What does “online” mean in WhatsApp

What “Online” in “Vatsap” means is a signal that the user is ready to communicate. The messenger is turned on on the device and used: for example, contact with someone is being exchanged, changing settings or in the main menu. But the status of “Online” and the time of the last visit are indicated with an error of 5-10 minutes.

Ready to talk.

What is status?

Status is a messenger function that developers transferred to WhatsApp from social networks. If possible, this is an analog of Instagram Story. The user can add a short text, accompanying it with a photo or video, both ready (from the Gallery of the smartphone), and taken on the spot. A multimedia message will be displayed in the profile for 24 hours, after which it will be deleted automatically.

Online status – the inscription “Online” or “Was (s) …” next to the name in the correspondence. In the first case, the note indicates that the user is using the application, in the second – the time of the last online appearance. “Online” means the user has opened the WhatsApp application, and the Internet connection is active.

Online status does not necessarily indicate that messages have been read by this contact. The user can be on the main screen of the messenger, chat with someone else or use another application without properly closing WhatsApp (with deleting the cache).

In some cases, you can’t see the time of the last visit:

• information is hidden in the privacy settings of the contact;
• the user has chosen the “Nobody” option to hide their active status (those who hide the time of the last visit on their smartphone cannot see the same information about other users);
• the user is blocked.

In addition, the messenger has the ability to select the time of the last appearance online. In this case, not reliable information will be displayed, but that which the user considered it necessary to inform his contacts.

Configure privacy in settings

The privacy settings when you start using the messenger are set automatically. Any user will see the time of the last visit, reports on reading the message, personal information and profile photo, status updates.

You can change the settings in “Settings” (“Account” – “Privacy”). So that others do not see the time of the last appearance in the messenger, you need to set the value “None” opposite this item.

The application does not allow to hide the status “Online” or “Prints”. If you disable read reports, reports from other users will become unavailable. In group chats, this option cannot be disabled. Having decided to hide the time of his visit, the user will no longer be able to see when other contacts last visited the application.

In addition to making changes to the settings of the official application, you can turn on flight mode before reading a dubious chat. So you can read messages without notifying them. Before disabling airplane mode, exit the application and clear the cache. The message will remain unread for the person who sent it.

Privacy Feature Settings.

Hide visit time using the application

The “Invisible” mode in WhatsApp allows you to use the messenger, monitor the activity of other users and read messages without being noticed. In the official version, you can configure the relevant parameters as follows: “Settings” – “Account” – “Privacy”. Not only the option to turn off delivery reports and display status is available – you can hide photos and profile information, block contacts.

In addition to the standard version, there are other ways to become invisible in the messenger. You can use third-party applications, for example, “Offline Reader” or WhatsAgent. Utility “Offline reader” ”allows you to read incoming messages without the status of“ Online ”and without notification of reading. The application completely copies all messages, so there’s no need to go into the official version of the messenger – access will remain through the “Offline reader”.

Using WhatsAgent is convenient for keeping track of other users. After installing the utility on a smartphone, you should add a contact, the actions of which need to be notified. You can track several users at once for the last day, but this is a paid service.

The messenger also has a useful function that does not hide the time of the last online appearance, but shows the time when the message was delivered and read. The message that needs to be monitored is enough to hold with your finger for several seconds. After that, at the top of the screen, press “i” (“Info”).

We show the status only to certain people

By default, the status (multimedia message) can be seen by those people whose phone numbers are added to the address book. But the settings can be changed. The option is available before uploading materials to the database. On Android, just select the contact in the “Status” menu, click “Hide” and confirm the action. On iOS, the option can be changed in the menu “Statuses” – “Settings” – “Privacy Settings”.

Unwanted communication can be avoided by adjusting the settings for individual chat. The user does not know about the lock until he tries to send another message.