WhatsApp for Android could soon let you read messages secretly without sending blue ticks

Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR WhatsApp for Android beta code shows the service is testing a peekable preview window that lets you read chats without triggering read receipts.

Long-pressing a conversation will soon pop up recent messages and a refreshed context menu, while leaving the sender’s message unread.

Unlike iOS, Android’s peekable preview card will let you scroll up to inspect more messages discreetly.

WhatsApp offers users a global toggle for read receipts, letting them control whether they send and receive blue ticks for when messages are read. Many people keep read receipts off entirely, while others keep them on. Those in the second camp often find themselves wanting to know more about a message without sending a read receipt (two blue ticks). You can glean information from the message notification, but this doesn’t work out if you’ve already swiped away the notification or you get too many messages to keep track of. …