How quickly do you expect a reply when you send a text message? It probably depends on how urgent the message is and what kind of information you need to exchange. It also might depend on whether you know your text has been read.
On iPhone or Android phones, visual cues in iMessage and Google Messages can be useful when texting someone in real time. For example, the three-dot typing indicator tells you the other person is replying. But there’s another visual cue in your texts that can be a double-edged sword: read receipts.
Read receipts are a feature on iPhone, Android and instant-messaging apps such as What’s App, Snapchat and Facebook Messenger that let the sender know when their message has been read by the recipient.
Although there are plenty of good reasons to enable read receipts on your text messages, you might be leaving yourself open to risks if you do. We’ll explain why you might want to turn read receipts on or off and how to do it.
Pros and cons of enabling read receipts on text messages
Read receipts for text messages can be a contentious topic online. Some folks hate them, while others claim they will make you a better person.
You might appreciate seeing the timestamp under a text bubble when your message has been received. It can be reassuring to know that the other person saw your text after a sudden change of plans. And if you’re terrible at replying to text messages, sharing the knowledge that you’ve read a message might be the impetus you need to reply.
But what if you see a read receipt for a text message and your contact doesn’t write back? You might feel ignored.
If the situation is reversed, and the person you’re texting knows exactly when you saw their message, you might feel pressured to reply quickly — even if you’re too busy or overwhelmed to write a proper response.
Another important reason to avoid leaving your read receipts on is that they can give scammers information that helps them target you. Someone who sends you a spam text might be more likely to continue targeting you if they see that you’re a real human who’s read their message. And if they share your phone number with other scammers, it could lead to a host of text-message phishing (or “smishing”) scams.
Luckily, it doesn’t take much to turn off your read receipts.
How to turn off read receipts on your iPhone
If you’re using an iPhone, you can disable the feature in your iMessage app by going to Settings > Messages. Then toggle off Send Read Receipts.
How to turn off read receipts on your Android phone
If you’re using an Android phone, you can switch off read receipts for Google Messages by opening the Messages app. Tap your profile in the top-right corner and go to Messages settings > RCS chats. Then toggle off Send read receipts.
Can you turn off read receipts for certain contacts?
What if you want to keep read receipts turned on for specific people? You have that option in iMessage but not in Google Messages.
If you have an iPhone and want to turn on read receipts for one person, open your Messages app. Select a conversation and tap on the number or name of the contact. Then toggle on Send Read Receipts.
Security concerns aside, read receipts can set unrealistic expectations and put unnecessary pressure on texters to reply. Unless you need to see the exact time your message was received, it’s probably best to turn off read receipts and have a more relaxed conversation.
For more iPhone privacy tips, learn how to enable RCS messaging on your iPhone or check out this easy trick to send secret messages to a friend using a built-in iOS app.
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