WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion active users. One of the signature features of WhatsApp is the blue tick system, which indicates when a message has been successfully delivered and read.
But what exactly triggers those little blue ticks to appear? Here’s a comprehensive look at how the WhatsApp blue tick system works.
What Do the Blue Ticks Mean?
The blue ticks on WhatsApp have two main meanings:
- Message delivered – When you send a message on WhatsApp, one blue tick will appear when it has been successfully delivered to the recipient’s device.
- Message read – When the recipient opens the chat and views your message, a second blue tick will appear to indicate it has been read.
So in summary:
- One blue tick – Message delivered
- Two blue ticks – Message delivered and read
The ticks will appear directly under the message you sent. The ticks are displayed in blue on Android devices and grey on iPhones.
What Triggers the Blue Ticks?
There are a few factors that control when the blue ticks will appear:
Internet Connection
In order for any blue ticks to appear, both you and the recipient need to have an active internet connection. The ticks let you know the message has been transmitted successfully between the devices.
If you have no internet access, the ticks will not display until your device reconnects to the internet. For example, if you send a message while in airplane mode, the ticks will show up when you turn airplane mode off and reconnect to the internet.
Phone Powered On
Your phone needs to be turned on for the blue ticks to display. If your phone is powered off or in a deactivated state, the messaging server has no way to deliver your message or confirm it has been seen.
As soon as the recipient’s phone is turned back on and connects to the internet, the blue ticks will update accordingly.
App Open in Foreground
In order for the second blue tick to appear, the recipient needs to open WhatsApp and actively view the chat screen with your message. Just having WhatsApp open in the background is not enough.
So if you are waiting to see those two ticks after sending a time-sensitive message, keep in mind the recipient actually has to open the chat and see your message for the read receipt to update.
Read Receipts Enabled
By default, WhatsApp has read receipts enabled so you can see when your messages are read. However, users can disable read receipts in their app settings. If read receipts are turned off, you will only see one gray tick for messages you send.
So in this case, the second blue tick never appears, even if the other person reads the message. Disabling read receipts provides more privacy but less messaging transparency for both users.
Common Blue Tick Situations
To better understand the nuances of the blue ticks, here are some common scenarios you may encounter:
One Tick
If you see one blue tick after sending a message, it means the message has been successfully transmitted from your device to the recipient’s device via the WhatsApp servers. However, it has not been downloaded and displayed on the recipient’s phone yet.
This typically means the recipient has no internet connection at the moment, or their device is powered off or out of coverage. The message is queued on the server waiting to be delivered when connectivity is restored.
One Tick for a Long Time
If you continue to see just one tick for an extended period of time, even when the recipient is online, it likely means they have disabled read receipts in their settings. With read receipts off, you will never see the second tick.
Two Ticks
Two blue ticks means the message has been delivered and read by the recipient. This provides confirmation they have seen your message.
Two Ticks Appear Immediately
Sometimes you will notice both ticks turn blue very shortly after sending a message. This can happen when the recipient has the chat open at that exact moment and reads your message instantly.
Why Some Messages Never Get Blue Ticks
In some cases, messages may never receive any blue ticks, even though they were sent successfully. There are a few reasons this can happen:
- The recipient has blocked you – Messages to blocked contacts will never be marked as delivered or read.
- Change of phone number – If the recipient changes their number, messages sent to their old number will remain undelivered and tick-less.
- Deleted chat – If the chat is deleted before the recipient reads the message, the ticks will not appear.
- Expired message – Messages set to expire after a certain time limit will not receive ticks after expiring.
So if you notice your messages are consistently not getting ticks, one of these factors above is likely the reason.
Limitations of the Blue Ticks
While incredibly useful, the WhatsApp blue ticks do have a few limitations to keep in mind:
- No exact read time – The ticks show the message was viewed but not exactly when. Recipients may read messages hours or days later but the tick appears instantly.
- No guarantee of attention – The ticks confirm the message was displayed on screen but not necessarily thoroughly read and absorbed by the recipient.
- No other user insights – The ticks show basic message status but not other useful information like if the user is typing, recording audio, on the phone, etc.
So while useful, the blue tick system provides just one limited piece of data about message status.
How Businesses Use Blue Ticks
The blue ticks provide important business messaging insights as well:
- Confirmation – Businesses can confirm critical messages were delivered and read by clients.
- Urgency – Seeing one tick reminds businesses to follow up on time-sensitive messages that have not been read yet.
- Analytics – Businesses can analyze blue tick patterns to optimize messaging and improve client responsiveness.
- CRM data – Integrating blue tick data into CRM platforms gives businesses insights on client communication.
Overall, the blue ticks give invaluable data for businesses to improve customer messaging and responsiveness through WhatsApp.
Conclusion
In summary, WhatsApp’s blue tick system provides visual confirmation when your messages are delivered and read. While limited in some ways, the blue ticks give useful insights into how well messages are transmitting.
Understanding what triggers the one or two ticks can help explain discrepancies and inconsistencies you notice in WhatsApp messaging. Businesses in particular can utilize the blue tick data to optimize communications and operations.
So next time you are anxiously awaiting those double blue ticks, remember they simply indicate your recipient has opened the chat screen and received visual confirmation of your message. The blue ticks take messaging transparency to the next level!