing Stories, won’t show up as Views on your contact’s phone. Here’s how to use WhatsApp Web to anonymously see Stories:
- Open WhatsApp on your phone and go to Menu > WhatsApp Web.
- Use your phone’s camera to scan the QR code on the WhatsApp Web page.
- This will link your WhatsApp account to the web browser.
- On your computer, go to web.whatsapp.com in a browser like Chrome or Firefox.
- You will see all your WhatsApp chats and contacts here. Click on a contact to open their chat.
- If they have posted Stories, you will see them at the top of the chat. Hover over a Story and click the play button to view it.
- The Stories you view on WhatsApp Web will NOT increase the View count on your contact’s phone.
The advantage of using WhatsApp Web is that there are no third-party apps involved. Your activity remains totally anonymous to the contact. The only catch is that you have to use WhatsApp on a desktop or laptop browser to view the Stories. But it’s a reliable way to stay invisible while satisfying your curiosity!
Reading Notification Content
On Android phones, you can peek into your notifications shade to read the text of new messages and get a sense of what people are posting as Stories without actually opening WhatsApp. Here’s how:
- When you get a WhatsApp notification, swipe down from the top of the screen to expand your notification shade.
- Without tapping the notification, you can briefly read the message content that shows in the notification.
- If someone posts a text update as their Status, you may be able to read part of it in the notification itself.
- You can also see a preview of image and video Statuses in the notification thumbnail before opening the app.
- As long as you don’t open the notification or WhatsApp to view the full Status, your view will remain anonymous.
This doesn’t work on iOS because you can’t expand notifications to preview content. But Android users can utilize this trick to get a gist of WhatsApp Statuses anonymously. Do note that previews may not always show the entirety of a Status update.
Airplane Mode Trick
If you want to quickly take a peek at someone’s Status when a notification pops up, there is a clever Airplane Mode trick that lets you view it anonymously:
- As soon as you get a WhatsApp Status notification from a contact, switch on Airplane mode on your phone.
- Open WhatsApp and tap to view the contact’s Status update that you received a notification for.
- Since you’re in Airplane mode, WhatsApp won’t be able to send a view receipt to their phone.
- Once you’ve seen the Status, close WhatsApp and turn off Airplane mode.
This prevents your view from ever being logged on their end. Do note that if they upload any new Statuses, WhatsApp will show your last seen time to the contact once Airplane mode is turned off. So they may be able to figure out you viewed their previous Status update anonymously. Only use this trick for recent Status updates that popped up as notifications.
Restrict Data Usage for WhatsApp
On Android phones, you can go a step further than Airplane mode. Restricting background data usage for WhatsApp prevents view receipts from being sent out while still allowing you to browse Statuses anonymously when you open the app:
- Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > WhatsApp > Data usage.
- Toggle off ‘Background data’ and ‘Unrestricted data usage.’
- Open WhatsApp and view any Statuses normally. Views won’t be sent.
- Remember to turn background data back on when you’re done!
This gives you more flexibility than Airplane mode as you can freely use WhatsApp to view any Status updates posted at any time, and your contact will be none the wiser. This works reliably on Android 8.0 and above.
Use WhatsApp Mods
There are various modded or tweaked versions of WhatsApp like GBWhatsApp and WhatsApp Plus that have built-in privacy settings to disable view receipts. You can install these WhatsApp mods and configure them to never send out Status view receipts or last seen time. However, these mods are not officially endorsed by WhatsApp and break their terms of service. Using unauthorized third-party apps could get your WhatsApp account banned if detected. We recommend the other methods described above over using WhatsApp mods.
Conclusion
WhatsApp Status is a great way to share ephemeral photos, videos, and text updates with your friends and contacts. While Stories automatically disappear after 24 hours, the views on each update are still logged and visible to the poster. If you ever want to stealthily look at someone’s Status updates without them knowing, the best methods are using the WhatsApp Web browser version or a third-party Status saver app.
Keep in mind that constantly snooping on people’s private WhatsApp Statuses without consent raises some ethical concerns. Avoid making a habit of it unless absolutely necessary. But in certain situations, these tricks come in handy to maintain your privacy while satisfying curiosity about Status updates from certain contacts!